# Inexpensive arena ideas?



## waygr00vy

We recently moved and have a lot more space, however, we have a lot of work to do building barns, pens, etc. I also really need to get a riding arena put up but right now, most of our funds are going towards a goat barn/tack/feed room. The horses have run in shelters we are going to make into stalls. I have a couple green horses I am working with, plus would like to give some lessons from the house as opposed to driving all over the place, but really need an arena (outdoor). Anyone have any good ideas for inexpensive construction of a halfway decent arena? Needs to be big enough to set up a small course of jumps and look sturdy enough a young/green horse thinks it should stay in


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## wr

My father is the king of cheap and he scrounged up a bunch of telephone poles to make his arena. Each year, the power company replaces a certain number of poles and they just give away the older ones. They aren't easy to handle because they're heavy but they work really well. 

He modernized his round pen a few years ago. Initially, his round pen consisted of stout poles and poplar trees about the size of tepee poles that he'd hacked the branches off. I swear I could have kept the blood bank stocked years in advance on the amount I shed scraping against the stumps left when he hacked off the branches. 

When I moved further away and he had a pretty gelding he wanted to start, I notice he rebuilt the round pen with railway ties that he scrounged up with portions of the railway line were rebuilt. He claims it was purely coincidence but secretly, I think he might have held a bit of a grudge over a little incident involving a couple brand new ropes.

Incidentally, if you think I'm overstating his thriftiness, he built his horse barn for $250.


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## littlejoe

Shucks WR, there isn't anything wrong with cheap as long as your not sacrificing quality.

I've built one round pen out of railroad ties... buried about a foot standing up, and with a cable around the outside top to keep them there.

Here's a picture of the last one I've made using power poles. The poles were free too, but the gates had a little money in them by the time they were finished. No gate pics, but I could take some if someone wants to see some good roundpen gates.

Both roundpens are darn nice to work a horse in. The bottoms are solid, and the rest solid enough nothing wants to look out.

The arena the roundpen lets out in has more power poles for upright posts also(for 3/4 of the circumference), with concrete reinforcement wire strung between. I've put up guard rail about midway around most most of it. Think I've found some more cheap enough to suit me. I need to take a picture of the arena too. still isn't completed, but plenty good enough to ride in.

The poles were N/C for a total cleanup of the pile. I split it with another feller, and hauled four semiloads, and three 20' trailer loads out of there. I've still got lots of poles left! 
Lets see if I remember how to post a pic?


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## wr

littlejoe, I have no problem with cheap till I discovered that that tepee sized tree trunks will stubs left behind can make using said facility a blood sport.


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## jill.costello

You can make an impressive-looking arena with the ultra-wide hot tape. Horseguard is a very expensive version, so what I usually do is gather their materials list and then order the cheaper materials from valleyvet.com or similar.

They have a "round pen kit" for 399.00, here's the link to scroll down to the very bottom to see the round pen it makes. http://www.horseguardfence.com/newprod/kits.php Perhaps modifying the design to a 60 x 140 and reducing the number of strands would keep it in your budget.


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## waygr00vy

Wow, that power pole round pen looks pretty nice! Unfortunately, we don't have the right equipment for dealing with a lot of those big poles but definitely good ideas for the future. We do have some railroad ties already but I think they are destined to be cross country jumps! Thanks for the link Jill, that might be in our budget and something I can basically do myself (DH works all day so with his limited time, I have to save the real grunt work I can't do myself for when he is home). I will check around on prices for the materials. I do wonder though if they would be nervous thinking it is "hot" (I wouldn't electrify it, nothing like accidentally bumping into the hotwire on a young horse)!

wr, that is pretty impressive building a barn for $250!


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## wr

waygr00vy, he took all the power poles I had salvaged, he got all the wood for the interior from a grain elevator that was being torn down and the only thing he paid for was the tin for the roof and he got a good deal on that because someone else had ordered it and didn't like the color.


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## jill.costello

No, I wouldn't electrify it, either, while riding. It is for the visual barrier only while riding, BUT, because it IS elecrifiable, in a pinch you COULD turn it on and turn somebody out, or free-lunge. Nice to have the option!

I have been using the wide hot tape for over 10 years, and I am a one-woman-operation: I can pound t-posts, install sleeves over them, and hook up plastic insulators with absolutely no help and in a VERY short amount of time. It looks good, the horses can SEE it, it never needs painting, and on the off chance one of them "crashes" it, they don't get hurt and I'm only out about 20 bucks in insulators and an hour of my time to patch it up! <I LOVE the stuff!>

I will try to find better pictures of it in application......<goes to Google....>


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## mayfair

We have a wide electric tape pen too and it works great. I don't electrify it anymore and they don't test it.


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## malinda

What type of footing do you plan on using? Around here that is the most expensive part if you plan to use the arena in spring and autumn.


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## waygr00vy

As far as footing, I plan on it being just grass for now. Wherever it goes now may not be the permanent spot since we have a lot of pens and shelters/barns to build over the next year. Part of the reason why the t-posts and tape appeal as well, fairly easy to take down and move. I have been eyeing the front area of one of our pastures. The perimeter is t-posts and 5 strands of high tensile hot wire. It is rectangular shaped with a runway leading to the back. Thinking maybe I can add some insulators to the posts that are there, attach some of the tape to make it more visible, and then use my plastic step-ins I have to put something up across the runway to close it off when I am riding. It is quite a bit larger than I would need but maybe I could make a t-post/tape round pen inside of this area for when I needed a smaller enclosed area. Will have to go out and measure today! Eventually when we know where it will be going permanently, I think we will use the crushed blue stone (seems to be what people use around here). 

Is 1 1/2" tape the size you use? That seems to be the largest I am coming across...


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## 2horses

Please make sure you put the rubber t-post caps on any that you may use for your fencing, either perimeter or arena.


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## waygr00vy

We will, the perimeter fence already has them so will just have to out them on any new t-posts we put in.


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