Horse Arena Lights

What Kind of Lights Are Used For Horse Arenas

The type of lighting fixtures will depend on several factors, mainly, whether it’s an indoor or outdoor horse arena. For indoor horse arenas, you can use either UFO high bay lights or linear high bay lights. For outdoor horse arenas, you’ll want to use LED sports lights or LED flood lights with sufficient power to illuminate the area.

Horse Arena Lighting Design

Here’s an example of a 3D horse arena lighting photometric design constructed by our professional lighting engineers. This example shows five 500 watt area lights illuminating a 150 ft x 120 ft horse arena with an average of 12.7 foot candles.

Horse Arena Lighting Layout

There are a number of different factors that go into designing horse arena lighting setups. One of the most important things to consider is the foot candle requirements, which can vary even within the same facility depending on the specific area being illuminated. For instance, casual outdoor arenas typically require 15-20 foot candles for sufficient lighting, which is considered to be the lowest end of the spectrum.

More serious arenas such as those used for training and competitive dressage typically require 40-50 foot candles, and arenas used for full on competitive show jumping will normally require lighting output in the 70 foot candle range.

Once the ideal foot candle range for the arena is determined, the next critical step is to have a proper lighting plan designed by a photometric planner in order to ensure the best lumen output and energy efficiency. This will determine both the ideal placement of lights in the arena as well as their specific power output.

Here’s an example of an expert horse arena lighting plan we designed for an outdoor equestrian stadium,

In certain instances, a plan may call for several lights to be mounted together as part of a cluster, such as on top of a pole or on the edge of a wall. The wattage and lumen requirements for these arenas is quite substantial, which makes these types of plans even more critical in ensuring the best possible results from an arena's lighting investment.

Outdoor Horse Arena Lighting

Outdoor horse arenas will typically have the highest light requirements, due to the generally larger size of these arenas. Additionally, outdoor arenas are typically used for competitions, which have the highest light requirements, typically in the 70 foot candle range. These arenas can be circle derby style racing tracks, equestrian jumping tracks or a combination of both.

In addition to this, horse tracks have considerable sized staging and stall areas, requiring both a combination of large sports lights as well as other styles of lighting such as wall packs, flood lights and more. The fixture type chosen is largely dependent on both the area to be covered, as well as the height that the fixture will be mounted from. All of this will have an effect on the overall lumen output, as well as things such as beam angle and spread.

Indoor Horse Arena Lighting

When it comes to indoor riding arena lighting applications, there are several options that can meet the unique needs of these large and unique areas. For example, for the main areas where training and competition occurs, high powered sports lights are the most popular option in order to cover the widest area possible with high candlepower output. These are also commonly referred to as stadium lights.

For other areas of indoor horse arenas, there are other types of specialized lighting used. Like any horse riding arena, these complexes have multiple different areas that require specific types of illumination to be functional and safe. This includes stables, stalls and areas outside the arena itself that must be illuminated such as parking areas for trucks and trailers. For these applications, a wide array of flood lights, high bays and wall packs are typically used to provide complete illumination.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is horse arena lighting?
Horse arena lighting refers to the illumination of an indoor or outdoor sports arena where horses are the main part of the sport. This includes equestrian sports as well as horse racing tracks.

Q. What is equestrian lighting?
The term equestrian lighting is used interchangeably with horse arena lighting and refers to illuminating a sports arena where horses compete. Equestrian sports specifically involve the rider being on the horses back and directing the horse to perform an athletic task. Equestrian arenas can generally use the same lighting fixtures as horse racing tracks.

Q. What are the best lights for horse arena?
The best lights for a horse arena depends on several factors. The primary factor is the size of the arena itself, as well as the level of intended usage. Generally speaking, sports lights are the best choice for both indoor and outdoor arenas due to their exceptionally high lumen output as well as their wide beam spread. These fixtures are typically mounted in clusters or groups on poles or other high areas in order to provide maximum light coverage.

Q. How many LED flood lights do you need to light up an outdoor horse arena?
This depends on a number of different factors, especially the mounting height of the lights and the area to be illuminated. While LED flood lights can be used for this application, it is generally wiser to use more purpose built lights such as sports lights to provide the best overall performance. These sports lights are specifically designed to provide serious illumination across a wide area with exceptionally high candlepower output. When combined with a proper photometric plan, there are few better choices for both indoor and outdoor horse arena lighting applications.