[Jerryatric]

I have a small indoor riding area 100'X60'X 14'H and have been looking at different types of lighting vs the 400 watt metal halide lamps. Does anyone have the high output fluorescents in their indoor? I had quotes for LED high bay lights but they're WAY out of my price range.

[tcgelec]

T5 High Output 6 lamp Hi-Bay fluorescent fixtures are great in that application.

[2DogsFarm]

I have almost the same size indoor - 60X120x16h - and I went with cold-ballast fluorescents.
Mainly because I wanted to avoid the noise and wait-time for halide.

8yrs later they are working fine, no need to replace any bulbs - although I'll admit they have been used rarely. It's just me and I prefer riding outside and in daylight.
I have the same fixtures in my barn and have had to replace some bulbs, but only once in the same 8yrs.
The barn fixtures get turned on 2X daily when there's not sufficient daylight to feed.
If you will have more traffic in your barn/arena, YMMV.

I went with (on electrician's advice) 3 banks of 5 8' fixtures and could have probably skipped one whole bank.
When they are all lit you could perform brain surgery in there.
Generally I use the 2 outer banks if I'm riding after dark, leaving the center unlit.

[Robin@DHH]

A way to save money on your fixtures. See if you can locate a salvage dealer who purchases things like lights from factories and warehouses which are being torn down or renovated. We were able to purchase 12 mercury lights for our arena and four flourescents all for the price of one new mercury light.

I do think that if I were putting in flourescents now, I would prefer 4' ones. Getting the 8' lamps home and installing them is considerably more difficult than doing the same with 4' lamps. If you are in a climate with winter temperatures below zero F, you will need cold ballasts and you will still have somewhat dim lights for the first few minutes on very cold days.

[pds]

I had the same size indoor when we lived in WI. I put up regular light sockets on every other joist and did three rows. One down the middle and a row on either side about ten foot from each side wall. Used 200 watt light bulbs. Worked just fine and didn't cost an arm and a leg. Thought about going with florescent but our indoor was not insulated and the florescent don't do well in extreme cold.

[Guilherme]

We have covered outdoor arena (200' x 60' x 18'). When we put it up the electrical contractors I talked to wanted to light it up like an industrial facility doing high end engraving. With a price tag to match.

In the end we used 8 "yard lights" from the Co-Op. You can choose mercury vapor or sodium vapor. Mercury is a bluer light, sodium more yellow. For you size I'd suspect 4-6 would give you more than enough light for anything you'll be doing (including jump training).

When we did it the price came out to about $250/light (including the wiring).

You don't say where you are. If you're in a cold climate you have to use a "cold climate fluorescent" fixture. They are significantly more expensive than standard fixtures; I'm not sure about the price of the tubes or their live expectancy.

Our outdoor has been up for almost 14 years and we've replaced one bulb.

Shop around for options; there are many out there.

G.