So I moved my horses to a private barn where the owner is attentive the board is inexpensive, I can keep my trailer inside, everything is maintained wonderfully, I never give a second thought as to whether or not my horses are well cared for or not, but there’s no actual ring with proper footing! I have created s fenced off area where I can do dressage and there is a nice facility a mile down the road that I trailer two every couple of weeks BUT I would really like to add some sort of soil/sand/something softer to the grass area. I have seen actual sand rings that have been left for years with no maintenance that eventually grow grass, and I have even ridden I n them and the footing is better than riding on regular grass turf. So what do you think? Would I be crazy to ask the barn owner if I could pay for a load of some sort of soil/sand product and have it smoothed over the area? I know it will probably wash away to some extent around the edges, but I feel like much of it would stay there. We can still mow it when the grass comes through. I don’t want to be shooting Sand/dirt everywhere with the mower though. Am I nuts? Is there a way to do this that won’t just be a complete waste of time and money?
First, you need to find out if the property owner is at all receptive to you making such a huge change to their property.
Second, one load of aggregate isn’t going to do much, at least not for any size area big enough to ride on. I’m not really sure what your goal is with this. Do you think the natural turf is too hard?
Third, your location is a big factor on how you can improve the ground or make a DIY sand arena. In Ohio, I had no problem riding on turf, when the weather cooperated, which was about three months of the year. I never had issue with the grass ground being too hard to ride on, only ever too wet/muddy or covered in snow/ice. I know of a few barns who fenced in an area to ride, wore down the grass to bare nubs, then covered with sand, and it works just fine as a cheap DIY arena, with the hard packed natural dirt/clay serving as the base. However, it takes far more than one load of sand. In Florida, this is not possible at my farm, as my property is sandy soil (or you know, just sand). I would need to install a firm base before putting footing down.
Actual rings that eventually grow grass are still not the same as natural ground, as they usually have a good base installed under the footing, and the footing can easily be tilled right back up to rideable footing.
At the end of the day, you knew the farm didn’t have a “real ring” before you moved there. I’d be shocked if the property owner would be okay with you randomly dumping sand in an area. It’s best if you either live with the amenities you have, or move to a different barn.
It sounds like a huge waste of money . One good rain and the footing will be all over the place AND it will not be good for the grass either. If you water the grass area to keep the ground from being rock hard ( in times when it is hot/ dry out) and keep it mowed so the grass is thick and healthy I would think it would be fine. and give plenty of cushion.
I only ever ride on grass and while it does get hard in dry times a rain makes a noticeable difference. I can’t water my pasture though which is where I do my schooling.
Aerating and watering will help with hardness.
Adding material without a proper base is a waste of $
Aside from the fact that I would never make material changes to someone else’s property… adding sand to a grass ring is a well accepted way of improving the surface. Spruce Meadows who has the best grass riding surfaces in the world, adds an enormous amount of sand to their grass rings every year. I added sand to my grass jumping ring this year and there was a marked improvement in the footing. You can not see the sand, and it had no negative effects on the grass except in the one or two areas where it was spread a little too thick.
Thank you for your responses. Good to know about Spruce Meadows. I have watched videos on how to improve grass rings and adding sand was one of the options, depending on the type of soil that is already existing . They also suggested topsoil and peat moss.
I should have added in my original post that the owner wants to do something to improve the footing as well. She is excited about having me and my mares there, and yes I did know there was no actual ring prior to arriving.
The owner is bringing in some topsoil and hand leveling it herself and dragging it. I have been able to pitch in a couple of times when I am there, and she is doing it at that time. It’s slow going and of course she can only work on it for maybe an hour at a time. But it’s already improving. Fewer bumps and lumps. I think even just her driving her truck over it is making it more smooth too.
I am just boarding here for about another year until we purchase our own small farm. So yes of course I don’t expect her to do a whole lot. In fact I didn’t really expect her to do anything so I am thrilled that she is doing as much as she is.
