Existing arena base REPAIR

[Curious]

Hi. Excuse me if this has been talked about before, I couldn’t find anything about this specifically.

So I have an indoor arena that flooded badly for several years. The drainage issue is now solved, so it should not be flooding anymore. However, there is erosion in several areas (i.e. BIG HOLES) where the water settled. The entire elevation of the arena is a few inches lower than it used to be, in fact.

The base (underneath the footing) appears to just be highly compacted native (clay) soil. No gravel (and I dug down a good bit to check).

Would it be appropriate to simply fill in the holes and undulations with additional fill dirt, pack it down as well as possible, and then replace the footing over it?

I am asking because a family member who is a contractor mentioned that you would need to add something to the fill, such as lime, to make sure it compacts properly (and drains properly, in the event it ever does get wet). However he did not care to elaborate any further than that, and does not have experience specifically with riding arenas. And I cannot find anything written about this online anywhere I look.

Of course trying to avoid hiring a professional, because in my area if anyone looks around and sees horses you get a 400% markup. Wanting to do the work myself, just need to know what to do!

Thank you if anyone has any input

[enjoytheride]

I’m in Indiana. Here limestone is king, and it tends to pack well. For arena bases we use Aglime or Dusty 12 (which is aglime and fines) since it drains well. My outdoor base is Dusty 12 and clay dirt that has been compacted. My indoor base appears to be clay dirt and leftover sand.

Since you have an indoor, it’s entirely possible it was just compacted dirt, since indoors don’t have to deal with rain. I would drag your base to loosen it up, add more of what it’s made out of, move it around until it’s level, water it well, and compact. Clay compacts like concrete, although it doesn’t drain well and gets slippery when wet. But if you have good footing on top it should be fine since it’s inside.

We’ve done all the work ourselves so it’s not totally level but it’s good for me.