Riding Ring Maintenance

If you would like to make your riding arena a more enjoyable place for riding, maintenance is the key. As tedious as it may seem, it is one of those jobs that needs to be added to your weekly routine.

All to often, riding rings end up underwater in the winter months, resembling swimming pools, and have an amazing similarity to a Texas dust bowl in the summer. Industry recommendations are that arena's be built with a 2% grade (from center), but even if your arena does not meet this standard, you can still make it a usable area with proper up-keep.

The most important task for year-round maintenance is harrowing (hog fuel) or floating (sand). This should be done a minimum 3 times a week in order to keep your ring level and safe. Before you start you need to go around the perimeter and pull away the footing that has banked in this area, as your harrow cannot get right up against the edge of the ring. You can use a regular heavy garden rake for this task. Once you have done this you can drag your arena.

There are several vehicles you can use to pull your harrow:

1) ATV (4 wheels) or a ATC (3 wheels)
2) Truck
3) Lawn tractor
4) Tractor

I use a 3 wheeler (ATC) since I personally find it perfect for all size rings. It has a lot of power and, because of it's design, it has a small turning radius. This enables me to easily get deep into corners. Unfortunately, the same design that makes it easy to turn also makes it easy to flip if not operated safely. Consequently, these have been pulled from the market, and are only available second hand.

Just as there are several vehicles to choose from, there are also many different types of Harrows available. A few examples are:

1) Chain harrows
2) Diamond harrows
3) Floats


I use a diamond harrow because I have hog fuel rings. It works perfectly for these types of rings because it can get deep enough to turn the footing while also leveling at the same time. You can also use them on sand, and then follow with a float for leveling. Diamond harrows cost approx. $100.00 a piece and you can attach several of these together for a larger sized arena.

Chain harrows are also a good choice for leveling rings. You can add weight for badly chewed up rings by simply putting heavy boards or cinder blocks on top of the harrow.

If you choose to use a float for a sand ring you can make your own by taking two railway ties and attaching them approximately 3 feet apart (or 90 cm), using chain or rope.

There are several commercial harrows/groomers on the market, some of which run on the PTO of your tractor. These types of harrows are not necessary for most facilities, but if you have quite a large facility you may want to look at investing in one. An example of these types of groomers is the Trolley Groomer?. This device will harrow and level your ring at the same time. It works very well on sand arenas. It is built with a guard so that you can get right up against the fence and not snag posts or the wall of your indoor.

In the summer months dust can be a major problem. This usually occurs when the ground underneath your footing becoming so dry that the base begins to crack and break down. This can also be a major contributing factor to the muck that forms in your ring in the winter month since the cracks leave areas where water can form in your ring. The best method of dealing with this is to prevent it by regularly watering your ring. You can easily and cheaply do this by either mounting some 2X4's on the fence around your ring, or by using jump standards in the middle of your ring and attaching an intermittent water sprayer. You then hook up your hose and set the sprayers to turn either 360 or 180 degrees. For convenience, the sprayers can also be hooked up to an automatic timer.

If you have buildings close to your ring, make sure that they have gutters and keep them clean of debris. These can be the difference between a dry or wet ring. They need to be angled in such a way that the water flows away from the ring. This will prevent the rain from falling directly off the roof and pooling into your ring.

If your property does not offer you the luxury of having your riding ring on a high spot, or if your property sits down hill from another (like mine!), a simple method of ensuring drainage is to dig an irrigation ditch on the high side. This will stop the water that runs down hill from getting to your ring. If you choose to close your ditch up you can use "Big O", a corrugated black tubing that comes either perforated or solid. For this purpose you will want the perforated version. You should bed your ditch with at least 2-3" of gravel (drain rock) and cover the top of the pipe with the same amount of gravel before putting the soil over top. You can purchase a sleeve to go over the Big O; it is a cheesecloth like sleeve cover that will prevent small debris from getting into the pipe and clogging up the drainage. The cover is expensive, but if you are planning on keeping the property you are on it is well worth the investment.

Regularly check the shape of your rings footing. If the material you are using is hog fuel and it is breaking down badly enough, you will have to replace it. Once hog fuel breaks down to the point that it resembles sawdust or looks almost like clay, if you simply add more it will eventually become too deep to be ridable. This can become very dangerous as very deep, soft spots can appear, seemingly out of the blue. If it needs to be topped up in thin areas after settling, do this in a timely way to prevent water from pooling. Sand will also settle in any thin areas and more may need to be added to keep it level. Sand can also, after a period of many years, need to be replaced. The life of this product is very long, but eventually it can become hard and compacted below the surface. Once this happens it can start to resemble concrete and become very slippery. When this happens it should be taken up and replaced.

These are just a few suggestions to keep of the most important parts of your riding facility safe and enjoyable for you & your clients. As in any industry, maintenance is the key to preventing major disasters and is always cheaper then fixing a problem after the fact.

Megan Dykeman- 2004 (c)

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