Would you find this school big enough?

A

Ahrena

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 June 2007
Messages
1,879
Visit site
Well basically we have found this amazing house, 11 acres, 3 stables and space to build more if we wanted to/got p&p, under our budget all that. It includes some xc fences and a full set of SJ fences. The house is nice too
wink.gif


The only thing is, the menage is 30 x 15m. Would you find this big enough to work in? There would only be 1 or 2 people in there at the most, and my current horses are 15.1hh and 14.3hh but with 11 acres I think its invetable that more will join sooner or later, and if I got another one i'd be looking 15.2 - 16.2hh. I'm mainly concerned about fitting jumps in.

I'm used to a 40 x 60m menage which I thought was bigger than that, so it might not be too bad. In summer and good ground I can put the jumps in a field, obviously, and even buy dressage markers so I could have a proper "dressage" arena, but in winter, would there be enough room to set up a decent gridwork?

The estate agent said there is room to expand it to a 30 x 60 (I /think/ thats what he said, or 30 x 40 or something like that) which we can afford as we just had our house valued at £75,000 more than we thought we'd get, but this is more if we cannot get planning permission to extend it.

We're (hopefully) going to see it at the weekend so I can get a better idea then, but just wondering what you thought? Other than this, it seems perfect. Thanks

laugh.gif


edit// I was also gonna ask, is there any way you can find out about planning permission before buying? ta
 
i went to Judy Bradwell's place years ago and i'm sure her indoor school was about that size, if not smaller... it was definitely quite a bit smaller than 20x40, cos i was a bit shocked. i think if they're used to working in there, a 2040 must feel really roomy!
obviously you can't put a course up in there, or a big grid, or really open up in extended trot, but for a few jumps, and for general schooling, i think it would be alright, especially if the horses aren't huge.
i wouldn't want to start schooling a big youngster (16h plus) in a school that size though, or at least not in canter.
 
I spent a short time at a livery yard last year (in between buying/selling houses) School was 15x30ish - it is very tight for larger horses - fine for lunging, no good for jumping except for single fences on the circle/up the long side etc.

They enlarged it to 20x30 (so sorted out the width) which made a huge difference to useability BUT.....extending a school is technically quite difficult - it is often easier and cheaper to rip it up and start again - certainly you have to go all the way down to the rubble at the bottom of the drainage and dig out from there - I know this as my OH builds arenas and polo fields etc. Your local builder would probably do it on the cheap, but make sure that the levels are spot on, or the bigger Arena companies would probably recommend starting again.....

Happy house hunting!
 
You can send a planning enquiry (not actually applying for permission) to the local council and the planning officer will give a non binding opinion on the prospects of success in an application.
You can also apply for planning if you don't own the place, but that is not a good move - you might really tick off the current owner by having a refused application against them if you don't go ahead.
Presumably there was a reason they build it that small
 
I don't think a 30m x 15m is really big enough to work in, it's too small to do a dressage test in & it would be a little tight jumping in there. If you have the extra cash, assuming you like the house & facilities, then I would definately expand the size assuming there is room around it. You rerally need a minimum of 20m x 40m but if you can do larger then great.

I suppose you should ask for planning permission, but I doubt if you would have any problem getting approval as the menage is already there. I know alot of people wouldn't bother involving the council, they'd just expand it.
wink.gif
 
Thanks, I figured it was small too, especially as I'm used to 60 x 40. Also I love bringing on babies and for their first time cantering ect I think it would be small.

When we enquired, the estate agent said that we wouldn't need planning permission to extend it and just to go ahead and do it - is that allowed or would we get fined or anything?

Thanks everyone
 
No I'm pretty sure you'd need planning. You can can always phone up the local planning officer for an informal chat about it to hear their views.
 
Personally would say too small.

It's easier to start again than to add to existing - we priced it up when we looked at a similare property and yes you would need Planning Permission to increase it.

I wouldn't want to go less than 20x40 for alone / 2 riders and bigger if more
 
[ QUOTE ]
I don't think a 30m x 15m is really big enough to work in, it's too small to do a dressage test in ........

[/ QUOTE ]

have you actually tried? my arena is 30m x 18m , we compete dressage up to elementary , my horse is 16.1hh , we do just fine , i practice at home & actually find it easier when i get to a comp as i;m used to a more resticted area , wuth a little improvising i even practice the 60x20 tests in there although on some of them some of the movements get a bit awkward

my point , depending on what you want to do , it is workable
 
you definitely need planning permission to extend it, although lots of people wouldn't bother.
could you perhaps put another one down elsewhere and keep that one for turnout in winter? that's what i was going to do with a small arena at one place i looked at.
extending them is a bit of a nightmare, getting the levels and drainage right so that it stays constant on top, i think.
 
Mine is 15m x 24m and I find it plently big enough I can fit three jumps across it and I've even had a mix of show and cross-country jumps set up in there. Also have plently of room for both my 14hh and 16hh
 
Thanks, my mum spoke to a place which builds schools and they said planning permission depends on the local council, so will give them a ring. They couldn't give us a figure though as the person who actually builds them was away but yeah.

I think if there's space we could look into putting another one in and saving that as a lunge/turnout pen, if not might be easier just to rip the whole thing up and start again.

I assume if it was all ripped up ect we wouldn't have a problem getting all the levels ect the same?
 
Our arena that has just been put in is 20 x30 metres and is absolutly fine for 2 to schoolin but you can only really fit 2 0r three jumps in, and can only have one person jumping at a time as you get in each others way.
 
I believe that you should not work on a circle of less than 20m - too much strain on the horse. its not a case of how many horses can fit in there - more the question is can the horse work comfortably on such a tight circle.
 
i think that you would be fine with it - as others have said, not to do a course etc but how are the fields? you could section a bit of a field off to put a course up either to use full time or until you got planning If you felt you really needed it larger. Why not either ask if you can try your horse in it (assuming its not too far) or in the school you use at the moment - measure out the 30X15, put jump poles down to make the 'fences' of the new arena and see how you can manage in that given space?
 
I wouldn't want to work my riding horse in it, he's a big 16.2 so it would put quite a strain on him. Also I've found out the hard way that if things go really wrong on a big horse in a small area you rapidly run out of options - the size of the school didn't make him run off/bolt but it did take away any chance I had of handling it safely & we ended up nearly falling over then hitting a wall. I won't ride in very small arenas now, I value my neck.
 
for the last year I've only had access to a 15 x 12m school for my 15hh youngster, and although it's far better than nothing, it's bloody difficult to work with and I ended up with a lame horse for 2 months just before I moved
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top