how do you guys feel about grass arenas?

[Tegan]

I prefer to ride on grass, but it is very hard to maintain.

For boarding, the farm needs either very few boarders, a very large field, or another area to ride. Grass won’t hold up with heavy traffic.

It also needs to be maintained… mowed, seeded, whatever else. Although footing does too, even more so.

I have trouble finding footing I like, but if the all weather footing is good, I think you could get creative with the jumps.
If you’re handy, it’s not that hard to build basic standards, and you can modify square wood poles from home depot into octagon poles. Or you can find someone else who is handy and have them make 3 or 4 jumps for you. If you leave, take them with you. Also, I’ve gotten creative with hay bales, logs, trash cans, etc.

If care, training, turnout, arena size, etc, is all equal, I would go for the all weather footing first.

[SarahandSam]

My barn has a grass outdoor ring, but spreads a load of sand on the outside track every spring so that even when the footing gets hard after several days of baking in the sun, or when it’s muddy/slippery on the grass, you can still keep to the outside. So that helps a lot. Of course, there’s also a large indoor ring with good footing, so not a whole lot of people use the outdoor ring for hard work.

[mortebella]

Well, still more great food for thought! I used to be the queen of creative as a kid with “building” jumps out of anything that came to hand to keep my pony amused, but you know, sigh…when you get old, you start to want luxury. It depends on how you define that though!

[olim2005]

I was really worried about grass arenas, until I had one. I think people freak out about riding there horses on grass in fear of making their horses lame…but in many ways a grass arena is more natural.

My grass arena is level and has a sand base (someone made it, they didn’t just throw up a fence in a grassy field). It is a mixture of sand and grass. When my horses step, you can see a foot print and a little give. My horse that has an old bowed tendon injury is sounder on that then when I had him at a boarding stable with a sand arena.

With that being said, it is harder to maintain with multiple horses at a boarding stable. I would say it’s perfect for that at home facility, especially if you don’t want a big sand box at your house.

It can get slippery, some times throwing wood chips down helps as with that. If you ride in it when it’s really wet you can make some good sized holes that are hard to fix. But again, if it’s just you, you know to ride somewhere else or take it easy.

[olim2005]

[QUOTE=Tegan;4907796]
I prefer to ride on grass, but it is very hard to maintain.

For boarding, the farm needs either very few boarders, a very large field, or another area to ride. Grass won’t hold up with heavy traffic.

It also needs to be maintained… mowed, seeded, whatever else. Although footing does too, even more so.

I have trouble finding footing I like, but if the all weather footing is good, I think you could get creative with the jumps.
If you’re handy, it’s not that hard to build basic standards, and you can modify square wood poles from home depot into octagon poles. Or you can find someone else who is handy and have them make 3 or 4 jumps for you. If you leave, take them with you. Also, I’ve gotten creative with hay bales, logs, trash cans, etc.

If care, training, turnout, arena size, etc, is all equal, I would go for the all weather footing first.[/QUOTE]

I agree with you Tegan, that grass arenas are best for low traffic. I have one and I put 5-6 rides on it a week (multiple horses). Then I hack out for the other rides. My arena is fine with this, but it’s only under work for one rider/2 horses.

Overall though, it is workable for a small facility and horses seem to enjoy it.

[TSWJB]

We have a big grass field to ride in, but most of the year I cannot ride on it. Its either too wet or too hard in the summer. The owner does mow the field and I actually hate when he does even though it looks pretty because the shorter grass makes it slippery. I like it when the grass is longer in the summer because then I have great grip! I do enjoy riding out there when the conditions are right, but I really hate slipping so most of the time I ride in the indoor or the outdoor ring with sand. And my horse is barefoot which provides better traction on grass than shoes !!

[RAyers]

How do I feel about grass rings? I like a mix of kentucky blue, argostis and sinsemilla. You can run 70 or 80 rounds on it and then get stoned to the bejesus afterward.

[Lord_Helpus]

There is a big difference between a “grass ring” and a “grass arena” (for lack of better terminology).

To me, a grass ring is a field with a fence around it. The benefit/detriment depends on the topography and soil/grass. Such a ring can range from “wonderful” to “unrideable”.

A grass arena (using my terminology) is an area which has been worked and graded so it slightly crowns. It also has well packed sub-footing and a dirt/sand mixture on top with appropriate (hardy) grass seed added.

This kind of footing is superb in all weather and, because it needs no dragging to make it good, is superior to the best all weather footing.

The only caveat is that the jumps need to be moved more frequently because once the grass has been worn down, it takes a while to grow back in.

I have a grass arena with a sand base and rye grass on top. I adore the footing – far more than I ever liked a dirt ring.

[Up2NoGood]

My barn has a huge (2-3 acre) field with about 15 jumps. Throughout the year courses are set up on different areas of the field, but the whole field gets used year round as there are no fences. Probably 15ish horses a day get ridden on it every day. No issues. And this is in an area where rain is more common than not. It will get hard every once in a while if we have a few weeks without rain(not often maybe once a year) or if it freezes (maybe 10 times a year). If necessary we put caulks in to jump bigger jumps. Rarely have issues with anything under 4ft no matter what the condition is. I hate going to shows now where you have to ride on limestone/iffy footing. Grass to me is more natural and easier on them. The fiber glass footing to me is not good for the horses. But that is a debate for another time.

[PonyRider]

I work at a barn with a small grass ring but I have 2 grass fields I can also work in. Because it is just myself with my project horse and student with her pony there is little traffic and the grass ring stays someowhat nice. I maintain it by filling in washed out areas and making sure to not go crazy when the ground is wet, doing so would destroy the footing.

That said if the grass ring is well kept and has good footing underneath then go for it. Sand arenas tend to wear down hooves more and you will have to replace shoes more often. Just my opinion but over jumping is really bad for horses so not having as many jumps would not be a big deal to me. You can do a lot with 4-5 jumps or even less.

[Ambitious_Kate]

[QUOTE=Go Fish;4905360]
I can get a lot done with 4 or 5 jumps…use your imagination.

I like riding on grass but it can be a pain in the ass. I won’t ride on it without caulks. Yeah, so I’m a chicken. Too much pounding and grass gets hard as a rock. Too much rain and it gets slicker than snot.

I’d go with the great footing, particularly if it’s the all-weather sort. Your options are greater.[/QUOTE]

go Fish said my feeling best. I would not ride grass without caulks, either, and the footing is going to go sour, I figure, quickly, so I would go for a well maintained professional footing.

And yes, there isn’t any need for a ful 8 jumps. 4 or 5 are more than enough, and I prefer to have pleanty of room in the arena for alot of flat work, so 4 or 5 is enough, as long as its a big arena, leaving alot of room, as I said for dressage for flat work.

[trubandloki]

Pretty old thread but has lots of good information in it.

I do not think this question can be answered with out knowing what the grass and non-grass arena are like.

At my house riding in the grass is pretty darn slippery when wet, we have clay soil. Rock hard when not wet.

[foursocks]

As others have mentioned it depends on a lot of things. I ride with an eventer who has an enormous jumping field about 15 minutes hack down the road from his farm. It has a really good XC course, including a water element, but for my purposes (I do jumpers) it also has a relatively flattish area with a full jump course set up. I love and hate this ring- it can be hard to get to a tricky combination right without factoring in things like inclines and declines, sometimes the grass is taller than other times, sometimes it is more slick, and my trainer has some devilishly tricky stuff set up! But my horse has become a lot more confident about jumping on uneven turf and it has made me better at precisely planning my path.

Due to this experience (and remembering riding and showing on grass when I was a kid) I agree with other posters that grass that is properly maintained is excellent for both soundness and sure-footedness. On the other hand, a ring with excellent footing (which luckily my trainer also has, and I have where I board) is pretty useful if that is what you will show on. The number of fences should not be a huge deterrent, particularly since you can easily build more.

At home we have a huge galloping field and a lot of trails, so both my horses get to do that quite a bit, and I think that is a good compromise. If the nice footing place also has land to hack out on, I guess I’d take that. Good luck with your decision!

[Lizrd]

I fall off too frequently to enjoy riding on grass. Sand is much softer on landing!