Talk to me about arena lights!

martlin

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I'm about to put some lights in my school and would love your experiences.
Can't put standard floodlights on poles up due to planning restrictions, which means that they can be no higher than 8-9 foot from the surface, I also need to minimise light leakage. I'm not looking at competition spec lighting, I'm not even intending to jump under them at all, just need something to do some flatwork and lunge. The school is 65x45, with 10 foot banks on 3 sides and 7 foot tall fence on the fourth.
So, in your experience, what works and what doesn't? how many lights and what strength would you put up in my position? what works out value for money? and generally all pitfalls and advantages of arena lighting, pretty please.

I can share some coke and a mozzarella and pesto panini :)
 

sychnant

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I have a 20 metre round pen behind my barn. I fixed a site light to the side of the barn, put a new, much longer cable on it, and plug it in. The light isn't brilliant but certainly good enough to do a bit of work in the dark evenings.

They are pretty expensive to run though, and the bulbs cost about £5 each, but my only other idea was lights off a generator, which would have been noisy, got in the way, and probably just as expensive with the price of fuel :)
 

Keimanp

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Hi,

having lights at 8-9foot high would mean that any ridden work would be shining directly into your horses and your eyes, its not something that is usually done.

It may be worth looking at putting a number of lights up possibly at 5-10m intervals down the two long sides of the school but pointing straight down to minimise light leakage and to stop them from blinding you.

Due to the number of lights you would want something relatively cheap to run so a compact flourescent light, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Energy-Saving-Compact-Fluorescent-Floodlight/dp/B002LSHN7M
 

martlin

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Hi,

having lights at 8-9foot high would mean that any ridden work would be shining directly into your horses and your eyes, its not something that is usually done.

It may be worth looking at putting a number of lights up possibly at 5-10m intervals down the two long sides of the school but pointing straight down to minimise light leakage and to stop them from blinding you.

Due to the number of lights you would want something relatively cheap to run so a compact flourescent light, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Energy-Saving-Compact-Fluorescent-Floodlight/dp/B002LSHN7M

How high would you put them? 9 foot is basically the max height that I can go for :eek:, of course, they can be lower...
 

orionstar

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We have 4 standard halogen spot lights (£7 each) on scaffolding poles which run around to a plug that goes into a generator (arenas too far from the electrical source). Minimal light leakage and plenty of light to ride in without casting odd shadows that youngsters seem to be terrified of. Because the scaffolding poles can be removed at any time and the generator is not permanently by the arena, they are classed as temporary lights - simples.
 

cptrayes

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I have sodium lights. They take some time to "warm up" but they cast less shadow and give a much "kinder" yellow light, which you could have lower down with no problems. They are also dead cheap to run, and don't fail nearly as often as my spotlights do.
 

Keimanp

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How high would you put them? 9 foot is basically the max height that I can go for :eek:, of course, they can be lower...

The lower the light the longer the shadows will be into the centre of the school. So in terms of reducing shadow length the higher the light the better. As you are limited in height to 9ft having few lights and projecting them accross the school will still create large shadows and also dazzle both horse and rider.

If you point them directly downwards you will need more lights as they will be lighting a smaller more concentrated area. In this case you can reduce the wattage of the light but would need to put more lights into your school. I would get one or two and put them up and experiment with height and distance appart. I would suggest that the light is at the riders eye level as this would stop the rider from being dazzled.

You will have to be patient with the horses as they get used to the shawdows that are created, but that in itself is a lesson. You may also have to light up small sections on the three banks you mention outside your school so your horses can see further a field and not be as easily spooked.

Lights on scaffold poles as temporary lights may be an option as Orionstar mentions as you could have them higher as they would be removed after use?
 

martlin

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I have sodium lights. They take some time to "warm up" but they cast less shadow and give a much "kinder" yellow light, which you could have lower down with no problems. They are also dead cheap to run, and don't fail nearly as often as my spotlights do.

I was wondering if sodiums might be way to go, actually :) Glad to hear it works.
 

martlin

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We have 4 standard halogen spot lights (£7 each) on scaffolding poles which run around to a plug that goes into a generator (arenas too far from the electrical source). Minimal light leakage and plenty of light to ride in without casting odd shadows that youngsters seem to be terrified of. Because the scaffolding poles can be removed at any time and the generator is not permanently by the arena, they are classed as temporary lights - simples.
Lights on poles etc just would not work, I can't just run a ''temporary'' cable... I need to wire the lot properly and just comply with whatever restrictions were put on me, anything for an easy life, tbh. Also, wouldn't I need quite a few of those thus running a risk of frying a 13 amp plug?
 

martlin

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The lower the light the longer the shadows will be into the centre of the school. So in terms of reducing shadow length the higher the light the better. As you are limited in height to 9ft having few lights and projecting them accross the school will still create large shadows and also dazzle both horse and rider.

If you point them directly downwards you will need more lights as they will be lighting a smaller more concentrated area. In this case you can reduce the wattage of the light but would need to put more lights into your school. I would get one or two and put them up and experiment with height and distance appart. I would suggest that the light is at the riders eye level as this would stop the rider from being dazzled.

You will have to be patient with the horses as they get used to the shawdows that are created, but that in itself is a lesson. You may also have to light up small sections on the three banks you mention outside your school so your horses can see further a field and not be as easily spooked.


Lights on scaffold poles as temporary lights may be an option as Orionstar mentions as you could have them higher as they would be removed after use?
I'm not particularly worried about horses, tbh... they will just have to get on with it, really :D Of course I don't want them or me to be dazzled, but within reason, they need to get a grip and behave with shadows and stuff beyond arena. As it is, they can't see over the banks anyway, I think it makes for a decent environment to focus on work in ;)
If I point the light directly downwards, won't I end up with basically middle of the school in complete darkness?

Sorry for all these questions, when it comes to electricity, I can hardly get over the idea of a hamster in a giant wheel :D
 

Keimanp

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I'm not particularly worried about horses, tbh... they will just have to get on with it, really :D Of course I don't want them or me to be dazzled, but within reason, they need to get a grip and behave with shadows and stuff beyond arena. As it is, they can't see over the banks anyway, I think it makes for a decent environment to focus on work in ;)
If I point the light directly downwards, won't I end up with basically middle of the school in complete darkness?

Sorry for all these questions, when it comes to electricity, I can hardly get over the idea of a hamster in a giant wheel :D

Pointing them directly down wards will reduce the light in the centre of the school, but with an increased number down either long side of the school the middle of the school will end up with some light and be visible just not brightly lit. Bright spots will occur under each light but won't cause an issue.

If directly downwards doesn't give enough light in the centre you can always angle them towards the centre in slow increments. The more they project the more you risk being dazzled.

I work with lights on tripods pointing at the ground to throw some light into the feild its not ideal and a larger more powerful light at a high level will give a more even spread of light. But I don't have this option at the moment so I have settled to compromise. More lights at a lower wattage would also be beneficial to further spread the light around.
 

NeilM

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First off, don't go with any form of tungsten or halogen lamp, they are very short lived and very expensive to run. High pressure sodium (SON) is a good light source, but given your restriction in height and the fact that you wish to practice flatwork, it is well worth considering fluorescent lights.

By fluorescent, I don't mean the kind of thing you have in the kitchen or garage, I mean exterior light fittings, but using fluorescent lamps as the source of light.

With fluorescent, the amount of glare is much less than a SON flood light, so the 'hot spots' of light below each column (pole) are much less. They also provide a much better uniformity (spread) of light, so you end up with less visible shadows (the shadows are still there, but they are not as sharp).

Your local electrical wholesalers should be able to point you in the right direction, especially if you have a Wilts Wholesale, Edmundsons or a Newey & Eyre in the area. BTW, they will do an over the counter cash sale, and always ask for the best price, if it sounds too high, walk away.

EDIT: Oh, just seen your plumbing post.

Think of light fittings as shower heads, the higher they are mounted, the wider the spread of light...erm, water, and the more the spreads overlap, the more even the spread of water...erm, light.
 
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NeilM

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The sort of thing I am thinking of would be a post top mounted bulkhead type fitting. If they have any yard / street type fittings, even better.

I'm pretty out of the loop these days, so the best thing is to go into a couple of wholesalers and ask what they have; they are likely to have someone in the branch that knows a bit about lighting and will be able to advise.
 
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We've just had 16 halogen floodlights put into our 40 x 80 school, on 8 lamposts. They light our areana perfectly! They take time to warm up, but by the time youve got on theyre on. We got ours done on the cheap - picked the lights up from an auction for a fraction of what they should of costed. Then put them on proper lamp posts, but you could use scaffold poles concreted in the ground. An electrician friend wired them in for us. Only real expense was the cable, but if you know someone or again an auction you can pick some up. We linked it into our mains supply and only took 3 of us a long weekend to get all done. Good luck!
 

ESH

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I was wondering if sodiums might be way to go, actually :) Glad to hear it works.

Yes they work fine. I have a 40x20 with 4 telegraph poles (2 on each long side) and I have 2 sodium lights on each. I put them on as I am tacking up and then they are warmed up ready to ride. Very cheap to run and I don't recall they were very expensive to buy and they don't blind you, so would think they should be ok at a lower height.
 

Mrs_Wishkabibble

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We have got sodiums, only have 2 up at the moment as are experimenting a bit at the moment but do have another 2 that we haven't put up yet.

We are just outside Boston if you wanted to come and take a look at ours or even see a couple working at fence level as hubby said he could rig them up at that height for you if you wanted to have a look then at least you would get an idea without rushing out and buying some if they wouldn't do the job.
 

martlin

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We have got sodiums, only have 2 up at the moment as are experimenting a bit at the moment but do have another 2 that we haven't put up yet.

We are just outside Boston if you wanted to come and take a look at ours or even see a couple working at fence level as hubby said he could rig them up at that height for you if you wanted to have a look then at least you would get an idea without rushing out and buying some if they wouldn't do the job.

That's very kind of you, thanks! I would love to pop in for a look see :D Whereabouts are you? and when are you free? PM me if you'd rather :)
 
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