How do people cope in winter without an arena??

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campari14

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Hi,

well this is my first winter at a yard without an arena. the reason for moving to the yard was that 1st- i rent the whole yard (2 stables, have 1 livery), and so i'm in control of the grazing etc, and 2nd - i have all year turn out which is a must for my boy as his leg fills easily when he has to stay in, and doesnt go down through riding, only all day turn out.

i thought i could take him SJ once a fortnight at a local yard and do a bit of schooling while i'm there

how do you guys cope??

:confused:
 
I try and school when I'm out on hacks and I'm planning on hiring an arena for weekly lessons. I've managed for the past 7 years with this system and we tick over. I'd love an arena but I don't want to move as the people on the yard are so lovely and in the summer we can school in the field and we have a cross country course and show jumps.
 
Well, this probably isn't gonna help you much coz I'm just a happy hacker who's never ever had the luxury of a sand-school!!! BUT out of necessity I've always had to use the great outdoors as my "school". You can do half halts, collected and extended work; leg yield etc etc even without a school, and you'll have a lovely schooled horse for when you meet something on the road and have to squeeze into a gateway.

I appreciate there's no substitute for a proper arena though, so (presuming you have transport?) wonder whether there's anywhere you could hire in your area, or to make it cheaper get some of you together and hire the facilities and share the cost out. Just a thought.
 
yes i like hacking too but during the week i'm gonna be a bit stuck as cant ride before it gets dark.

i might go and have a chat to the local yard and see if they will let me hire the arena for a small fee, have also planned some events for the weekends.

i guess if he goes into the winter fairly fit then i should just about be able to maintain it ready for spring:)
 
thats what we do .lucky to have a competition yard nearby so we showjump or dressage alternate weeks and use the warm up and event as opportunity to ride on a surface once a week .other weekend day try to hack out and once at least midweek .i also occasionally hire an arena for a good schooling session . we keep ours at home and the benefit of diong our own thing tends to outweigh benefits of an arena .i do sometimes wish for one but last winter even people with them couldnt as they were frozen or waterlogged.a lot of schooling can be done whilst hacking.my daughter is also doing a levels and exams in january so her horse will probably have a few weeks off then .it can be done.
 
I endured last winter arena-less and am trying to remember how I coped... I also work full time.
I joined the local RC and went to their rallies and comps in indoor arenas. It worked well, we seemed to have something on twice in a month. Plus we got to go to some really posh arenas that they had hired.
I also had a friend hack my horse out midweek so he maintained some fitness, however she and I parted company over the summer so I've been asking around our village for someone else.
Ditto schooling while you hack, it's good practice to use lateral movements to pass spooky objects. We're lucky we can school on the beach and in the beach sandy carpark! (Sure we're not meant to but nobody has accosted us yet).
 
We keep the horses at home but have no arena. Daughter competes and keeps horse exercised with lots of hacking and schools in the field when dry enough. Also can hack to a friend's arena which is about 10 minutes away.

It starts to get problematical about 3 weeks before Christmas when it is too dark after school to either hack out, hack to an arena and too wet to ride in the field. By then though horse is pretty fit, and school holidays are looming, so a few easy weeks aren't a huge problem, but boxing up and going out to a lesson or hired arena mid-week helps as well.
 
I used to be at a yard without a school and the winter was hard. Used to hack out and school on hacks.

I had a lorry so hired a school once or twice a week and took horse to the beach which was a fab place to school too. It was good as I used my lorry lots and it kept on running without rotting by being stood. Also got neddy used to going out all the time, so he ended up being brilliant at loading, standing on the lorry and being really calm at shows.

However, the luxury of having a school is fab. By having to travel it took up all morning just to school for 3/4 -1 hour!
 
TGM said:
We keep the horses at home but have no arena. Daughter competes and keeps horse exercised with lots of hacking and schools in the field when dry enough. Also can hack to a friend's arena which is about 10 minutes away.

It starts to get problematical about 3 weeks before Christmas when it is too dark after school to either hack out, hack to an arena and too wet to ride in the field. By then though horse is pretty fit, and school holidays are looming, so a few easy weeks aren't a huge problem, but boxing up and going out to a lesson or hired arena mid-week helps as well.
Click to expand...

This but with the added issue that when it's too wet firstly the schooling field turns to mud and secondly we can't hack out much (nowhere to go that isn't urban and full of loose dogs) and thirdly when it's been wet we can't get the trailer out. This year daughter is in PC so there are some evening events in an indoor school, plus she can ride him at the RS she sometimes goes to on a Tuesday after school - but all dependent on a good 24-48 hours dry weather beforehand so we can get out. I'm sure the ponies will get most of December and January/February off other than the school holidays.
 
How do you cope, because there is no other choice :) you could rent local schooling area failing that I ride in the top field (horses summer field)
 
We really struggled last winter. We live in the bottom of a steep valley, so even though we have friends with an arena less than a mile away, we didn't get to it from Xmas until the end of Feb, as the roads were so icy, drivers on the main roads scare me (even more so in ice) and the small lanes were either sheet ice or blocked with snow drifts. In the end we just gave up! I didn't want to risk horses falling and breaking knees etc. They're not badminton bound, it doesn't matter if I miss the early events of the season!

I remember standing in a blizzard in freezing temperatures, trying to get a fence post in the ground for the winter turnout paddock, and I said to my husband "Wouldn't life be easier if we had an arena?" To which he replied, "It'd be even easier if we didn't have any blimmin horses!"
 
When my paddocks are dry enough to ride in....I do so .

I make an arena using jump poles as sides and I have some little cones I got from Shires with dressage markers on.

If not then I just hack out but I try and ride 'correctly' and school whilst out riding...the horses get schooled then without getting bored;)

If its too icy/wet/snowy....the horses get a break. Not an issue for me as I'm not a competitive rider. I just get them fit in spring:D
 
I've started to hirse a local school as and when i need to, hack there starts the warm up and relaxed hack back.
Also use parts of the field that are usable and out of the way, and as others before school while out hacking which makes it more interesting for both of you.
 
My yard has an indoor but it's not great, gets very dusty and the surface isn't the best. But it's there for when the weather is terrible and although I wouldn't canter in it I can still get my horse excersied or even loose schooled. It means when its really icy too and the horses won't get turned out they can play in the school for a bit. Would hate to be at a yard without one.
 
Same as the others school while out hacking, although im quite lucky where we are as the fields dont seem to get boggy so can use them near enough all year round
 
well, this will also be our first year at a yard without an arena, we moved yards back in May, have managed pretty well up till now, schooling and jumping arenas are both set up in the fields and like others have said, schooling while out on hacks, it certainly has helped my horse go so much better on grass, our dressage has really improved throughout summer and we even won at our last prelim competition a week ago!
I am hoping to still be able to school on the top (summer fields) when it is dry enough and I am able to use an arena about 5 mins trailer ride away whenever i like, so, will try to do that maybe once a fortnight at weekends. also plan to do a bit of indoor show jumping and dressage over the winter, so, will make use of the arena facilities when warming up! hoping for not such a hard winter though as both horses will pretty much be living out 24/7 now, (another first for me!!) but fab not having to muck out two horses every day!
 
I don't have a school where I am. But the owners are so kind and chilled out (if I want him out/in, he's out/in, I don't get told off for how much water I use, I can put the lights on etc etc) that it's worth it.

I joined the local riding club and try to make the effort to go and do whatever is on there (group schooling sessions, clear round evenings etc). Also hire the SJ course for jumping, which is half price for members.

It takes some effort to get off your backside and hitch up and go, but the lack of hassle more than makes up for it.

I've been at a yard with beautiful facilities (200 acres to ride round, school, washbox, walker etc) but the owners were so horrible. I kept saying to my friend that I was going to steal a council sign "KEEP OFF THE GRASS" and put it in the paddocks - if there was a drop of rain, they didn't go out. I got shouted at for throwing a bucket of water away and was told to pick the shavings out :mad::mad:

Anyway, I digress. Winter can be tough without a school but it is doable.
 
I went without an arena for a whole year when I moved to my current yard (we now have a lovely 60 x 20 :D)

I hacked and schooled at the weekends and during the week I lunged in the field with a headtorch - a nice hilly bit too to keep his muscles working.

I also hired out a nearby school every few weeks to do proper schooling but that got a bit tedious tbh even though it was only a few miles away!
 
my horses are at home & i dont have a school either, when the fields are ok i ride in them and try to school and not charge about!
my horse isnt good hacking out so tend to aviod that but i can hire a neighbours school i do this 1-2 per week
i also joined the local rc as they run "club nights" each week so try and book into those
when the weather turns nasty i used to force myself to ride but last year and will do the same this year if i feel like riding i will if not i dont feel guilty just get him back into work come spring time - he is fit enough that 1-2 per week will keep him ticking over for the odd dressge comp or sj
 
I dont have a school therefore in the winter i dont ride much in the week. Its a bit of a nightmare as I need to keep him fit. I do however try and lunge either in the field on a very wet area with wood chips on. I do go out weekends to Chris Heywood and hacking and competions etc. We always seem to get through although im not a winter lover.
 
My job is fairly flexible working hours - generally office hours but I can sometimes start early /finish early or start late/finish late which means I can get across and down the road to a local school that can be hired. Also, recommend the riding club thing - they often have rallies/group lessons at indoor/floodlit schools in the evenings.
 
Not read all the replies yet but have a look at local show centres and riding clubs and see what they organise.

The yard where I have lessons do a friday schooling show, where you can school round their fences in the indoor. They open up the outdoor schools too for warm up and obviously if you are warming up you can be schooling too........ An entry for something like that on a weekday evening would be cheaper than a lesson or hiring a school.

We also have people who box in to join in group lessons which is cheaper than a private lesson.
 
i cope all year round without one ;) and she's a solid all rounder who'll turn her hooves quite well to anything
i school on hacks or find fields to school in = in winter that means riding in the dark but i like to keep her fit enough for a half days hunting occasionally - then once a week i try to go somewhere for either a lesson or a comp.
 
thanks for all your info everyone :)

i think i'm going to plan to do long hacks on weekends, going to go SJ every other week at local yard (runs evening SJ on a weds), and the i've agreed with work that i will start earlier twice a week to let me leave at 3.30 on one day, so i hopefully will have 20 mins of daylight to do a quick hack. if the field is dry enough then i could lunge as hoping to put a light on the outside of the haybarn which faces into the field. it is tricky though, as i could hire an arena all the time but will cost me an arm and a leg!!

:rolleyes:
 
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