Wondering if anyone has any experience with arenas that are contained in a frame rather than dug into the ground? We really want to add a simple sand outdoor arena to our place, but don’t want to spend a lot since we are renting. We live in the Pacific Northwest so rain is our biggest issue. There is an awesome level well drained part of our pasture that I’ve been using for an arena space, but with the constant rains of winter it becomes too slick to do any real work in. So what we are considering is building a timber frame aprox 60’x120’ (maybe bigger) and 8" deep, then fill with 3" of coarse sand. There is already a huge drainage ditch that runs along the one side of it, so we don’t think extra ditches are needed, with us only filling with 3" of sand initially if we need to add a couple of French drains and more sand it won’t be a big deal. I am still talking with material companies and calculating it out, but it looks like it will be doable for 2-3k if we are doing most of the work. A very reasonable investment for a long term rental! Just trying to get some outside perspectives and opinions, thanks!
I would be interested in seeing a picture of what you’re talking about.
I’ve seen what looks like ‘raised garden’ style arenas, but it’s actually just retaining walls built around the ground level arena.
Either way you’d still need to strip the grass and likely have the drains and some sort of gravel base put in first, then the sand.
I’d think you’d still need to do a compacted base. Your sand won’t last long at all if you just put it on top of your dirt–it will sink in and disappear. You could use geotextile to prevent that, but I doubt that would give you a solid enough surface to ride on when it’s squishy, and I’d think the horses would tear up the fabric with only a bit of sand over it.
3" is ALOT of sand! You really need a solid base before putting the sand down. It will just be a soggy mess is you don’t.
This would take some experimenting and engineering. We have something somewhat like this with 2- 2 x 6" boards vertically on top of each other edging/holding in our arena base and footing. Helps keep the footing from washing/blowing/oozing away. This arena is surround by sucker rod pipe fencing, so the sand rails are attached with brackets to the bottoms of the upright steel posts.
But it’s all still built on a professionally graded and installed base of decomposed granite that is compacted very hard. That base stays firm and smooth, then the sand mix footing sits on top of it and is retained (mostly) by what we call the sand railings.
We have drain space between the sand rails and the arena base slope is about 1.5 % which is enough to feel dead level to ride on, but helps rain sheet off.
We have another arena set up pretty much the same way with railroad ties around it, again, staked down on TOP of the compacted base. So the arena base is a bit larger than the arena itself on this one.
I initially thought one row of RR ties that are about 8" high, staked with rebar into and through the compacted base, would surely keep my couple inches of sand in place, right? Nope, we added an entire second row of RR ties because of how much movement there is in the footing with riding and fracturing and weather. Plus the second row of RR ties helps delineate the arena more, because it is more like a dressage court and doesn’t have fencing, just the RR ties.
So if you try this, you may find that you need to build the sandbox rails about 3- 4X the depth of the footing you intend to use.
Hopefully others will chime in with their experiences. I don’t think you can get away without a good base, though- it could turn from a sand box into a mud box…
I think that containing your sand would be the very least of your worries. There really isn’t a cheap and easy way to build an arena. The base is critical.
Your best option might be to improve the grass in that flat area by spraying for weeds and sowing heavily with a seed press in early spring and maybe even again in the fall. My neighbor has a lovely field that he allows us to ride in. It is rideable after rain at the same time our arena is (which is laser leveled, compacted, with excellent drainage). He uses fescue. It is still bright green and wonderful to ride on. It should cost much less than $2000. You can rent a drill press, or if you don’t have a tractor, hire someone to come out.
Honestly, we ride in the field probably 1/2 the time. You would have to stay off of it for a couple of months after the initial sowing, depending on how much rain you get after planting. Just something to consider.
Agree that you need a solid base–at a bare minimum, you’d need geotextile cloth, then gravel, then your footing material. The base makes a ring work, or not. Here in the PNW, the base must be excellent and the ring properly done, or you end up with a barely usable sandbox of mixed gravel and sand that is slick, deep or hard.
The concept of a “raised bed” is sound, but I do think you need perhaps a professional arena builder’s consult before going forward. They could give you all sorts of ideas.
I think the answer is that you aren’t going to get something that feels and acts like a real arena, but you probably can improve the space where you’re working by adding sand. The question is, is the half-measure worth the cost you’ll incur and that’s hard to answer. If the problem is slickness not mud, sand would help with that, but then of course as you work on it you will to some extent create more mud.
You’re also going to need some sort of tractor and implement to maintain this. If you’ve already got that, you might experiment with a smaller section to see what results you can get.
I agree that 3" of sand is deep. Deeper than it sounds. And if your base really IS level, then adding footing on top of it really isn’t going to solve your water issue. First and foremost you need to know that your grading is correct to get the water to the ditch. New footing will solve the slickness, but if the real issue is the drainage then you will just be covering it up.
Many years ago, I boarded at a farm where the owner had built something like this. It was framed by railroad ties (maybe 2 ties high?) and ringed by a nice boxwood shrub used as a kind of “fence” - maybe 2’ high or so. There were gaps in the hedge at A & C as I recall, and at A, there was also a little “lane” type arrangement leading into the ring. The lane had a bit of a slope to it, so it formed a very shallow kind of ramp into the arena, and that was also framed in RR ties and hedge.
I’m afraid I don’t have any idea what they used for a base, but I am sure it had one. That arena was the best place to ride on the whole farm after it rained. It drained beautifully but was never the slightest bit dusty in the hot weather. And it was gorgeous.
Good luck with your project!
Here in the NW you’d be basically creating a recipe for “soup.”
My arena is raised up above ground level, simply because we put down 4" of 1.25" rock as the subbase, then another 4" of quarter inch minus of base. Then 2 1/2" of sand on top of that. We put kick boards around the bottom edge to help contain everything, but made sure there were gaps at the bottom so that there were no spots where we could inadvertantly hold water.
In addition to that, I drag my arena almost daily. If it’s dragged, it’s perfect to ride in no matter how much rain we have. If not, the footprints hold water and make it soupy.
If you dump sand on dirt and have plans to drag it, you’re going to be pulling up whatever’s underneath into the footing (which will also happen as you ride whether you drag or not). You will also get muddy sink holes as horses’ feet punch through the footing, and I would imagine that it would get messy pretty quickly this time of the year.
Ultimately, I think it would create a mess more than anything else…especially with our fall/winter/spring weather. OTOH, you’d probably have a perfect arena from July-Sept!
I’m with PNWJumper on this one - unless you happen to be on the dry side of the PNW, but it sounds like you are not. What you describe doing sounds like all it will accomplish is a mucky mess. I don’t even think it would be usable enough in the short term to make the long term mess worth it.
I have a ravine area…its a slow slope, however. I’ve always thought about a 'retaining wall at the ‘back’ lower end…and filling it in with a fence around it for an arena…cost I’m sure will be hideous, but (!) I have no other land options for one, so…
I see people do things around here like just add 1" of coarse (say 3/8" minus) sand over the area where they want to ride, and yes they do expect it to mix in to the ground underneath and to need replenishment over a relatively short time. These are also places where only one person is riding. If your area was well drained I can see this would be an improvement, and over time you could add more material. I can’t honestly say how well this works, but looking at OP’s situation of a rented property, I can’t imagine putting in the expense for a real arena.
But, OP, I can also see that you might ride on it for a month and then have it be unrideable.
3" is almost certainly too deep for dressage. Instead, I’d put in an tiny bit at a time, ride on it, let it sink in, and then put more in.
If the water can’t collect on the surface, it will stay better than if water can collect. Ideally, your top space isn’t actually level but has some noticeable but finite slope, more than you might want if it were an actual arena space.
You may also be able to create a situation where you can’t ride when it is really wet but you have a nicer place to ride on the shoulder days when it is moderately wet.
Another strategy, if you have multiple rideable spaces, is to rotate them a bit so you can rest your preferred space when riding on it will damage it.
In my area, most of the properties are muddy mucky ick in winter, but mine is unusually firm and well draining. If you have an area like that, you may be able to get something to work.
However, you might consider instead going with a plan like doing a more thorough job with a smaller area, like a 20 m circle or a 20x40 rectangle.
It just sucks that this is so expensive to do, but that’s sort of how it is.
Thanks everyone for the input! From what I’ve read here and other places it would be a short term solution as it would break down rapidly with regular use during our rainy season. Investing the money for a nice arena is just dosent make sense until we buy. Instead I am going to invest the money in a truck/ trailer and haul out during rainy months. It’s a beautiful place to ride in the summer so I’m just not going to mess with the field beyond maintaining. Now the daunting task of finding a suitable haul in facility!
That sound like a great idea, something I was going to suggest, but decided to stay on the arena subject.
We financed our trailer (new). The term was 10 years so the payment was quite low. We paid it off in 3 years, so we paid no where near the 7% interest rate.
Even though we have an arena and a nice field to ride in, we still haul out often to schooling shows and a nearby equestrian park with trails and several arenas. Our mares come up to the fence when they see us hooking the trailer up and are quite eager to hop on and go.
What about putting stone dust down. It is great because it is hard when it gets really wet but the downside is it is hard when it us dry. But you can drag it.
I am in the Midwest, but we took a level area on our property and very cheaply…made it into an arena. Our soil is a clay mix, and the area was farmed for years. We drug it smooth, packed it down, and killed off all vegetation. Then we called our farmer, who had a grain dump semi rig, and had him drop us off clean washed sand. We spread it out with our front end loader, and we had an arena. I did not put up boards as I was afraid it would hold in the water. We drag it on a regular basis, and I do stay out of it if it’s extremely wet, but usually within 12 hours of heavy rain, it’s useable. We had less than 1000.00 into our footing for a 75x200 outdoor. It’s been nine years, and it still works well. My coach always comments on how nice the footing is. I lucked out on our dirt. It is solid enough and packed well enough to make a base.
My husband took treated (painted) lumber and built our full size dressage arena (years ago). Use hurricane (metal) ties to tie lumber together at top, and LOTS of wooden spikes to prevent too much bow out from sand/clay/dirt inside arena.
Since Fla is a sandy state I have mostly added clay over the year, some sand when needed and some sand when we first built the arena.
No “base” but my arena drains EXTREMELY well. Other places in my area will be flooded and my arena is fine.
