Wooden stables and arena – case study from Suffolk

By Phillipa

The dream of ‘bringing the horses home’ is something we often hear when customers first contact us to discuss their equestrian projects. One client recently engaged Chapelstone to design and construct her wooden stables and arena because she wanted to have her own and her children’s ponies at home. They wanted;

• Three stables
• A 20 x 40 sand and fibre arena
• A tack room
• A storage barn
• Tracks and a horse lorry turning area
• A washdown area

Stable & Arena design to suit our customer’s lifestyle

Chapelstone worked closely with the family to lay out a design that matched their ideal and worked on a practical level. We then sent in our groundworks teams to construct the stable bases and begin work on the arena and the tracks and turning area. Meanwhile, our stable building team were preparing the panels and framework off-site, ready to construct once the groundworks had been completed. We listened to what the family felt would suit their needs and how this would fit in aesthetically with their property and surroundings. A black finish was chosen for the stables, with a concrete corrugated roof. The grey colour of the roof contrasts beautifully with the finish on the wood. In fact, our customer loves the appearance of her stable yard so much that she has placed a garden furniture set in the far corner from where she can admire her horses, her hanging baskets, and enjoy a post ride tipple!

The finishing touches that make all the difference

We offer our customers a huge variety of optional extras. For this build, the family chose; A Clear roof sheet in each stable This allows light in thereby offering a kinder environment for the horse, and of course means that the owner or groom can actually see what they are doing whilst in the stable! Talk grills between the stables. We like to put talk grills in because we know that horses are usually social animals who enjoy interaction with each other and can be comforted by the sight of one of their own. Floodlights in yard and arena We wish those balmy summer evenings where it stays light until 10pm lasted all year. But they don’t. So having good lighting makes perfect sense. Extra deep chew strips Just to be on the safe side.  Because you know, horses. We think the end result is just perfect. But the people whose opinions really count are the customers. They have been using their new buildings and arena for a few weeks now, and this is what they had to say; “From start to finish Chapelstone were absolutely amazing – receiving the 3D drawings from Sarah (complete with hanging baskets!) gave us a clear idea of what the final layout would look like. No other company was able to provide us with this and being able to visualise the project was hugely important to us. Having never undertaken anything like this before we decided to go with Chapelstone for the whole project and we were so pleased that we did – although you pay a little more for this it meant the whole thing ran seamlessly. Any minor blips were ironed out on the same day – and the peace of mind was priceless. Nigel and Adam were an amazing duo – never before have we met people who took so much pride in their work – who knew concrete could be an art – the comments we’ve had on their finishing touches have been endless. Mark and his crew had the stables up in no time at all and once again the attention to detail was amazing. Each day I wander down through the ‘tunnel of trees’ with my little girl to our horsey haven and have to pinch myself that it really is ours. Ever since I was a little girl I dreamt of being able to have horses at home and I can never thank Chapelstone enough for turning my dreams into reality. You are all absolute stars! Thank you all so much.”