arenas

_daisy_

_daisy_

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could you guys answer me a few quick questions please?

if you were building your own outdoor arena:
what size would you go for?
what surface would you have?

also for anyone who has had one built, could you give me some rough prices

thanks guys
 
I went for a 25m x 65m one.
Had silica sand and Equimulch rubber which is a slightly finer shred than the chunks of rubber.
Had to take it all up as the silica sand was not angular so never compacted. The company refunded my money after an arguement or two and I then put down Trackright with the Equimulch back on top, never freezes, doesnt need much maintainence and always rides beautifully.
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I went for 60m x 40m for the reason that it is for a 30 horse livery yard and we can split it into two 60 x 20 or three 40 x 20 if needed.

Went for silica sand and Spring-Tek rubber, due to costs. If I had no end of money I'd go for a Martin Collins surface, but at £50k just for the surface I don't think so, lol.

Ours has cost around £55,000.

This is it 1 hour ago, sand ready for rubber tomorrow...
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Barge and pole was mentioned a lot.

My contractor has built a lot of arenas and he told me to stay well away from anything made of wood.

I think THE_carthorse has this surface, PM her, and it was fine for a year or 2 and is now a nightmare....I *think*
 
i have 20x60, had 23x60 last time, 25x50 the time before!
as big as possible is what i'd go for, but 20x60 is great..
i have very very good sand (same quarry as Charles Britton uses, very close to me) which has subangular particles which compact together (vital), and Springride rubber shred, which is exactly the same as i had at my last place, and which i really really rate.
my local dr trainer has a small indoor school with a super surface on, not sure what it is, it's what they had at HOYS. very very nice to ride on.
any woodchip type surface will rot with age, so if you don't mind having to dig the whole lot out and replace it in a few years, go ahead...
 
Went for 25 x 65 so that I could mark out a 20 x 60 arena with poles and didn't rely on the fence as the perimeter in case I ever decided to do dressage!
It is a nice size to jump in too.
I don't know exactly how much it cost as hubby did the majority of it. We think about £25k but would have been double had we had a professional company in to do it.
Would definately recommend both Trackright and Equimulch as I have a surface that I can use every day.
The only time I cant ride it is if there is thick snow on it!
You can seriously cut the costs it you are prepared to find a decent digger driver/contractor and put the surface down yourself. You can hire most of the equipment you need so if you have the time you can save a fortune.
I would recommend getting your base and drainage right though, you can put what you like on the top but if the base does not drain you will have a sloppy mess to ride in and would be wasting your money.
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Hi,
We finished building our latest arena last autumn and it worked out at £24k with a fibre sand surface, I paid for extra fibres and it has worked out superb, never freezes or floods and fantastic for my dressage and my liveries jumping. If you happen to live near Devon, Somerset or Dorset I can give you details as it worked out about £8,500 for the surface which is bordering on a Martin Collins copy without the label. Drainage is far more important so pay great detail to lots of drains and good quality 'washed' stone, we used 220 tonnes of stone!!
 
Hi,

I went for 25m x 50m. Would love a bigger one in some ways but you've got to be realistic when it's for private use and this is a good size which is very usable for both flat and jumping. I am currently waiting on the fiber additive for my sand. It is from equestrian surfaces and is a felt/polymer mix job. Additive is about 6k for that size. Premixed was too expensive for us but the premier waxed one from equestrain surfaces or martin collins would be my choice if money no object! Drainage is the most important thing and sand must compact together as has been said.
 
MY OH and I did a DIY job for a 20x60. We did our 'homework', read up a lot, talked to a lot of people, looked at materials and finished arenas. We did all the manual labour ourselves with help from a friend, and it was back breaking! We hired a professional digger driver, but other than that we drove the dumper, roller, put in fencing, I racked tonnes of materials into place, etc. it was hell. We put in equestrian sand from a local quarry (I picked up the Yellow Pages, called every quarry in three counties and compared samples. For my 'short list' I went to see finished arenas to make sure what looked good as a small sample actually worked in practice) which really reduced the transport costs and the whole thing cost £9,000. It is now 2 years old, rides beautifully and survived last summer's rains (in Yorkshire) with no problem while the rest of the farm was under water.
 
I put in a 25x60 arena...drainage is key. Don't cut any corners with that. then membrane, clean stone, silica sand (8ins) and Springride shred (2ins). It does not puddle/freeze or give me any probs at all. Cost about £14k incl landscaping and fencing. Springride is best levelled with a pallett dragged behind an ATV...except that my ATV has just been nicked so my surface doesn't look as beautiful as it cd!
 
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