menage advice please

S

Sallyfinn

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 November 2012
Messages
196
Location
colchester
Visit site
I keep my horse at home and struggle for anywhere to do any schooling especially with all this mud. I sometimes hire an indoor school for an hour but it takes nearly 1/2hr to get there and with loading / unloading etc. becomes major time eater. I have a small paddock near the house that is 18 metres wide. I am thinking about putting a fence up to make a roughly 18 x 38m menage. It's currently level but not at all flat. It is naturally quite well drained. I don't want to spend a fortune putting a proper menage in but wanted some advice on:
1 Is 18 x 38m big enough, or would i need 20 x 40 as an absolute minimum? (not feasible)
2 Should I have it scraped flat, or would schooling on it do the trick on its own?
3 Should I put down sand/wood chip, or is it not worth it if you don't put all the drains etc in?
Thank you:confused:
 
We've a similar issue, but even in drier weather schooling on our similar sized flat area soon wears the grass surface out, Frankly I think it's worth draining and levelling and putting a proper surface. We've given up and go out to an arena there are a few locally, so not as bad as for you.
 
Last edited:
1. Only you can answer this question. Why don't you ride in it and see what it feels like? It could be OK for a pony/smaller horse doing only flatwork, it's probably too small for a larger horse or for jumping.

2. No, it will not level itself.

3. If you put sand/wood chip straight down it will soon disappear into the mud, so you are likely to lose all that money. To make it last you need to do a proper job of removing the top soil and levelling out the area, adding drains, hard core, membrane and then sand.
 
I did know someone who wasn't able to get pp for an arena so she gradually put down rubber crumb - like a rubber powder - on a flat well drained area of grass. It worked really well as the rubber gets absorbed into the soil and so makes an all-weather grass area but it still looks grassy. She was careful of the area and didn't use it in the worst of the weather but it worked reasonably well.

ETA: it's not a short-term fix though - she spent a couple of years gradually adding the rubber, after levelling the area.
 
Drainage is an absolute must. If you spend a load of cash on putting a school in and on the surface, by not putting drains in you'll end up with no surface left - it just washes away. Even if all you do is dig some channels and put in flexiable drain pipes with little holes in and do it yourself it's better than nothing, especially is your land drains well already.
 
I could be wrong but if you are buliding an 'above ground' manege - ie. not scraping anything away then I thought you did not need planning as it is a 'removable feature'.
 
Last edited:
My old yard had exactly this. Every 3 months the farmer came in and rolled it flat. It was horrible to ride on. really slippery when wet and rock hard when dry.
 
My school is slightly smaller than 20 x 40 and is fine for everything including jumping. BUT to be honest unless you are going to do it properly I think you would be better off travelling to use a decent arena. Good drainage is essential. as is getting the area flat and then putting the hardcore, membranes and decent surface down. Sorry to be a party pooper :-(
 
It depends entirely on the natural drainage of the land. I levelled a 20x40 and laid 6 inches of grit on it with no other drainage. I put a membrane around the track only, bought from a garden centre for drives. I added plastic granules later. It was usable all year round unless it froze. There was sometimes standing water on a couple of bits if we'd had tons of rain, but I rode round it or through it.

It was fine for five years, until I decided that I wanted proper all weather.

I also routinely ride two 17 hand horses in a barn which is only 90 feet by 38 feet. Your arena will be much more useful than that.
 
I'm currently considering how best to make a usable schooling area on grass on a budget. We won't be in a position to build a proper arena for a few years. I'm looking at combi-grass and Crown III. I'd be interested to know if nanny one has any experiences of these two additives?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top