08/19/2026
No excuses 🙌
Work with what you have!
Pray and He will make it happen.
You don’t need a fancy fenced arena to get started.
I’ve heard that excuse time and again, that people can’t work their horses because they can’t afford to build an arena.
All it cost me to “build” mine was fuel for my tractor and time. That’s it. No fancy fence, no outside dirt, just a tiller, and I’ll do it again on my new property.
Here’s the thing: most professional trainers didn’t start in a fenced in arena with perfect ground. They worked in their pasture or tilled a patch of dirt and got going. You either find a way or you manufacture excuses.
I didn’t add anything to my ground. It’s simply pasture that I tilled in until I got rid of the grass. That’s it. The more I rode on it, the more I learned how it needed to be worked, when it was safe and when it wasn’t. No sand, no dirt brought in, nothing. Just whatever Kentucky clay was there is what I’ve got. I don’t even work it every day. Sometimes I only work it once a week so my horses learn how to work the bottom of the ground.
So what about the fence? Unless you’re roping calves, you don’t need one. If you’re worried about your horse being a runaway, then chances are you need to go back to basic horsemanship and gain control before doing any barrel work.
Remember, some of the best trainers in the world didn’t start in an arena. They worked in pastures or hauled to arenas. If they can do it, you can too. No excuses.
