Who can school me in the art of using my arena drag?

[Limitless]

My small outdoor arena was “finished” this fall and I purchased an inexpensive drag harrow from TSC to use with my garden tractor. It was supposed to be no more than 2 inches of washed masonry sand but I’d say about 1/3 of the arena is a bit too deep, which is why I say “finished”. The contractor is supposed to come back to fix, but you know how that goes. In the meantime, since we were in the midst of an extreme drought when it was done, I’ve waited for the rain to water it and I’m using the drag every time I ride. It’s a lot better after being rained on some, and if I can figure out how to use this drag to my advantage, maybe I can get it a bit more even.

It says I can move the tow bar to the other side, so the tines I guess would be facing the other direction. What does that do exactly? Also, if I use it upside down, with the tines up in the air, what does that do? Can I use it that way to level a bit? Finally, since it’s fall, leaves have fallen on the arena, and seem to bind up the tines and make my lines uneven. I’ll stop and pull out the leaves, but what else can I do? Am I just an OCD schmuck about that, or is that a thing? Please help me help myself!

[Cindyg]

After longing for an arena for years and years, I am days away from having one put in. It will be small and outdoors, like yours. And, like you, I know my contractor will never come back after he’s paid.

What do you think went wrong with yours?

[Simkie]

Dragging with the tines pointed the other direction will dig in more and go deeper. Flipping it over will just smooth. To avoid collecting leaves, blow off the arena before you drag

[Bluey]

Uneven arenas can be leveled by dragging on different directions several times, crisscrossing, then finishing with the standard going around the whole a couple times, then down the long sides and up the middle and overlapping half a pass, then finishing straight down the middle to exit the arena.

If there is too much footing over the well watered and packed base, it can be harder for horses to work in that deeper ground and you have to watch for soft tissue injuries, horses a bit off, some swelling here and there, vet check and treat aggressively.

If the footing is too shallow, you may have sore feet, even splints from concussion and horses working more

What is idea depth you have to figure for your footing and activity.

For an outside arena, you start with more material, as some will blow and wash away.

When it gets too wet, your footing may compact and as it dries get harder, so you have to drag more often and aggressively to keep it soft and fluffy.

Not sure anyone can tell you, you have to learn what works best for you, with your footing and drag, by doing it.

Here are some drawings:

https://www.insightfulequine.com/groom-your-arena-footings-like-a-pro/

[Limitless]

CindyG, I don’t necessarily think anything went wrong, but that getting sand spread evenly to 2 inches everywhere isn’t easy. Plus, I went with a non-horse-arena building contractor. The jury is still out about whether it was a mistake. All the arena builders who gave me quotes were substantially higher than this regular commercial contractor. The whole arena is now level for sure, cause I can feel that I’m not riding uphill/downhill. It’s just a matter of that lengthwise 1/3 deeper section. It really only needs to be scraped off a bit in probably 3 blade pulls lengthwise of a bobcat, if that make sense. And I haven’t paid them yet, so I do have leverage! I don’t even need it moved to the shallower 2/3 of the arena, cause that’s riding really nice. I think I just need the deep section scraped and a pile left for me to fill in by hand in the future.

Anyway, unfortunately I don’t have a gas powered or battery powered leaf blower, so I’ll have to see if I can possibly reach out there with enough extension cords to blow the leaves off. I guess it really is a thing? LOL. And thanks for the drag patterns Bluey, I think the figure 8 pattern is what I need to try next, if I can wrap my brain around it spacial-ly.

[OTTBs]

Sounds like you have the drag that I do. I always drag with the tines up. I think you (at least in the problem area) will want that too, trying to pack it down/not digging up and making it deeper. You could try to put some weight on the drag as well.

I did once flip the drag around, tines down, and weighted the outside to attempt to break up the packed rim on the outermost foot or so of my arena. Don’t think it did much.

I had to ask my arena contractor, “If there’s only 2 inches of sand why do I have 4 inch deep hoofprints in here?” He came back and removed a bunch, piled it up in corners and outside. Now I just have certain areas that like to get deep on me.

[ShotenStar]

As others have said, your drag allows you to use it in several different ways to get or mix your results:

-tines down and facing forward will give a deep dig and help you smooth out deeper hoof prints

-tines down and facing backwards will give a lighter dig into the surface and only smooth out the shallow hoof prints

-tines up will smooth the surface evenly. This is best used as your ‘final’ drag.

You can also add weights to the top of the drag to get a deeper dig if needed. I used to have several chunks of 4x4 lumber that clipped to mine (hurrah for screw eyes and double end snaps!) The added weight especially when the tines were down and facing forward, really helped me deal with deeper hoof prints.

Also as others have said, multiple rounds of dragging in different patterns will help you get a nice surface. I find arena dragging to be a form of meditation – getting the lines exactly straight, getting the surface smooth and even – all very satisfying at the end of the day. Don’t be afraid to experiment and observe the results you get – you will find the ‘sweet spot’ of arena dragging.

Star

[S1969]

I doubt you’ll be able to do a lot of leveling of depth with that kind of drag. A little, maybe, but if the depth is truly uneven you’ll need something else; a bulldozer would really be the right tool for that job.

You may need more aggressive dragging after heavy rains or after winter (if you don’t ride on it), or if you don’t drag after riding a few times and have a compacted path…but maybe not. You’ll just have to experiment to see what works for your footing, riding, and weather.

[endlessclimb]

@Limitless

My small outdoor arena was “finished” this fall and I purchased an inexpensive drag harrow from TSC to use with my garden tractor. It was supposed to be no more than 2 inches of washed masonry sand but I’d say about 1/3 of the arena is a bit too deep, which is why I say “finished”. The contractor is supposed to come back to fix, but you know how that goes. In the meantime, since we were in the midst of an extreme drought when it was done, I’ve waited for the rain to water it and I’m using the drag every time I ride. It’s a lot better after being rained on some, and if I can figure out how to use this drag to my advantage, maybe I can get it a bit more even.

It says I can move the tow bar to the other side, so the tines I guess would be facing the other direction. What does that do exactly? Also, if I use it upside down, with the tines up in the air, what does that do? Can I use it that way to level a bit? Finally, since it’s fall, leaves have fallen on the arena, and seem to bind up the tines and make my lines uneven. I’ll stop and pull out the leaves, but what else can I do? Am I just an OCD schmuck about that, or is that a thing? Please help me help myself!

totally unrelated question - is your tractor a 2x or 4x4?

[Jarpur]

I have the same drag and basically do what Bluey wrote, when necessary. Most of the time, though, I just drag it, overlapping the passes, with the path along the rail done twice (in opposite directions).

I do change it up, so that I’m not always going in the same direction during each dragging session – for instance, I’ll drag clockwise (with the extra lap along the rail done counter-clockwise) one time, then counter-clockwise another (with extra lap along the rail clockwise).

In my experience, the footing will change as times goes by, and it settles – it’s not a done once, done forever deal. But a fairly steady state can be reached, where one learns how it is affected by various amounts or rain, or drought conditions, etc.