Tips to consider when building a horse arena are extremely vast and wide ranging but the majority of points to consider are shown and detailed below in our latest blog post to give you, the customer. A heads up on things to take into consideration.
We won't be covering every aspect of horse arena construction but we do hope to shed light on some of the points that can be easily over looked on what is a vital build for both the contractor and you the end owner.
It goes without saying that the constuction of a horse riding arena or what some refer to as a 'working arena' or 'sand school' is extremely important for a number of reasons. One of the main points is to ensure that the ground on which your arena or school is based on is extremely stable and not likely to break up under the pounding of your horse/horses moving around, this not only is dangerous for both horse and rider in terms of being able to safely work the horse and allowing the horse to feel safe but it could lead to serious injury should the rider fall.
Firstly ensure your site is placed on the most level part of your land but also, if able, make sure it's situated fairly close to stables to save the transfer of mud into stables and across membrane.
Don't compromise on budget and size. You really need to facilitate an arena that's as large as possible for your budget whilst remembering a large section of the budget will go into ground preparation and materials plus you will have extra room to work without riding the same section of arena continuously.
Drainage is paramount to the longevity of your arena even more so if you land has a fall in the direction of your arena. If you're unsure of the right drainage required, Contact Us to discuss your requirements and we will guide you in the right direction.
Is there suitable access for plant machinery, delivery vehicles (large articulated tippers) to both come in and position plus move around?. We always want to reduce further damage to your site as much as possible so the more room for vehicles the less damage is caused to the same pieces of land, especially if they are not hard standing.
All layers of the arena need to be both level and well compacted to ensure a safe working ground to ride on but also allow drainage sufficently to take excess water away and not flood any area near to your arena. Once membrance has been laid the arena will need to hold the right amount of moisture to ensure the surface is effective and just right to ride on.
Once your base layers and top layers are near completion you will need to ensure the riding surface materails are compacted well to around 5 or 6 inches in depth. Your finish materials area either a good quality silca sand or other common materials include chopped rubber in large pieces which help retain moisture in the sand.
These are just a few brief pointers to take into consideration when thinking of your new school arena or working ring. We can also undertake the reinstatement of neat hedge banks, fencing and gateways to your new arena and if required, additional car parking for horse boxes, trailers and 4x4s with specific paths leading into your arena or other Landscaping requirements.
