Light suitable for outdoor horse riding arena

[sparkywell]

Hi all

Can anyone recommend me a light that would be suitable for an outdoor horse riding arena? The arena is approx 30m x 30m and there is 1 pole where i can fix 1 light to. Would a normal 400w floodlight cover the area? Would it blind the horse?

Would I be better with a metal halide light? If yes what wattage would be suitable?

 

[needasparks]

Yes i would definately go with a metal halide as lamp life would be in years rather than months and it would give much more light without so many shadows, even better if you can get light from more than one direction.
I have done a few horse riding areas and anything that gets rid of shadows is a must, So i'm told it spooks the horses.

 

[alarm man]

Hi all

Can anyone recommend me a light that would be suitable for an outdoor horse riding arena? The arena is approx 30m x 30m and there is 1 pole where i can fix 1 light to. Would a normal 400w floodlight cover the area? Would it blind the horse?

Would I be better with a metal halide light? If yes what wattage would be suitable?

you will need more than 1,ive done smaller ones that needed 6 400x mh floods,fitted the 4 corners first but left a dark area in the middle so fitted another one on each side,you could ask the owner to fit somemore telegraph poles,cheap enough and quite easy to fit,

 

[JD6400]

It depends what type of riding the client wants to do , how often , what size of supply is available , the available hight to mount at and possible planning issues that they are trying to avoid by just having the one fitting ?
But without a doubt metal halide wins the day and shadows are reasonably bad news !
Less is sometimes more ! If you can , install more lower wattage fittings and try to spread the light evenly from multiple points for the best results .

 

[Dan the spark]

I done one of these a few years back. Originally they had one light and horses being scared of anything that moves kept getting spooked by the shadow created. So installed 6 in total on new poles

 

[alarm man]

not all horses are spooked by shadows,but some can be a bit flighty around cars etc and could be spooked by shadows so they will probably the ones who really need to use the arena,as dan says the more the better,

 

[bugsy]

you will need more than 1,ive done smaller ones that needed 6 400x mh floods,fitted the 4 corners first but left a dark area in the middle so fitted another one on each side,you could ask the owner to fit somemore telegraph poles,cheap enough and quite easy to fit,

Id agree with alarm man 6 minimum depending on mounting height and fitting selected ( lumen output / beam angle etc )

 

[PC Electrics]

If it's a commercial operation you will need to meet this spec:
Lightnation

I've just done a private menage with 6x 400W MHs on 6m posts. The owner is well chuffed. However we could not put lights along one long side because of nearby houses. It was a standard 40x20 menage

If yours is 30m square you could probably get away with a post in each corner with one flood on each. 6m was as high as I was prepared to go on a ladder (I have a 3 x 3.5m heavy duty job), any higher and you'd need a lift.

 

[poppypiesdad]

On our 60m x 25m sand school arena i put up two 7 m lamp posts topped with a 400w metal halide on each , switch at the gate to the entry to the school.
Each lampost 20 in on the long site so one at 20m the next at 40m and to be honest it gives more than enough light even for jumping in the pitch dark

Horses should get used to it , just make sure they are mounted high enough that then the rider turns the corner they are not staring straight into a light , thats the main problem , not enough height

Jamie