Is riding on grass okay?

[poltroon]

@HunterGreen

Thanks for your responses I figured it would be fine, but feel better hearing other’s opinions too. Does it matter if my horse is barefoot? Is the traction more or less or the same? Also, is riding 2-3 times a week okay enough not to mess up the grass too much? It’s about 185x160 ft and I’ll mostly be doing flatting, I don’t think our HOA would let me jump in there for insurance reasons, but that’s fine because I have my sand arena.

Barefoot is probably better, it will have more friction against the grass than steel. Barefoot will also tear up the grass less.

Like others, I find that the issue is more that it tears up the grass than it harms the horse, and that’s where the conditions of the soil matter - if the ground is very soft, I’d stay out of it to avoid making holes and divots. The problem with grass is that you can’t drag it back smooth.

When I’m riding on grass I’m paying attention to how much damage I’m doing and if the feet are sinking in, I ride somewhere else, just so I won’t wreck the grass. Under good conditions consider if you want or don’t want to wear a track in, and choose your direction accordingly.

Riding on grass is really fun and oddly delightful.

[outside_leg]

Lots of good info already, the only thing I’ll add is to check there are no gopher holes (or rabbits, groundhogs, assorted other furry mammals) in the area. That’s the biggest hazard to a neglected grass riding field, at least in my neck of the woods.

[Scribbler]

@HunterGreen

Is riding on grass okay? I always hear mixed opinions. I’ve also heard that riding on varied surfaces, like grass and sand, is really good for your horse.

I have a sand arena (90x200) on my property, and our neighborhood has a grass arena (185x160) that is a little bigger and would be nice to ride in every now and then, maybe a couple times a week - mostly just flatwork. I might be wrong, but I think our HOA said there was a professional base or something put in underneath. It’s also built up higher so it drains very well. It was definitely constructed with the intention and purpose of being ridden on, but I’m still wary of riding on grass.

I know that if it’s too wet, your horse can slip, and if it’s too dry, it’ll be too hard and can hurt your horse’s joints. My horse is also barefoot and I don’t know if that makes a difference.

The only danger to riding on grass is tearing up the turf so stay off the golf course.

Horses evolved to live on open plains so turf is their preferred footing. Like any footing obviously you need to watch for holes and divots, wet spots, etc. But watch horses do joy laps in pasture leaping over tussocks or puddles.

Now I’m sure there are bubble wrapped show horses that are only allowed in newly groomed CGT arenas, but often the more bubble wrapped, the more fragile in a vicious cycle. Horses really benefit from navigating uneven terrain and hills.

[quietann]

My vets encouraged me to keep riding Feronia on different surfaces and on the trails to help keep her agile and quick on her feet, soundness issues and all. Proprioception is important, and just riding on the “perfect footing” in the indoor was not as good. It would build muscles and cardio, but otherwise???

So blacktop and rocky, rooty trails and stony river bottoms and fields and hills it was.

It’s one of the changes in eventing that pains me. Some events have packed up forever, and a big part of it is fancy trainers refusing to show in a grass dressage arena or do show jumping on grass.

Meanwhile, I was enjoying the trails at Groton House - which is the site of one of those former events.

[sherian]

another comment for riding on varied footing is good for your horse’s soundness. Stay off it if it’s wet and soft so you don’t create divots (a pita to fix) and if you get into serious drought it can get hard so you would want to avoid high impact work, but most of the time turf is lovely to ride on - no dust and what mother nature intended horses to be running around on. Make sure you keep your track varied when riding so you don’t wear a trail into the grass. Otherwise have fun. Included for tax is a pic of my grass jump field

[Willesdon]

Horses evolved to run around on grass and other natural terrain. Artificial surfaces developed to make life easier for the humans on the horses.

[steelerino]

This is such a strange question. Grass is probably better then all this garbage fiber footing that is a completely unnatural surface for horses to be ridden on.

[Janet]

I rode several times a week on my front lawn for 10 years. Including jumping.
I didn’t ride when it was VERY hot (I don’t do well in the heat), and I didn’t ride on the grass when it was really wet (causing divots).
The lawn was fine- I mean it didn’t look like a golf coursem but it still looked like a lawn

[LCDR]

Tthere is one disadvantage to riding on grass…

[quietann]

The Groton House starter trials a few years ago… at the end or close to the end of cross country, a team just “vanished” off the radio. So we jump judges on the radios had heard “Team X over 1”, “Team X over 2” etc but after the 4th (I think) fence… nothing.

Turned out, it was a kid on a pony, and between fences 4 and 5, the pony had decided that she was done with XC and was going to graze no matter what her little rider did. Someone found the trainer, and brought her out to assist. The trainer got the pony sorted, they did one more fence, and then were excused.

[gradytb]

I have flat areas of pasture that I use as “arenas.” Both my horses are shod in front. I"e noticed that when I get a new horse—they are all OTTBs, so have been used to flat surfaces—that it takes them a bit to get used to uneven ground when they first get here. They are turned out almost all the time, so they get used to harder footing, up and down, rougher ground vs. smoother areas. It doesn’t take too long. They get used to watching where they go and I think their balance improves. I was watching my two guys this evening just in crazy racehorse mode blowing, jumping, cantering in tiny circles, rearing and spinning and then a full-out quarter-mile+ race across 4 pastures up onto the big hill where they disappeared for a couple hours. My newest guy isn’t the lightest on his feet but I haven’t seen a single misstep from him in months now. They were hilarious.