Building a Sand arena

meljets

Hi everyone,

My daughter is a keen rider and we have recently inherrited some property in Kerry which we are going to make our holiday home.

We would love to keep horses there with stables and outdoor sand arena.

Is there any specialist companies that would build an arena?

Do you need planning permission for an arena?

Also, who do contact to find out if a field is suitable for grazing?

Any info much appreciated.
thanks

togster

Yes there are companies that do it but be prepared to loose your arm and leg. Its a pretty straight forward process and relatively inexpensive. I know when we build ours my dad had the cost subsidised. Contact the irish horse board for information relating to grants. You could easily do it yourself. Some good subbase, membrane and good sand and you're sorted!

finbarrk

You wont need planning permission unless you are applying for a grant, and you can't apply for a grant unless you have a certain amount of stock on your farm. I think it comes under a 'farm improvement scheme' , so its the local dept. of agriculture to make enquiries to.
I also heard of a good company in Kerry that do a good job on them, I'll try and find out their name.
It's an easier job to get wrong than right so it's important to visit lots of different arenas and ask everybody for tips, etc.

kerrysgold

I agree, building an arena does seem pretty straighforward, you'd need post & rail fencing and the sand obviously or you could go for that rubber stuff which is supposed to be better. not sure if you need to make any sort of base though.

As for the grazing, how much of it is there?

and who will be looking after the horses for the rest of the year as you say this is only your holiday home?

fits

kerrysgold wrote: »

I agree, building an arena does seem pretty straighforward, you'd need post & rail fencing and the sand obviously or you could go for that rubber stuff which is supposed to be better. not sure if you need to make any sort of base though.

The base and drainage is the most important (and seemingly difficult) thing to get right.
Good advice from togster and finbarrk there.

togster

finbarrk wrote: »

You wont need planning permission unless you are applying for a grant, and you can't apply for a grant unless you have a certain amount of stock on your farm.

Must've changed since we did ours then. We had no stock other than 3 horses. Good advice though on researching it right. I have seen people take short cuts and ended up woth bad water logged arenas with membrane poking up all over the place.

meljets

Thanks for all the info.

Good news on the planning permission.

I have been researching it on the net and this is the way I'm thinking at the moment.

1. Don't rush into this - it could be the most expensive hamster cage ever bought (long story....)

2. I reckon a good builder/landscaper should be able to do it. The important thing will be drainage and getting the layers of materials right. I have seen a method which details - digging - getting level - herringbone drainage - hardcore - silica sand and then a top of crumbed rubber - I'm still researching but I reckon I could get a local to do this.

3. I know of two private sand arenas in the immediate area and I am going to talk to them about how, who, etc.

Good point on the who will look after the horse when we are not there... my daughters older cousin lives there and she wants to own her own horse also so we are offering her a stable and use of arena in return for her looking after our horse when we are not there. My only concern there is that my daughter may not want to leave her there and then I am thinking that we might try and get casual livery in Dublin for a few weeks in term time.

Keep you posted

kerrysgold

Personally, I think a field shelter would be sufficient, you don't really need stables.
I don't envy you having to pay Dublin livery cost's, it'd probably be cheaper to leave the horse in the care of your cousin and drive back and forth lol.

monflat

Kerrysgold with regard to field shelters horses and ponies have been known to go in and eat what forage may be left in them and then come back out.
In my opinion a field shelter is a waste of money unless you live on a prarie where it is absolutly necessary.
If the field has sufficient hedging and trees etc around it you will find most of the time the horse will be outside.
This is associated with being back in the wild if the horse is in a field shelter they cannot hear properly and they cannot hear predators approaching and cannot escape if they do approach
and i have known many people who have constructed valuable field shelters where the horses will not go into only if there is food in there.
They will leave immediately after eating.

I think a sand arena is a good idea as it saves undue stress on the ponies legs if it were to be ridden over rough unlevel ground in a field. or if in the summer when the ground goes hard it can save the pony from splints etc

kerrysgold

I know, that's why I'd think twice about building one myself, but if she feels she needs to provide shelter for the horses it's nice for them to have the option especially if the field isn't naturally sheltered. even if they didn't want to go into it they could stand behind if they wanted shelter from the wind or rain it if it was placed in the middle of the field.

meljets

Thanks for all the advice guys...

The problem is although there are 12 arcres of land I don't think any of it is suitable for keeping horses which is why I was going down the arena/stables route.

It is either rock and bog or forestry and although the forestry is pretty worthless it would be a big job to clear.

There is a couple of acres which is on an estuary shoreline and a local did think it might be workable but I am worried that the septic tank is too near to it, it may be too exposed and too rough to create a pasture.

Who could I go to to get that checked out - would dept. of agriculture be the people to contact?

kerrysgold

well no matter what the land is like you can't keep a horse in a stable, could you not even do a couple of acres? get it plowed up, raked over and seeded. a local with a tractor would probably be happy to do this for you.

fits

meljets wrote: »

Who could I go to to get that checked out - would dept. of agriculture be the people to contact?

Perhaps a Teagasc advisor could help you. I'd give them a call if I were you. It would be best if there were some grazing for the horses really (although you could rent land nearby).

finbarrk

The name of the guy from Kerry that I mentioned to do the sand arenas is Kelly from Ballydesmond. I don't have any more details but I'm sure it should be possible to find him.

spooner_src

Can somebody give me a rough idea on how much a 20x40 arena will cost? I am talking good drainage, surface and fencing around it. Thanks.

finbarrk

spooner_src wrote: »

Can somebody give me a rough idea on how much a 20x40 arena will cost? I am talking good drainage, surface and fencing around it. Thanks.

I presume thats meters your measurments are. If so approx €10k. maybe more depending on a lot of things.

spooner_src

Yes it's meters. About 10.000 Euro, thats what I had in mind myself. It's no cheap thing to built it seems.

wombles

If you want a decent arena the sand used is also important. You need to use silica sand of a resonable quality.

kerrysgold

or you can use the recycled tyres stuff which is supposed to be nice and springy.

convert

kerrysgold wrote: »

well no matter what the land is like you can't keep a horse in a stable, could you not even do a couple of acres? get it plowed up, raked over and seeded. a local with a tractor would probably be happy to do this for you.

If you don't have an alternative then stables are brilliant. A lot of people only have space for a few stables, small yard and an arena, and their horses are well cared for.

Regarding getting 'a local with a tractor' to reclaim a few acres of land for you.... Do you know how hard land reclamation is? Do you know how long it takes? And the effort involved? Not to metion the cost!

Regarding the building of the arena...

As advised by most people, taking your time and considering all your options is the best way. Look into the costs of everything, and where you can source the cheapest materials.

It's also worthwhile to consider the best location for your arena on your land, taking into consideration whether you want it close to the house/yard, the gradient of the area, access for lorries, tractors, other vehicles who'll be delivering stone, fencing materials, etc.

We built an arena a few years ago, c. 30mx30m, and put woodchip on it rather than sand or the sand/rubber option. Although it takes a while for it to settle, we've found it brilliant. It's so soft on the horses' joints and there's no fear of them jarring themselves. We've nearly used it more in the summer months (when the ground is too hard to jump) than in the winter, 'though we use it for cantering work in the winter/spring.

Sand/rubber option is good, 'though if it's not well looked after (ie harrowed frequently) it can compact and isn't nice ride on.

I think Teagasc used to give grants to build an arena if you had a 'sport' horse, so it might be worthwhile talking to your local Teagasc office to see whether or not the grant is still in existence, and if there are any other grants available. Moreover, if you did want to go down the land reclamation route, they'd be able to advise you on that, too.

Best of luck with the arena!

seabee

Does anyone know where I can get a spec for the floor build-up of an arena / cantering area?

meljets

In my research I found this site

http://webpro.touchexeter.com/webpro/live/jacksonarenas/

DougieH

On the Department of Agriculture's website (www.agriculture.gov.ie) under the Farm Buildings section there is information on the specifications required for stables/arenas/horse walkers. These spec's only apply if your applying for a grant.

The grant available for Arenas/Stables/Gallops/fFencing came under the Farm Improvement Scheme which gave a 40% Grant towards the costs of construction up to a certain amount. The FIS Grant is currently closed. It was shutdown last October. This grant may re-open again but when this is likely to happen is unknown. There was no minimum stocking rate required to apply for this grant but you had to be able to justify why you were building i.e you couldn't build five stables if you only owned one horse. Also you would need a equine/flock/herd number to apply and also planning permission (if it is required). Should these grants return it will be well publisized in the farming press. Also an Agricultural Consultant is required to fill up the grant application form.

seabee

thanks lads

brownswiss

finbarrk wrote: »

You wont need planning permission unless you are applying for a grant, and you can't apply for a grant unless you have a certain amount of stock on your farm. I think it comes under a 'farm improvement scheme' , so its the local dept. of agriculture to make enquiries to.
I also heard of a good company in Kerry that do a good job on them, I'll try and find out their name.
It's an easier job to get wrong than right so it's important to visit lots of different arenas and ask everybody for tips, etc.

A friend of mine recently had to remove his sand arena because of an objection from a neighbour. It was a small arena but was not the required 100m distance from the nieghbour or the public road. It seems the county council will turn a blind eye until some contrary neighbour forces them to enact the legislation.

I am just starting an arena and would like to know how to construct the corners of the fence. Unless I use two corner posts at each corner I can't have the rails on the face of the corner post. I know there are flimsy ways around this but was wondering what was the proper way. My corner posts are 8" x 8" and cost €63 approx each so I will not be using two on each corner