project case study

I had worked with Laura and Trish on a small outdoor at their previous facility and was excited for them when they reached out to say they’d found a new property and were building a covered arena. We had them penciled in on our schedule to install the base and footing once the builder was ready for us, but their project kept getting delayed due to unexpected zoning and county regulations.

Eventually they decided to change course and just build an outdoor arena, with the thought in mind that they may cover it later. Understandably, they were anxious to move forward since they’d already lost so much time and had been riding in a field for months just trying to keep their horses going. And now without knowing if/when they’d ever have an indoor, their goal was to have an arena that was as all-weather as possible. They also decided to add an exercise track to the project to give their horses some variety. So while the timing and scope of the project changed drastically on our end, we were able to adjust accordingly as things progressed to meet their new requests.

 Since we weren’t originally planning on doing any of the site work, we hadn’t seen the property and didn’t know what we were starting with. With an indoor, it’s a controlled environment and by the time a new one is under roof and ready for the base and footing, all grading and drainage obstacles have already been addressed. But with a new outdoor, all of the existing topography and soil conditions have to be considered.

When we met on site to evaluate things and come up with a plan, we discovered that the area designated for the arena had quite a bit of standing water, so we modified our working design to reinforce the base with geotech fabric and install culverts to ensure the integrity of the arena. While that phase was underway, I worked closely with both Laura and Trish to finalize a footing that would meet their training needs and then advised them on what maintenance equipment would be best suited to their facility.

Both the arena and the track turned out great, and it was a fun project despite all the surprises! Shortly after we wrapped that up, we also installed an automatic fly spray system in their main barn and aisle flooring in their auxiliary barn. 

“After receiving bids from several vendors, we elected to go with Sandy/F.I.C.S for helping us build a new 90’x200’ outdoor arena and a separate 10’x 800’ track. We are a small, private boarding/training/Hanoverian breeding facility on the Eastern Shore of MD focused primarily on dressage.

Originally, we had planned to build a covered arena but, after many months of working on permits with our local county, decided the regulations/requirements were going to take so long and add so much cost to the project we would pursue the best possible outdoor arena we could install instead.

Of course, as soon as we made that decision, we wanted it installed immediately and F.I.C.S was able to start shortly thereafter. Having just experienced a fall/winter of enormous rain, a big requirement was the best possible drainage so that the ring would be usable asap after heavy rains.

The ring and track have now been in a few months, and we’ve had multiple crazy storms where we were able to safely ride within 12 hours! F.I.C.S has been fantastic to work with – responsive, knowledgeable, reasonably priced and delivered on their word in every way possible.

Based on the ring/track experience, we’ve also just recently installed a barn fly system and are about to install interlocking mats in our grooming area/wash stall with F.I.C.S.”