Outdoor Ring Freezing

[Pico_Banana]

After a brief drought, we have now been in a cycle of heavy rain with warm temps followed by freezing temps. My outdoor ring has been flip flopping between soggy puddles (it just can’t drain fast enough) and frozen solid. My foot is a fine angular sand with carpet fibers mixed in.

Any thoughts on how I can keep it from freezing? I know mag chloride and similar products are an option, but I’d prefer a non-salt solution if one exists. Any new products out there?

I’ve been intrigued by ArenaKleen as a dust suppressant, and it says it doesn’t freeze, but does it help with the situation I’m facing? Anyone use it for this purpose?

[Mallard]

Where are you?
I’m in Eastern Ontario and have never found anything that will keep my outdoor sand ring from freezing.

[Pico_Banana]

I’m in Massachusetts.

[Libby2563]

I’ve found that dragging my arena to seal it before precipitation helps tremendously with how quickly it drains. If I seal it we can get 1”+ of rain and it’s still rideable the very next day.

In the winter this helps reduce the water content and mitigate freezing. If it does freeze solid at least it’s flat (vs lumpy from hoofprints), so I can still work at the walk or in hand. That will be my plan today most likely (I sealed yesterday after riding and before temps dropped).

Other than that you would have to use mag, plain old salt, or some other additive. A small barn I boarded at before moving home would salt the arena and drag it into the footing before wet and freezing temps, but it does wash out and have to be repeated. I won’t do it just for me due to the run-off, work, and money.

[beau159]

@Pico_Banana

I’ve been intrigued by ArenaKleen as a dust suppressant, and it says it doesn’t freeze, but does it help with the situation I’m facing? Anyone use it for this purpose?

I can’t speak from personal experience but I have friends that use WhoaDust.

I live in ND so it’s the frozen tundra.

[Inimitable]

I think options are pretty limited with an outdoor. Any additive like mag flakes will just wash away with the first good rain. Dragging and sealing it before any big weather event is your best bet to maximize your rideable days.

[S1969]

@Pico_Banana

I’m in Massachusetts.

Nope. Nothing.
(I’m in NY). Even indoors freeze in this area if the moisture isn’t perfect.

The combination of heavy precipitation and shorter days always meant that my otherwise well draining outdoor froze solid. I also had a line of trees that blocked it from getting the majority of sun in these really short days. When the sun could reach it in the spring/fall, it would thaw. But from mid Nov-Mid Feb there was no hope, really.

[Pico_Banana]

I’ve been dragging to at least get a level surface, but what do you all mean by “sealing” it?

[punchy]

To me, sealing and dragging are two different things. A drag is when you harrow it—the tines rake it like a normal ring in the dry season. Sealing is when you pack it down, like with a roller, so that the surface is ‘sealed’ and the water rolls off of it, rather than penetrate it which it does if you harrow it. Some people might say ‘drag’ to mean anything, but for purposes of this post, I’m saying drag to mean a harrow, and a seal to mean packing the surface down.

You still can’t ride on a sealed frozen ring; but it keeps moisture out before a heavy rain so that you can ride sooner after a thaw.

[Pico_Banana]

Ah, got it, thanks. My drag (a DragNFly) does both at the same time, so I think of that as the same thing.

I have finally realized what the gigantic teeth at the front of the drag are good for in this cold weather. They do rough up the frozen surface at least some, when the tines don’t do anything. I’ve even tested the horsepower of my side by side tow vehicle … the frozen ground won.

[MapleFarm]

Even normal dragging helps with these issues. I have much better luck riding after rain or cold if I’ve dragged with my chain drag.

[enjoytheride]

Before it rains if you drag it flat and even it will drain better. Then when the sun is out (if it comes out) you can drag it and break up enough to do flatwork on. You can use Mag, but be aware that it won’t stick around. A good idea is to use Mag on your outside track or on a lunging circle so you have a small area.

[Pico_Banana]

Oh, good idea to use the mag just on the track. That would be a vast improvement without needing to put it everywhere.

Unfortunately, my ring is in the shade until the afternoon. Which is great in the summer, but gives the ring only a couple of hours of sunlight to soften before the sun goes down and temps drop again in the winter.

I have a feeling I’m going to have to do more work outside of the ring as the grass is softer than the ring when it is totally frozen. Thankfully only one of them has front shoes and winter shoes are going on in early January.

Or start trailering to my trainer’s. Ugh.

[BeeHoney]

What is your concern about using a salt product? Mag Chloride is too expensive, so that’s not an optimal solution, but Calcium Chloride is much more reasonable. Yes, it will eventually wash away and it’s not a perfect solution, but it can be very helpful in terms of getting more rideable time out of your arena in the winter. Be careful when spreading it as in it’s undiluted form it is very drying to skin–wear gloves when handling it. Grooming is really only helpful if footing is dry and can be “fluffed.”

[Pico_Banana]

I would prefer to avoid salt because of runoff. I have a retaining wall around most of my ring, with one part consisting of an old stone wall that we built up more, but it has some very large trees in it. I don’t want to risk damage to the trees as I don’t want my wall to collapse.