Renting a private arena in France: what to check before you book

Many yards and private owners in France have an arena that sits empty for most of the week. For a rider bringing on young horses, that empty arena is exactly what is missing: a new place to work, close to home, without the cost and the stress of a show. Renting it by the hour is becoming common. Here is what to check before you book one.

What you can rent

• Outdoor arenas, the most common, usually 20 × 40 m, 20 × 60 m or larger.
• Indoor schools, useful in winter and for horses that need a quieter, enclosed space.
• Gallop tracks, for eventers and racehorses in training.
• Cross-country fields, sometimes with fences that can be jumped by arrangement.
• Lunging rings, handy for a first visit with a very young horse.

The checks that matter

Size

Ask for the size in metres, not “a big arena”. A 20 × 40 m arena is fine for flatwork with a young horse but tight for a course of jumps. A 40 × 80 m arena gives room for a full course or for lengthening the canter.

Footing

Sand, fibre sand, geotextile, wood chips or grass: each behaves differently, and the same footing changes with the weather. Ask when the arena was last harrowed and how it drains after rain. A deep or uneven surface is the wrong place to teach a young horse anything.

What is already there

Jumps, fillers, dressage letters, ground poles, cavaletti, mirrors. Knowing this in advance tells you what to bring in your lorry and what you can practise.

Access for your lorry

Check that a lorry can get in, park on firm ground and turn round. A narrow lane or a soft field can ruin the visit before it starts.

Facilities

Toilets, water for the horses, a place to tie up or a spare stable, and somewhere to eat nearby if you are making a day of it.

Price and booking terms

Arenas are usually priced per hour and per horse. Before you book, read three terms carefully:

• Booking notice: how far in advance you must book, often 24 or 48 hours.
• Cancellation: until when you can cancel for free, and what you pay after that.
• Weather: who decides when an outdoor arena is unusable, and what happens to your booking.

If you plan several visits, booking a few slots in one request saves time for you and for the owner.

House rules

A private arena is someone’s home or business. Most owners ask for the same things:

• pick up droppings before you leave;
• put jumps and letters back where they were;
• keep dogs on a lead or leave them in the car;
• respect the hours kept for resident horses.

Paperwork owners ask for

Expect to show that your horses are vaccinated against equine flu and identified with their passport and SIRE number, the French identification number. Owners also want to know that you hold third-party liability insurance for yourself and your horses. On JumpinSpot this is checked when you send your request, so the owner can answer quickly.

Preparing a young horse for its first show? Read our plan to introduce a young horse to a new arena, then search arenas near you.

If you own the arena

Renting out your arena on weekdays can bring in money from a space you already maintain. Before your first rider, talk to your insurer about outside riders on your property, and to your accountant if you are a private individual: regular rentals may need to be declared. Then set clear rules and a fair hourly price, and decide which slots you open.