DIY Arenas for those on a budget

[chelzee22]

Hey! I’ve got my 2 OTTB’s at home on about 2.5 acres. I’ve partitioned off the field where one side is my sacrifice area and the other has a nice flat area for an arena and I’ll seed the rest this spring.

Right now, the spot I’m eyeing is grass-- I had an idea to use railroad ties to define the space, but I’m wondering what to put as a base? Not sure if I should keep it grass or put in some footing. I’m on a budget, (aren’t we all), and wanting ideas? Located in Central KY, so the weather is an issue :yes:

[SugarCubes]

I had your same plan! Fenced a 90x140 area for my “arena” and was going to ride there for a year or so until we could turn it into a real arena with a base and footing. I quickly realized it’s unusable 9 months out of the year and is only dry enough to ride on in the summer, the rest of the time the ground is too soft. So now I’m stuck riding up and down the driveway and hauling out.

That being said…make sure your land is better than mine and that you CAN ride on just the grass. If that works ok, I’d just throw some screenings down and call it a day.

[LadyBug]

I have a grass arena that I’m planning to convert to a “real” arena this spring. I don’t know what your soil is like, but grass is definitely not an all-weather riding surface. Early in the morning it is dewy and slippery. If it rains, it is wet and slippery or you tear up the grass when the ground is soft. In a drought it is dry and hard and can be slippery. See the pattern? When the weather is perfect I enjoy it, but I can’t wait to have footing!

I am lucky to have a small indoor as well, but I hate being stuck inside on a beautiful day just because I don’t have a safe surface to work on outside. Yes, I can hack around the fields or work in one of the pastures, but still. It’s not ideal for me.

[chelzee22]

Sugar Cubes, what do you mean my screenings? Haha

LadyBug-- I wish I had an indoor! I also don’t have much space for hacking. My soil has good drainage and is pretty clayey. Have you found a better way to deal with the grass?

I was considering excavating the land until it’s flat and adding sand? I have no idea facepalm

[SugarCubes]

Sorry, should have been more clear! You can call your local quarry and ask for limestone screenings (I’m not as knowledgeable about them as others on here are, but it’s what I have in my paddocks) and you can have a couple truckloads dumped and spread in your arena. If you keep it dragged, it may hold up for a year or so and then you can order another truck load to refresh it as it will start to mix in with the soil over time. I believe I got 70 tons delivered (which is a LOT!) for under $500. To give you an idea, that amount filled an area about 70x70 about 4" deep.

[Chestnut_Run]

I am in Cynthiana, KY, not to far from you OP. Screenings/stonedust/bluestone down here is called class I sand. That’s like the letter “i”. The closest quarry to us is Bourbon Limestone in Paris. Their number is 859-987-4425.

What I plan on doing, is to level and scrape an area down to firm soil, and putting down class i sand, then dragging it until smooth. You do have to “top off” the stonedust every so often, but if you are only using it for riding and not turnout, it should last a good long time.

Two years ago, we did a small paddock like that. It doubled as our riding area and was absolutely great…until we had to use it as full time turn out too. There are other factors in our case including not having the area properly graded to drain in the right direction, but until that point, it was awesome to ride on.

[LadyBug]

[QUOTE=chelzee22;8536771]

LadyBug-- I wish I had an indoor! I also don’t have much space for hacking. My soil has good drainage and is pretty clayey. Have you found a better way to deal with the grass?[/QUOTE]

I didn’t really find a better way to manage the grass, which is why I’m putting footing down :lol: However, I have dealt with it for a few years now with grass, so mostly I planned my rides for nice days in the afternoon/evening when I knew the grass would be dry. I haven’t had any awful issues because I ride more conservatively when it’s a little damp, but I can tell that my one mare in particular isn’t as confident about really moving out on the grass like she will in footing. And really, if it’s wet enough that it’s going to be slippery then the ground is probably soft enough that we’re going to leave hoof prints and tear up the grass anyway.

I also don’t really jump, but it would definitely make me nervous to jump up there. I do ground poles outside but keep my jumping inside.

[chelzee22]

[QUOTE=Chestnut Run;8537328]
I am in Cynthiana, KY, not to far from you OP. Screenings/stonedust/bluestone down here is called class I sand. That’s like the letter “i”. The closest quarry to us is Bourbon Limestone in Paris. Their number is 859-987-4425.

What I plan on doing, is to level and scrape an area down to firm soil, and putting down class i sand, then dragging it until smooth. You do have to “top off” the stonedust every so often, but if you are only using it for riding and not turnout, it should last a good long time.

Two years ago, we did a small paddock like that. It doubled as our riding area and was absolutely great…until we had to use it as full time turn out too. There are other factors in our case including not having the area properly graded to drain in the right direction, but until that point, it was awesome to ride on.[/QUOTE]

Awesome! Yes, I’m right b/w Gtown and Paris, so you are definitely in my neck of the woods!!

[S1969]

It really depends on the soil underneath. We have really sticky clay, so if I just scraped it down 6" and threw down screenings, in spring and fall the horses would be standing in 6" more of mud with screenings underneath. But I actually rode at a lesson/boarding barn that literally tossed a few truckloads of sand down on a mostly level space and it worked. I had to have a drainage system installed under my “cheap” arena. It was still relatively cheap (<$20K) but I’m glad I didn’t try to put footing down and ride (one contractor suggested this - actually, even scarier, he suggested “laying down” some geotextile fabric and putting footing on top of that. In my mind, I see a mass of muddy fabric bunching up underneath inches of wet, slippery clay. :eek: )

Before you waste even $500 on footing, I’d either get someone in to evaluate your soil and drainage, or maybe even make some “test spots” to see what happens after a rain, etc.

[Kentucky_Kanga]

It has been two years since your original post about an outdoor riding arena in Paris, KY. I live in Paris, KY and am considering building my own outdoor arena, as well. I’m just wondering if you ever built yours and, if so, how has it held up?