How Do You Take Care Of A Horse Arena?

Arena maintenance includes keeping the surface level and consistent through regular grooming or dragging, water application, ensuring proper drainage, and incorporating sand and/or footing additives when needed. Your grooming schedule will depend on your arena traffic and conditions.

Does arena need to be watered in?

When an arena is not kept uniformly moist, the loose, dry areas are less stable than the well-watered spots so that horses lose confidence in what kind of conditions will be underfoot as they travel between slippery and suitable conditions. Water the arena to keep the footing evenly moist to a 3-inch depth.

How often should you drag an arena?

How frequently an arena needs to be dragged depends primarily on how many horses work on it. A personal arena that has one or two horses work per day may only need to be dragged once a week. A busy lesson barn’s arena may need dragging every day. At a competition, the arena should be dragged several times per day.

How do you keep dust down in an indoor arena?

Moisture Keeps Dust Down
Water is a time-honored method of keeping dust down. Indoor arenas fitted with sprinkler systems offer a simple method of keeping dust down. You can also use a hose with a sprinkler attachment to dampen small areas.

What is the best surface for a horse arena?

sand
Riding arena surfaces should contain cleaned and screened, medium to coarse, hard, sharp sand. Fine sand will break down more readily into small enough particles to be lofted as dust. “Cleaned” means the material has been washed of silt and clay, making the sand less compactable and less dusty.

Can you ride a horse in a wet arena?

Prepare For Weather
You’ll also need to wait for the footing and the base to dry before you ride again. Riding on a wet arena is dangerous both for your horse and for the footing. It can tear up your base, damaging the integrity of your arena.

How many gallons of water does an arena need?

Assuming standard moisture levels, the typical outdoor arena will require more than 2,500 gallons of water daily.

How do I stop my arena surface freezing?

Ways to Keep Indoor & Outdoor Arenas from Freezing

1. Implement Drainage Solutions.
2. Use Magnesium Chloride.
3. Drag Footing Frequently.
4. Add Rubber or Fibers to the Footing.
5. Wintertime Equine Exercise.

Does a riding arena need to be level?

The essential idea is that the base needs to be level if indoors, or slightly tilted to allow for runoff if outdoors. The slope of a well-engineered outdoor arena will vary from one-half to one-percent grade (a measure of the rise divided by the run, multiplied by 100).

How deep should my arena footing be?

The depth of arena footing sand depends on the sand quality and the riding discipline. Usually, 3-4 inches of a fine sand is used for dressage and jumping arenas with a geotextile sand additive. For plain sand arenas, 2-3 inches of a fine sand is recommended.

How many bags of MAG flakes do you need for arena?

We recommend one bag for every 120 sq. ft. of arena if you have around 3 inches of footing depth. For more information regarding how MAG works or how to apply MAG to your arena, contact a TruTex representative today.

Will salt keep dust down?

Salt. Salt is one of the best road dust control products available. Lignin Sulfonate and Calcium Chloride are two of the most popular unpaved road dust control products.

What prevents dust build up?

1. Keep it outside. Since most dust comes in from outdoors, a good defense is your best offense here.
2. Groom your pets in a clean space.
3. Pack up paper and fabrics.
4. Change your sheets often.
5. Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter.
6. Get an air purifier.
7. Line tall surfaces with newspaper.
8. Declutter and cut back on fabrics.

Does a horse arena add value?

Adding a covered horse arena may seem expensive now, but the value it adds your property and the additional usability it offers for training can reap rewards far beyond the dollar value investment.

What kind of sand do you put in a horse arena?

Quartz and Silica are commonly used for horse arenas because the particle hardness.

How deep should the rubber be in an arena?

2”
Chopped rubber needs to be laid to a depth of 2” over the sand, and most other materials have producer’s recommendations for laying.

Why do horse arenas have sand?

Silica sand is commonly used for horse arenas due to the hardness of the sand particle. It is a natural sand that resists weather and breakdown due to the hardness so lasts longer as an arena or track footing. The sub-angular sand particles will lessen the ability to compact and provide traction under hoof.

Why is my horse lazy in the arena?

Horses who have lost forward impulsion are typically seen as lazy and dull. Maybe some are—and sluggishness can also be a sign of illness or another physical problem—but in most cases, horses lose the “go button” because of two issues. The first is mostly caused by boring, repetitive activity in an arena.

How thick is sand on a horse arena?

Horse Arena Sand is a coarse sand suitable for lunging rings, arenas and tracks. 50-75m depth is generally suitable for most lunging rings or horse arenas. 25-50mm is generally suitable for tracks but it’s up to the discretion of the trainer. Less is best and you can always get more.

What is a good size arena?

According to experts, the minimum dimensions for an average horse arena should be no less than 60′ in width and interior heights ranging from 16′ to 18′ measuring ground up to the peak of the trusses. The recommended horse arena sizes are as follows: 80′ wide x 200′ long and 60′ wide by 120′ long.

Is fill sand good for horse arenas?

Sand is a great choice for horse arenas because it can be combined with topsoil, wood chips, rubber, and other materials to create the ideal surface.