I am losing some footing after heavy rains (only happens when we get monsoon-type downpours) and am wondering if I need to add a border of sorts around my ring? The arena isn’t crowned, but slopes towards one side and that’s where I tend to lose some sand. I was considering railroad ties but also wonder if using boards would work better?
Ring drains amazingly well and I don’t have the budget to do anything major to it right now, so a simple solution would be much appreciated!
I’ve seen railroad ties with drainage gaps in them around plenty of arenas. Using those will slow down your drainage some, but you’ll loose less footing.
We just did this with 2x6 lumber. I spent a great deal of money on a new arena and one corner is slightly low. A week after the arena went in we had 6 inches of rain in 2 days and I lost not only all the sand in that corner, but the ag lime down to the rocks. We did a small repair (arena company will probably come back out) and I dropped some 2x6 on that side. We got 2 inches of rain last night and the repair held up great.
Around here there are varying levels of arena construction, from “find an area with a natural crown, scrape off the pitiful amount of topsoil and dump some crushed granite on it” (mine) to full compacted base with fancy footing.
If you just put down railroad ties, there’s a good chance the water will still find a way, possibly even going under. One option is to trench in front of the border and line the trench with geotextile / landscape fabric before backfilling. That way the water can get through but the sand will stay where it belongs.
It really depends on how the water wants to move, and how much of it there is at any given time.
Yes, what others have said, enough rain, and water will tunnel under.
My arena is graded 1% from one long side to the other. I prefer this to a crown because all the water goes along one long side and I can use the rest of the arena sooner. I just ride the quarter line on the wet long side.
I used 2x6" footboards. The best is to install them before you install all the sand. You want about 4" under the sand and 2" above the sand. That way water can spill over if you get a lot of rain at once.
Thank you for the suggestions. I am going to try using 2x6 boards first, since I have extras from building stalls. If that doesn’t work, I’ll go the RR tie route 
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