Comments on: Riding Arena. Im wanting to turn part of one of my fields into a grass dressage arena, advice wanted.? http://www.seethelandman.com/dressage-riding/riding-arena-im-wanting-to-turn-part-of-one-of-my-fields-into-a-grass-dressage-arena-advice-wanted But see it on horseback Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:50:59 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: paintgirl_h http://www.seethelandman.com/dressage-riding/riding-arena-im-wanting-to-turn-part-of-one-of-my-fields-into-a-grass-dressage-arena-advice-wanted/comment-page-1#comment-3135 paintgirl_h Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:34:59 +0000 http://www.seethelandman.com/dressage-riding/riding-arena-im-wanting-to-turn-part-of-one-of-my-fields-into-a-grass-dressage-arena-advice-wanted#comment-3135 For most of my life my riding ring has been grass. But I finally got tired of all the hassles, and broke it up into a dirt arena and I like it 100% better. Grass has advantages. Its easier to mow the grass than work up an arena. You can even graze your horses in that area and get duel use. BUT - grass that is used regularily gets paths and thin spots. The thin spots tend to get slick and slippery. Grass is often hard and compact, so when it gets hot and dry the ground gets very hard. If the ground is broke up you get alot more aration and the ground stays softer and fluffier. My ground here tends to clay, and this needs to be taken into account. Grass is probably better in rainy weather. Yes, it is slick when wet, but it won't track and leave rutts the way my dirt would if we get alot of rain. I could improve that problem by adding sand to my riding arena, but the cost would be several thousand dollars so I'm making do for now. I think grass can work if the riding will be limited in the ring. If only one person is riding, if the riding is minimal, you probably won't get such a path and rutts. If it gets any sort of serious use, I think you'll start seeing problems. Places such as Spruce Meadows here in Canada do have some lovely grass riding rings. But if you ever read about the incredible work that goes into maintaining such a ring, you'd see how tough it is. There schooling and smaller riding rings are all dirt/sand, which I suspect is alot easier to maintain in the long run. Hope that helps. Good luck with your ring and happy riding.<br><b>References : </b><br>I own, show and train Paint horses in Canada. For most of my life my riding ring has been grass. But I finally got tired of all the hassles, and broke it up into a dirt arena and I like it 100% better.
Grass has advantages. Its easier to mow the grass than work up an arena. You can even graze your horses in that area and get duel use.
BUT – grass that is used regularily gets paths and thin spots. The thin spots tend to get slick and slippery. Grass is often hard and compact, so when it gets hot and dry the ground gets very hard. If the ground is broke up you get alot more aration and the ground stays softer and fluffier.
My ground here tends to clay, and this needs to be taken into account. Grass is probably better in rainy weather. Yes, it is slick when wet, but it won’t track and leave rutts the way my dirt would if we get alot of rain. I could improve that problem by adding sand to my riding arena, but the cost would be several thousand dollars so I’m making do for now.
I think grass can work if the riding will be limited in the ring. If only one person is riding, if the riding is minimal, you probably won’t get such a path and rutts. If it gets any sort of serious use, I think you’ll start seeing problems.
Places such as Spruce Meadows here in Canada do have some lovely grass riding rings. But if you ever read about the incredible work that goes into maintaining such a ring, you’d see how tough it is. There schooling and smaller riding rings are all dirt/sand, which I suspect is alot easier to maintain in the long run.
Hope that helps. Good luck with your ring and happy riding.
References :
I own, show and train Paint horses in Canada.

]]> By: troll eating mule http://www.seethelandman.com/dressage-riding/riding-arena-im-wanting-to-turn-part-of-one-of-my-fields-into-a-grass-dressage-arena-advice-wanted/comment-page-1#comment-3134 troll eating mule Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:56:59 +0000 http://www.seethelandman.com/dressage-riding/riding-arena-im-wanting-to-turn-part-of-one-of-my-fields-into-a-grass-dressage-arena-advice-wanted#comment-3134 We just use sand here that has excellent drainage qualities. Its pricey, but wyoming isn't known for grass lol. All of our outdoor pens that I ride in or been to have either been corral panels or wooden boards. The corral panels might work better because for the grass, you know it will get trompeled down around the rail as your ride, so it would help you be able to move it around to prevent that. I prefer the sand to grass. To me grass is too slippery, especially when wet and they can get more traction in the sand. But thats just my opinion.<br><b>References : </b><br> We just use sand here that has excellent drainage qualities. Its pricey, but wyoming isn’t known for grass lol.

All of our outdoor pens that I ride in or been to have either been corral panels or wooden boards.

The corral panels might work better because for the grass, you know it will get trompeled down around the rail as your ride, so it would help you be able to move it around to prevent that.

I prefer the sand to grass. To me grass is too slippery, especially when wet and they can get more traction in the sand. But thats just my opinion.
References :

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