[wyogal]

I want to get an indoor arena built so that people in my community have a place to ride in the winter. Any ideas on how to get some fundraising. I thought of selling spots on the wall for $1 and putting the names of all of the contributers on it but we will need alot of $1s. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated

[Dancers Mom]

In order to do a fundraiser I believe you have to obtain a non profit status. You need to file the paperwork for a 501(c) 3. You can file this with your state and federal government and start raising money before you have all your tax papers turned in. It is a long process.

[Haas Horse Farm]

The other issue you are going to have is liability insurance. I know that the local saddle club in a neighboring town had some real issues with their arena. They could not have some of the events there that were originally planned as the city did not want to be held responsible for the liability if someone got hurt. Who owns the ground? Are they willing to accept the liability of someone being hurt or killed at their place? Spectators are not covered by the equine liability laws. A horse went over the fence and landed in the crowd killing a lady. This is what caused the problem at the saddle club up the road from me when I lived in TX. This also happened at a horse show in KY... a horse ran out the gate and hit a lady in a wheelchair and broke several of her bones. The group putting on the show had to pay over $250000 before it was all said and done. Lucky for them they did have insurance for the event and they did have to sue the insurance company to get them to pay and thankfully the judge agreed.

Who is going to manage the place? Who is going to pay the light bill? What about rest rooms, parking, etc. I am not saying that this will not work but I can tell you it will be a fulltime job for someone. I know several barns that have ride nights. In order for the insurance to work everyone riding there must pay a fee to be there to ride... so much per horse. My feeling is that your idea is going to create a lot of work for a few people that do not have the time to put into it. Anytime you have a place where people and horses mix there has to be someone there in charge to keep the peace. Read all the threads on here about the barn drama... now imagine how that would be if you have someone riding dressage, someone riding reiners, someone else riding a barrel horse, and then three guys on stallions that have never owned a horse before all wanting to ride in the same place at the same time. Who has the right to be there? Who is going to tell the guys they cannot ride their stallions because there are small kids on pony mares in heat there? Who is going to decide at what age you are allowed to ride or not ride there? Are helmets required?

How big is it going to be? Figure out the size and then figure out how many horses can safely be in the pen at one time... then figure out how much it is going to cost and if it will pay for itself. I seriously doubt that you can make the pencil work on paper come out any color other than red.

[scorpiobancs]

It sure is a good idea. But I never thought beyond the good idea... What HHF is saying holds true. I never thought of that. Thanks HaasHorseFarm! But to the OP. Don't give up on the dream. It is really a good thing that you would want to do something for everyone! Thumbs up!