dry underused footing in sand ring -- WWYD?

[devvie_continued]

So the outdoor sand ring at my barn has been recently underused for various reasons, and has not been harrowed in several months: the farm owners don’t harrow it often, and are away for a few days anyways.

I realize that the ultimate solution is to request a harrow (I haven’t asked but I think it’s done infrequently because it’s not fantastic footing and harrowing sometimes brings up rocks).

In the meantime, I’m wondering if others think it’s rideable. It’s uneven under my feet, sort of dried up and crunchy, esp. in the underused areas.

We have a trio of 3-year-olds here in training who mostly circle at one end of the ring or don’t do too much at all at the moment, 1 retiree, 2 that frequently ship out to jump lessons, out of eight horses, and those same 2 prefer to school dressage in the indoor, so parts of the ring are actually weedy and, well, the best way I can describe it is that it’s rather crusty and feels uneven under my feet.

Will horses bite through the dry top layer and not feel this the way I do, being much lighter, or should I be concerned about jump schooling in this footing?

I aim to mostly avoid the indoor during the summer, get enough of that during a northern winter, and also the horse I ride benefits mentally from lots of work in larger rings and open spaces, which the outdoor is, and the grass fields/riding area are currently too hard to ride in as well in my opinion/for the older gelding I ride. We need rain here in Ontario.

[Mango20]

Hard to say without seeing it, but I think your horse will probably punch through the crunchy stuff and have sand footing. I have this same situation riding in my neighbor’s two rings, which are currently only used occasionally. One is small and sand, and stays nice even if the top is a little hard and weeds are growing through it. The larger stone dust arena can get kind of hard without being harrowed, or a recent rain, but even then, my horse leaves hoofprints with softer footing turned up.

[jonem004]

I would try it out at the walk and see ow it feels from the top of a horse. If there are deep spots or particularly hard areas you will be able to tell how much your horses feet are sinking. Walking all over it will help break up that crunchy top layer and with enough steps can help keep the weeds down. THOSE will bring up rocks like nobodies business. If it doesn’t feel even enough while your horse is walking on it then I’d def hold off jumping until it gets dragged.