How important is it to have an arena?

[noblesteed]

I am in a national park and there is a real shortage of arenas to ride in round here. We have to suffice with using the field in the summer and then weekend hacking in winter - if we can get to the beach at low tide then we school there. I would LOVE an arena at but there is no chance whatsoever due to planning rules. Apparently the only way to build one (if you're not an equestrian business) is if it is in an area classed as your own garden, then you can have any surface you like! And then you aren't allowed to rent it out...
I do know a couple of people who have gone ahead and just built one anyway but I wouldn't want to spend that kind of money only to be fined and told to dig it up...

So most people round here do without one. There aren't even any close by to hire! Only two livery yards with decent ones in a 10 mile radius - and they have too limited turnout (I was there, and horse couldn't cope with being in all day - it was either sell horse or move)

 

[natalia]

I coped for 6 months without one, actually my horses went much better for it! We used to hire the local one once a week for a lesson and then I would school while out hacking. I found that when they came back once it was build they were much much better for it and fresher. I would always try and hack out more than school anyway.

 

[Molasses]

In summer I don't mind at all.
As a working rider in winter the lack of arena means riding is restricted, so I mind then. But I consider myself very lucky to be able to afford a horse, nevermind the arena

 

[OWLIE185]

I would suggest to your parents and relatives that it was your late granfathers wish for you to have a manage (especially as he paid for it) and that in memory of him they should finish it off for you as that is what he would have wanted.

 

[LiveryList]

I think it dpedns on what sort of rider you are and what you are looking to achieve. We have a school at our yard and some peopel i've never even seen use it in the six months i have been there- they are just happy hackers so to them i would guess it doesn't matter! For me a school is useful as my mare has just been broken so it is good for her education to learn a school is for working and a field is for running about and eating! Saying that, i hve been at yards without schools before (although they did have a riding 'area' with something that can only be vaguely described as jumps at some places!!) and i have schooled horses and ponies for national level showing and affiliated show jumping without issue. To be honest when i have a horse whcih is fot and competing regularly i probably only use the school twice a week- once for schooling and once for jumping. I am sure mopst riders would choose to have the option to have one tho if given the choice

 

[monkeybum13]

Of course a horse can be kept fit without an arena!

Only in the last two years I have been at a yard with an arena, I manage to compete horses fine before all year round (3 horses) and this was with me at school and my mum working full time. Some people need to toughen up and stop being soft

 

[5horses2dogsandacat]

hmmm theres only 1 of me and 4 horses, 2 of which I can ride.. and im at uni 5 days a week get up at 4:30-5 in the mornings and dont get home till gone 8 some days.... I only see my horses in the dark.

In this case an arena would be hugely beneficial even if it is to let them out for a roll and a run round.. or a quick whirl on a lunge.. Riding just at the weekend means I spend saturday riding a bouncy horse who's too excited to think about anything Im asking, and then sunday we might get somethings done but theres no point as if I start asking too much your going to end up with problems. ie. muscular.. My horses are also not ones who know what they are doing, ones an ex-racer and the other is a young one I broke myself...

 

[Wundahorse]

Nobody had arena's when i was a child,even the riding schools where i come from.We schooled in the field,out hacking,and in fenced of areas.No idea how we managed,but we did.

 

[FionaM12]

I've had to stop riding Mollie for now because of the lack of arena and no winter turnout.

Not being turned out has made her a bit loopy and the little bit of grass we're allowed to ride on (on a farm) is now muddy and slippy. So I can't work out her fizziness in a safe environment before taking her on the road. It's just not safe to try to ride her on the road like this.

I've found a new yard with a floodlit arena & turnout so we're moving, hopefully next week. It's more expensive and a further than my house, but at least I get to ride my horse, and she'll be happier and healthier.

 

[Zimzim]

We have a floodlit arena at the yard where I stable my horses, and being honest I'd be lost without it through the winter!

However in the summer I rarely use it as I hack out alot more.

Its beneficial at the moment as Im currently breaking my youngster so therefore the arena provides a safe environment for him and me and means I can still work him whatever time in the morning or night as the arena is floodlit (and in all weathers!!!).

 

[canteron]

Of course it is nicer to have an arena, but there are always limitations on facilities whereever you are - either the hacking isn't great, there are no hills, no floodlights, whatever. I think there is also a danger in having an arena in that sometimes people get into a comfort zone and don't bother to hack, which isn't great for the horses!!


It just reminds me though that I had one horse and we decided it would be cheaper to bring it home from livery and keep it at home - then we needed a companion, then stables, then a lorry, then a school, then another horse, then a groom.

How much cheaper would it have been to have left the horse on livery!!!

Such is life!

 

[MiCsarah]

This is my first yard that ive been at that doesnt have an arena.Yes its hard but we manage. Luckily we only have 2 horses in our field so I used school in the grazing paddock during the summer but our field is very flat and seems to get very wet in the winter but have managed to find a nice dry stuble field that i school in. I love schooling in the fields

 

[dollymix]

I think it depends on what you do with your horse, and what other facilities you have.

If you are a happy hacker, like I was with Dolly, then no, I didn't need a school and coped perfectly well without one. On the days I wanted to lunge or do some schooling I used to ride to a nearby field which was owend by the council and was quite able to do what i needed to do there.

However, I did make the mistake of buying a young horse, Gypsy. whilst at this yard. Not my best move and in the end I accepted that I didn't have the facilities to take her further and sold her.

When I moved to Lancashire, with Doll and her foal at foot, I only looked at places that had a school as i knew that when the time came to start Luna's training, I would need the school. I had learnt this from Gypsy and didn't want to make the same mistake again!!! I do much more with Luna than hacking...she is aimed at showing and hopefully some hunter trials etc. I woudln't be able to do this training without a school. (Not as lucky with nice flat fields i can sneak onto round here - all the bridleways are wooded or quadmires!)

With my latest horse, who I hope to do ODEs, dressage and other Rc stuff...no way would I manage without a school.

I think if you are lucky enough to live on the type of soil that doesn't turn clay like...maybe you can manage without a school...as you can 'make-do' in a field, and move your marked out space around to make sure the ground stays good enough to use. However, I wouldn't personally move to a yard without a school now (unless there wa one i could borrow regularly, very close by!)

 

[Double_choc_lab]

I know this is as "when I was young" but I competed BE and BSJA (including indoors in the winter) and we didn't have an arena. Few jumps in the field in summer and access to a common where I would school. Might not have a marked out arena but would guess the measurements. In the dark there was a street lamp on the edge of the common and I'd use that. Ways and means.