New Arena what to do first?

domsmith

domsmith

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I have today just finished building my new arena. Fence up and its sort of ready to ride.

I will be getting a teacher in when the weather improves and lambing finished. but in the mean time what should i do in it?
I have so looked forward to this being finished and it has nearly killed me doing it in this weather, now its finished i dont know where to start!

i want to do some jumps and dressage, we currently hack out 3-4 times a weeks but i want to ride everyday.

I am a beginner. i came back to riding last july, can work my wb in 3 paces sort of. i want to tidy ourselves up a bit and learn to control him through ,y body not just hauling him around by the mouth.
hes strong and fidgity but a good lad.

what would you start with?

dominic
 
Hi Dominic, there are some trainers on here who will be far better placed to offer you advice so hopefully they'll be along soon but i just wanted to say good luck and that i hope you enjoy your arena and get going having lots of fun - you've clearly worked very hard indeed and it's great to hear of someone with such a great attitude getting started.
 
What surface have you got on your arena? Sand needs to settle and compact which can take quire a few weeks, other surfaces like rubber or woodchip you can ride on straight away.

If I were you I'd start with a flatwork lesson and make it a regular thing every week. Then you can use the exercises you learn in your lesson through-out the week and you can have clear goals to work towards.
 
Get some markers (cheap plastic ones off ebay) and practise transitions exactly on a marker, and nice even bends and circles (without any corners lol) using the markers to find a 20m circle etc. You could also mark out some circles in the surface and see if you can ride them at walk, then trot without deviating. Then when you do get an instructor you have the basics in place and can work on from there.
 
That's exciting news. Beats a boggy field!

Work on transitions and trying to keep him even and straight while doing them. You don't want the feeling that the horse is heavier in one rein than the other. Ride in straight lines and try to focus on you and the horse being really straight. If it feels crooked, it probably is. Also, ride big circles and serpentines with focus on steering with weight and seat rather than hands.

Markers are a good idea to mark out figures. Traffic cones make good ones.

Hope all is well. Yay for having an arena.
 
Best things that you can do with a new arena are to give it time to settle, and to give it a good drenching before you ride on it.

Looks like the former is sorted, due to your lambing commitments, and as for the second, well the current spell of weather is doing the job for you very nicely! Have you been doing a rain dance, 'cos if so, it's certainly working :)!
 
Its amazing, you can stand in the middle of the surface and you hear the water rushing through the drains below. the outlets is running full bore.

it needs no watering in, its rained everyday of construction and almost broke me!
 
I had no idea how much topsoil we would move. i now have a 2m high wind break around 2 sides. the digger had to get down to the right level on the first cut, we couldnt go back over it as the clay turned to slop. this meant the levels are not quite right, but i will live with it.

My advice to anyone is to leave til the spring! but i am so impatient. time will tell if the membranes keep the clay out. i feel i will be re visiting that in the months and years to come.
 
I wish I could hear my drains running - the problem is the area they drain INTO is as waterlogged as the whole school. Unrideable right now it is so sodden.
 
If you have a couple of poles put 2 across the centre line in the middle of the school about 9feet (3 of your normal strides) apart. You can then do lots of exercises to work on your transitions and accuracy while keeping it interesting!

Try riding over the poles in walk, trot and canter ensuring you are right in the middle of the pole (a strip of tape in the middle can help if not painted). Concentrate on your turn away from the fence so you are in line with the middle of the first pole as soon as you come away from the side and ride straight until you get to the fence at the other end. aim is to have completely straight line from one end to other, no S shape wandering! Do on both reins, then alternate reins changing direction as you come back to fence. (if horse keeps clipping poles just move them few inches closer together of further apart so easy for him)

Next exercise, turn across short middle line of school (E to B and vice versa if you have markers) riding between the poles. Again work on straight line and changing rein. Once mastered try a transition directly on the centre line between the poles. Walk-halt-walk then trot-walk-trot. You can also do this exercise on a circle or figure 8. Ride a circle passing through the poles, transition down and up between the poles then change direction of circle so you make 8 shape.

Once you can do each exercise individually, mix them up! Over poles, through poles, circles, squares, transitions, back over poles. It may take a few weeks to master all the exercises but will keep you and horse focused and planning ahead :)

Have fun
 
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