What is a reasonable expectation of arenas (outdoor & indoor) being dragged at full care boarding facility?
How would you politely inquire about dragging arena when footing needs it?
I recently started boarding again after 20 + years of keeping my horses at my own property. I have my own farm with a large dressage size arena. I personally had to drag at least weekly and that was only 2 horses working in it.
As frequently as is needed to maintain a decent, usable surface. That’s going to vary significantly based on location, footing type, and number of horses regularly using it.
I have no advice on how to politely inquire other than asking politely. I feel like if the BO is the type to get pissy about such a request, it won’t matter how nicely it is asked.
ETA - weekly for two horses is probably a higher standard than most boarding facilities can reasonably maintain. I’ve been at facilities that would drag once per week and 4-8 horses were using it per day, the footing was perfectly serviceable, but perhaps not at a standard I’d have for myself at my own home arena.
It depends on a lot of factors including type of footing, volume and type of use, and honestly how well staffed the facility is and how aware they are of the condition of the footing. If the workers don’t ride themselves they may not have awareness unless there’s a set schedule.
At one barn of 20+ horses the indoor (where most people rode and lunged) was dragged 3-5 times a week and the outdoor about once a week on a planned schedule. I’ve also been at boarding barns where I would just politely ask the barn manager to drag at the next available opportunity when footing was getting dicey. In those cases the manager wasn’t a rider themselves and the outdoor was a fair distance from the barn so it wasn’t easy for them to maintain awareness. The key to good responses is usually to be a polite, helpful boarder and not approach them in an accusatory/complaining manner.
At the most extreme, short-staffed barn I’ve obtained permission to drag myself when I felt it was needed.
Since you have experience using the equipment, maybe ask if you can drag the arena?
At least that way BO/BM can tell you:
1-what their schedule for dragging is
2-if they are interested in having your help
At the barns I have been at with 60+ horses, it is daily.
We have 8 horses and some haul ins at my barn; full size dressage indoor. It gets dragged every other day or every 2 days. They are really good about that.
Expectation might not match what this barn does.
How did the ring(s) look when you toured the place to board there?
Since you are new you might start by asking the BM if there is a schedule for ring dragging or do they want a heads up from people riding when they think it might need it, or how is that done at this facility.
On the other hand, there are folks who feel inconvenienced when the arena dragging is happening, and they are tacked up and want to ride right then.
So just calmly ask if there is a fixed schedule for arena dragging so you can better plan your trips to the barn.
If the response is semi-snarky, like “whenever I think it needs it,” at least that has cracked open the door a bit for discussion.
Omg they can’t wait ten minutes for good footing? Lol
I drag mine once or twice a week and that’s just my own personal ring. Never understood barns who don’t drag regularly!
I have never seen it only take 10 minutes, unless you are ignoring the whole part about getting the tractor, hooking up the drag, moving the stuff in the ring, opening the door and all that.
I think in many cases, when a person has a window of time that is limited, having to wait half an hour for the ring to be dragged can make it such that they can not ride at all.
Really? It only takes me ten including hooking up my drag! Can do the indoor and outdoor in under 20.
I agree. If the indoor is completely empty of jumps and poles it might be done in a quick 15-20 minutes, but then you have to deal with the indoor exhaust fumes until they can dissipate. Our outdoor can easily take 40-45 minutes depending on what kind of course is set and how much the tractor has to maneuver around obstacles.
45 mins? That must be a slow tractor or a massive ring LOL
If it took that long I would hope the person dragging did it early in the morning then.
It takes me about 45 minutes to do a really do a good grooming job on my outdoor dressage arena. A bit more if I have to remove the mower from the tractor 3-point , and mount the arena groomer. And this time of year, the mower is almost always attached.
I also prefer to water immediately after grooming, which takes another couple of hours for all the sprinklers to cycle.
It’s not huge, but this isn’t high end show quality footing and drag equipment. Also dragging at too high a speed can damage footing, especially when cornering tightly around jumps.
Well said, I agree about dragging too quickly.
At the show facilities I have experienced, with the high end equipment, it still takes longer than 10 minutes. Much closer to the 45 minute mark than the 10 minutes mark.
I triple drag the perimeter and the center line, double drag the quarter lines and the long and short diagonals, and then everything gets groomed in two directions after that. None of these high speed round and round the arena once and exit at A for me. But we aren’t here to discuss my arena grooming fetish.
I’d agree that a reasonable schedule at a top facility is whenever the arena needs it. Which could be daily, depending on footing and use.
However, a reasonable schedule at a regular boarding barn is “whenever the barn manager can fit it in.” Dragging is a somewhat skilled task and can be dangerous to both driver and footing if done wrong. You aren’t going to send your 15 year old barn girl out to ride the tractor. Amd as barn manager you aren’t going to drag the arena if horses need water feed turnout. It’s going to get postponed if there isn’t enough time.
There is no way to make more time and capacity at someone else’s barn other than offering to do the job yourself. However there may be liability issues in letting a random boarder play with the tractor.
Like fencing and turnout time and feeding schedules I think arena maintenance is one of those details where the truth doesn’t really become clear until you have moved in, and over which you have no influence because it’s determined by resources of time and cash.
I double drag the entire ring too. I guess I’m just speedy! Haha my footing isn’t affected by my dragging though. Best footing in town here 
Fellow ring dragging enthusiast haha
How many boarders are there? How many employees?
At barns with more than 15 horses I would expect daily dragging. Less than that, it’s going to get done when the barn owner has time. I’d ask if you could help out with dragging if it’s just the BO running the whole thing.
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