Clearing and creating a riding arena

We’ve lived at this place for about 6 years now and used the ‘arena space’ in a number of ways since. When we first moved here, it was an overgrown, weedy paddock that the former owners used as a throw-all. In the first clearing, we did multiple burn offs and found broken glass and pieces of metal and as the years went on and the space was used in different ways, we continued to clear it to make it fit for purpose.

With Moosey boy joining our family, we initially and currently, use it as a holding/overnight yard for him that’s safely enclosed with fencing and electrical tape and where he has his feed net and water tray, etc. But in planning the space where his stable is, we realised the extra work we initially wanted to do was just extra work when we could save not only time and money by repurposing this holding yard.

Hence, clearing the arena. This space is actually 20×40, so proper arena sized. Initially we were going to extend this stable area to the same size, and then put a round yard and some walkways and realised the solution to our problem had been staring us in the face! We already have the space, fenced off and it’s good to use. All we need to do is clear the trees currently there and get it leveled and filled.

So that’s what we’re going to do. In the below pics (also shared on our Instagram profile), we started clearing one side thinking we would get it done much quicker than we did. But unfortunately, or fortunately for us, we realised it was better if we mulched and burned off as we went, so we have less mess around the place and clumps of wood and bark we then need to double or triple handle just to clean up.

With husband now offline due to knee surgery and me still working full time and taking on all the chores, I still have some clean up to do in this space to make it useable. While I am less likely to be cutting down the rest of the trees, I can at least move the mulch and current branches/stumps in there so I can use the side of the space I have. It’s still ample for lunging and doing some technical work and circles.

I’m excited to use this new area. It will also be beneficial for us in terms of capital improvement on the property and gives us some good experience in what we can improve on with the next place.

So, if you’re interested to see how we develop this space, make sure to keep reading and link in with our socials. We update regularly on the progress of our projects. You can also subscribe to our blog to make sure you get all the round-ups and updates first!

Have you ever built an arena? What were some of the challenges you faced? Let me know in the comments below.