with a budget of 15 grand...

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FrankieBoy

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Realistically... Am i going to be able to get a menage put in?
All we want is a basic, run of the mill sand school... but taking into account drainage etc etc...
Is 15 grand gonna cut it, Or will i start to cry when i begin shopping around for quotes?
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We put our own in for approx £9k, it's not a really smart professional job, but it is lovely, OH hired a digger man and he put drains in, then we ordered the base, hired some help in to sort that out, then ordered the sand and another digger thingy to flatten it all out - it's lovely!

Don't forget the planning permission! as your neighbours will complain - ours did!
 
We did ours for 10 but we...
1) got it dug out by the cheapest contractors
2) we hired a mini digger and dug the drainage ditches ourselves
3) we layed the drainage membrane and filled the ditches with the pipes and gravel etc to save on costs
4) we fenced it ourselves
5) we spread the surface ourselves

Good Luck its worth it !

...forgot to say we had to have quite a huggeee amount of soil dug out so that cost a little more than your probably would, and odnt forget it will cost to remove the soil removed! unless you can use it to fill in a ditch or sometign on your land!
 
Hmm...
So it is possible then.
Planning permission is already sorted, although apparetnly we'd need sperate planning permission for lights. Which i definately cant afford for the time being, anyway...
Ive got the 'man muscle' to do the worst of it without having to hire anyone, but were not overly sure what needs to be done. How do i go about finding out?
and are there any recomendations for surfaces etc?
 
We didn't get planning for lights, they are a bit picky over them.

We just have a silca sand surface which is working well although it is better when it is damp and it blows around in the wind - bloody sand everywhere!!

We were thinking of putting rubber on top.

You must be able to google 'building a menage'? I bet there is a lot of advise around.
 
I'd recommend speaking with local agricultural contractors - if they can't help you out digging the foundations/base/drains for your school and do the fencing etc then they'll be able to advise you of people who can - We spoke to our local farmer and got a whole list of very helpful contacts!
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You can do it cheaply if you are willing to put in the additionalwork yourself (such as fencing/rolling/flattening/laying the surface etc)
smile.gif

Kate x
 
Yep, I had built a 50x20 arena for about £8k 4 year ago or so. As above, I sourced the materials myself and got a contractor in to do the digging work etc. Just used basic sea sand and its been great, only problem is that it freezes when very very cold but thats not that often. Also make sure you get plenty of drainage in.

I've thrown all my stuff away now but one of the main arena builders have a very nice guide to how to build your own arena. Can't remember the name of them now though.
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with your lights... i may be wrong.. but i think its soomething to do with heights.. i know that at the yard im on, they had them up high, 1 neighbour complained, and they couldnt get planning for them..

BUT they are allowed to have them at a certain height.. id say our are around 5 foot from the floor.. lol they also keep you warm in the winter!
 
A friend of mine has some super security lights fitted at the end of her stables. They are on a motion sensor,and,funnily enough, come on when she is riding in the arena - must be adjusted wrong!
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