Do you need a menage?

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1life

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How many of you guys compete regularly, without having a ménage directly on your yard?

I am considering moving to a much cheaper yard, that doesn't have a ménage itself. There is a lovely ménage half a mile up the road that we can use for free. However, my daughter and I share our horse....this would mean that in winter hours she would only be able to ride at weekends and any schooling would need to be done in the short daylight hours...

Interested to know what facilities you have, and also if you actually use all the facilities you pay for ;).
 
I did compete fairly successfully up to 1.10 sj and not very successfully at 1.20 lol

I had no manège but I did have a decent flat bit of field that was on sandy soil and one floodlight on the end of a shed. In winter I also worked less hours to accommodate my competing.

Could you take your daughter for a lesson mid week or box off somewhere with school and lights?
 
imo you either need an arena or the ability to ride in daylight during winter- if you have neither it is v.hard to keep horse fit, schooled and progressing.
 
OK - no. I ride all year around, certainly don't have a menage. During the winter I ride in the dark with a head lamp, have done for years. I have to travel to an arena, so am used to riding without one. Jumping is out of course, but schooling no problem - it's actually a great way of developing your feel. My biggest issue is finding somewhere dry to school in the winter, so I do tend to hack during the week (in the dark) and travel to the arena in the weekend to school.
 
I deffinately need an arena. This area is very clay-y soil and doesnt drain well so no chance of riding in fields in winter so need the arena to work my horse properly and keep him fit over winter
 
We managed for years without an arena, finally having one completed a couple of months ago. However, whether you cope depends on lots of factors including the following:

* what level you want to compete to
* your working/school hours plus distance from yard to home/work/school (which influences how much daylight you have to ride in)
* whether you are allowed to ride in yard's fields and whether these are flat and well-drained
* your horse's temperament
* amount of daily turnout available
* whether you have horse transport
* whether you have access to off road hacking

My daughter has competed for the last few years without a school with reasonable success - this year she was second individually and in the winning team at the Riding Clubs Winter Dressage Nationals, in the top 5 in all three BE100u18s she did (in her first BE season) and qualified for Riding Club and Pony Club summer nationals in dressage, show jumping, eventing and tetrathlon. That said, life is much easier now we have a school!

The main problem is lack of daylight hours in the winter. We would have the horse as fit as possible before the clocks changed so only needed to ride once or twice mid week to keep fitness up. Obviously if you have transport you can box somewhere after school to use facilities - we found a local indoor clear round was a good option as for £5 per horse we could use the warm up and then pop a round of jumps which meant the horse was exercised for the day! Daughter did PE as one of her GCSE subjects and one PE session was last double lesson in the afternoon, so negotiated with the school that she could come home and ride then. We found that when it got too dark to ride after school, it was still light in the morning for a while, so she would get up early and go for a quick hack round the lanes.
 
millitiger said:
imo you either need an arena or the ability to ride in daylight during winter- if you have neither it is v.hard to keep horse fit, schooled and progressing.
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This for me.

Full time job means I leave home when it's only just light, and get home when it's pitch black. Fig is a hot, buzzy little thing... There's no way he (or I!) would cope with only riding at the weekends.
 
Depends on what you are doing with your horses and what type they are (mentally and physically!). I have been on yards where I've never used the arena, as a family we've kept horses on allotments (a long long time ago) which went to HOYS etc, there's no hard and fast rule. Arenas make everyone's life easy and that is what most people want from their hobby, if everything is a struggle it's not much fun. FWIW I have an arena at home and I honestly couldn't tell you when I last rode in it (I think it was this year.....) as I do most of my work out on hacks (the joys of teenage horses ;) )
 
TGM said:
... whether you cope depends on lots of factors including the following:

* what level you want to compete to
* your working/school hours plus distance from yard to home/work/school (which influences how much daylight you have to ride in)
* whether you are allowed to ride in yard's fields and whether these are flat and well-drained
* your horse's temperament
* amount of daily turnout available
* whether you have horse transport
* whether you have access to off road hacking

The main problem is lack of daylight hours in the winter. We would have the horse as fit as possible before the clocks changed so only needed to ride once or twice mid week to keep fitness up.

Daughter did PE as one of her GCSE subjects and one PE session was last double lesson in the afternoon, so negotiated with the school that she could come home and ride then. We found that when it got too dark to ride after school, it was still light in the morning for a while, so she would get up early and go for a quick hack round the lanes.
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The P.E part is interesting as my daughter is also doing P.E with horse-riding as one of her sports....could be worth looking at...

I, luckily, work as a freelance instructor for 3 days a week so will be able to ride neddy 2 times/week in the winter months. We have transport but really wouldn't need it to use the ménage up the road (free use for our yard)...there is also a bridlepath that runs between the yards so, NZJenny, getting a decent headlamp could be a good option (can walk dog down with daughter and horse at same time, bonus!). We can also hack around the farm land so as the evenings start to draw out my daughter can do that without having to touch the roads.

Interesting, and thanks for your replies...I may give it a go and see. If I can mange in the winter then the summer will seem easy ;).
 
I do not have an arena and manage fine. I do not think anyone would look at my horse and say its not fit enough or that it ever stops progressing. I compete at Novice level BE. I am not mega organised or super human either and I have a big lump of a warmblood!

I have all year round turnout which I think makes a big difference - they go out in any weather and they go out for long hours - 7am till 6pm which is around my work hours. I only really ride at weekends.

I have a fair few lessons because the money I save on livery means I can afford regular tuition. I probably go out once a week mid week. I do a lot of hacking at weekends (fast work on the beach and slow hillwork) or I compete- . I also have the odd day hunting. I never give my horse a holiday - this means his base fitness never drops.

It is perfectly possible to exist without an arena. They are not essential, you just have to work a little harder in places.
 
I certainly couldn't manage without an arena, and that's without a horse competing to the level most of these do :p I get to the yard at about 7pm, so riding from October onwards is under floodlights - even if it was a floodlit field, they're deep and boggy and not what I'd school my horse on. If I tried to ride before work it would also still be dark.

If I only rode at the weekends he would be the fattest lump around, and progress would be even slower than it is already. I don't have transport so I can't box to any other arenas.
 
LEC said:
It is perfectly possible to exist without an arena. They are not essential, you just have to work a little harder in places.
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I don't think this is true for everyone though - my job dictates when I ride, and what I want to do dictates how much work my horse needs. I could work 'harder' but I would still need an arena.
 
I think it also depends to some extent on your horse as sounds like you have time to ride and access to a school if needs be. Years ago I never had one and used to winter show jump. Would find it hard now though.
 
Twiglet said:
I don't think this is true for everyone though - my job dictates when I ride, and what I want to do dictates how much work my horse needs. I could work 'harder' but I would still need an arena.
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Agree. Saying things like, 'I can do my fast work on the beach' or 'I can box to lessons every week' makes for a different situation than being stuck somewhere with poor going and no transport.

I think more people struggle in more urban areas where commutes are longer and less reliable, hacking is more limited and busier, yards have less space etc. There are exceptions - one place I teach has all sand footing and miles of excellent hacking - but there is usually a catch such as, with that place, a hellish commute.

I think it's perfectly possible but you have to be able to RIDE and at least occasionally get out of a walk. If you have that much, it's doable
 
humblepie said:
I think it also depends to some extent on your horse as sounds like you have time to ride and access to a school if needs be. Years ago I never had one and used to winter show jump. Would find it hard now though.
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Also agreed. I have just suggested owners with a barely backed sharp young horse find a location where they are not constrained to road hacking only all winter if they want to live, let alone progress, and I probably have similar conversations a couple of times a year
 
I used to compete SJ with my old boy no problem without an arena, however we did have a very flat, dry area of the field where we could school and jump. If we couldn't ride in the field it would have been a different story I am sure. I just had to watch out for my grumpy chestnut mare who would stand in the middle of my "arena" and draw us dirty looks :p
 
Al copes without a menage by having one small, enclosed paddock (high hedge and trees on 3 sides, then post and rail on the fourth side) which drain relatively well, and being able to ride whenever she needs to because it's her job. And she can truck 3 horses off to have weekly lessons during daylight hours because of this... When she was at school the horses tended to have the winter virtually off because our hacking isn't amazing.

But right now she's somewhere with all weather gallops and amazing schools (general horsey heaven) and it's so much easier. She can ride when it gets dark, or if her pony is on one can go up the gallops rather than risk the roads...
 
I don't think I could do without an arena these days.
We're spoilt at our current yard with four arenas to choose from and there's always a full course of jumps (show jumps and working hunter) up somewhere.
Also, smaller outdoor has floodlights so I can ride outside if the indoors are being used or are busy.
Horses are currently jumping foxhunter/1.20 open classes.

The last yard we were at, we hardly got to use the school. the outdoor was either flooded or rock hard and the indoor was used for lessons. we had to squeeze riding into the lunch break - not the best when you have three horses to ride and no fields to school in.
 
Well, I'm going to 'suck it and see', as the phrase goes ;). If in 6 months time I am asking for 'local yard with ménage' suggestions then you know we haven't coped through the winter!
 
alainax said:
I just had to watch out for my grumpy chestnut mare who would stand in the middle of my "arena" and draw us dirty looks :p
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Ha ha, same here, I'd just ride round my other horse who were busy grazing! I've never ever had a school to ride in, you guys are so so lucky (but I couldn't put up with being on livery)! I've competed all my horses easily enough with no school to school in, my grey I competed (and was placed) at CIC* BE and 1.20m BS. I did find it hard getting a full size dressage arena marked out though on a flat enough area but we managed, just on a bit of a hill! You just have to adapt to the ground conditions, I was lucky that my grey was very established jumping (after a while!) so I very rarely needed to jump him at home and only at comps. So yes, it is possible, it's just harder.
 
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Wow - this is a great testament to the determination and strong will of riders.

I have two youngsters: a five and a six year old; one just broken and learning, the other competing at Discovery/1.05m BS and starting to do a bit of dressage to try and event next season). I am at livery (informally) at a racing yard nearby. They have a wonderful indoor school, which is free every afternoon and on the weekends - bliss compared to fitting in between lessons and lots of other people where I was before.

At the moment I am studying (final year of law/Legal Practice Course, pretty intense, wouldn't really count myself as a student), so even though I don't have a lot of time, it is fairly flexible. Sometimes it is difficult enough trying to get any progress when you do have the facilities and the light, so I am seriously impressed with all of you who are doing so well without...

I was sort of assuming that once I had a full time job again it was unlikely that I would be able to continue riding as I am and still enjoying competing, but you have really given me hope that it is more than achievable - thank you!
 
Years ago when I was into showjumping, hunting and teamchasing having a school never crossed my mind. I was able to ride daily in daylight. I now compete in dressage and work different hours to back then so a flood lit school is a must during winter.
 
I really struggled last year without an arena. It was fine to start with but then with prolonged wet weather I was stuck. It was too dangerous to school in the field as too slippery and when it got icy I couldn't hack out either. Last year was exceptionally wet but even when my new school was out of action for a couple of months this summer the hard ground made things difficult. I'm so pleased to have a school at last.
 
Depends on your availability to ride/ground/hacking/weather etc.

Personally I couldn't cope without one working full-time, horses at home and pants hacking without boxing up.

(It's MANEGE by the way; MENAGE is a household-sorry pet hate along with I brought a horse and confirmation!)
 
I work for myself so have a lot of flexibility and also have a lorry so can box to hire local schools or have a lesson, but I struggled without a school even this summer. We do actually have a 25x25m indoor, but with a big youngster, I don't like to ride in it more than once or twice a week. It's fab for lungeing, however. There were two level fields I could ride in but eventually the ground got too hard in both, and even hacking was restricted to a walk because of the ground. So it's not just winter that's an issue.
 
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