arenas- help or hindrance?

[ZoeDBest]

I am unlucky and do have an arena nor easy access to one. This is a massive problem to keeping my boy going properly through winter as cant jump or school as its too muddy, so during winter we are limited to hacking. during summer we school on grass out in the open, which is great but we always have big arguments on reminding him of how to go, lots of stamping and head up in the air, but with hard work we eventually get back on track. I desperately want and believe I need an arena, but are riders today too dependant on arenas and riding in an enclosure? What's you're view on the use of arenas?

 

[hnmisty]

I didn't have an arena when I had mine at home. Meant I could only ride at weekends during the winter, and had to hack out, didn't get back from school until it was pretty much dark. In the summer I rode in the field.

I was thinking about this earlier when riding my new 15.2 in the arena at the yard I'm keeping him at. I just used to leave my jumps up in the field so no setting them up or putting them away every time. Given the ground is now a long way away, I realise how good a set up that was!

 

[metalmare]

I don't have a school and I wish I did for lots of reasons. Although the land is well drained it's rare I can ride as the YO is worried about poaching or else it gets so hard I have to be careful with limbs. Also, the ground is not very level, which is tricky when working on balance and rhythm. My pony is sharp and spooky and tends to buck / shoot off and I don't think the open space helps with this. I find it hard to judge the space to set him on the right size of circle, too.

But, as we don't aspire to dizzying heights I think the advantages of where I Kes my pony outweigh these disadvantages.

 

[hnmisty]

Just to agree with what metalmare said...the advantages of keeping my pony at home far, far outweighed going to a livery yard and having the use of an arena. We couldn't afford to use a livery yard so there wouldn't have been a pony!

 

[sandi_84]

I miss having an arena to school in

I now school in my field but it's not entirely flat (very small slope in the "top" corner) nor is it an even surface due to old mole hills and divots I'm kicking over new mole hills when they pop up but they are popping up all over the place! It's also a bit of a worry for me what the ground will be like, too hard, too wet and slippy or just right - it's like goldilocks and the 2 bears but with horses and ground

Having my "arena" in one of my paddocked off bits of my field also makes me slightly uncomfortable because the field isn't big enough for a school only area so it doubles as turnout paddock too which I've been told is a bit dodgey as the horses see it as their "fun" area rather than as a place to work and so can end up encouraging/facilitating naughty behaviours - not sure if that's true or not though