Grass Arena

QueenBella

QueenBella

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Apologies if something like this has been done before but I'm looking for advice when it comes to grass arenas or riding on grass.

I am lucky enough to have my horses at home but presently I have no arena to ride in. I could put one in but I cant justify right now that I do enough to have one. Maybe down the line but for now I want to try make a grass arena work.

I haven't ridden in grass since I was a child messing about on ponies or the odd warmup at a show.

The bit I'm intending to use measures at 20x60m and is fully fenced, relatively flat and I think were on clay. Thankfully it is also fully lit from an adjoining yard. I have pictures attached to show the area(sorry they're not great they are screenshots from a video). Right now its not looking great as I usually let the horses trash it in the winter and we have been slowly removing rock whenever we get the chance with a digger. There isn't really grass that grows since its been trashed so much so am I as well to try seed it and let it grow and start mowing? I'm looking for any tips to maintain an arena. I also have full time access to a roller so if it gets trashed after working on it I can roll it or would that make the ground too compacted? I know it probably wont be usable for now as we need to stone pick and there's no grass to stabilize the soil.

I will possibly only ride 2/3 times a week with one light weight horse who is currently unshod. I'm lucky to have arenas within 20 minutes to me that I can hire and I have good hacking but it'd be nice to have somewhere at home to do a bit of pole work and some low level jumping etc. When it comes to grass work are you better to be shod? Unshod? I've no clue what to do when it comes to riding on grass so I'd love any bit of advice as I know many people solely use grass and compete. Thanks!
 

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I don’t have an arena so I ride on grass at home. I’m on clay so can only do it at certain times of the year. This year is was very hard for lack of rain. I do move it around though as I have a couple of fields that are suitably flat and I just mark out an arena with white boards, plastic guttering and dressage markers.
I would recommend reseeding your area, autumn is the best time for this and especially now as it’s so mild. You’re right, rolling will compact it. Mowing will make it grow more once the new grass is established
I think we get a bit hung up on horses using arena surfaces all the time. Moving on grass has to be more natural for them and as long as you are careful with the weather it’ll be fine but you might find it’s too wet in winter and too hard in summer.
I like to event and so training on grass is helpful for me, dressage wise.
 
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I also have no arena so ride in the fields. I have different patches that I use at different times of years as some parts are wetter so are better when the rest of the fields are too dry and others are the opposite and good for when the fields are wetter. However my fields are still only useable part of the year as they'd get trashed in the winter or be too hard in the summer.

I'd be really interested to hear if anyone has any suggestions for improving ground for riding all year but I imagine there would only be so much you can do.
 
On clay, in winter there is no chance your going to get an arena usable all year. It will be slippy, then a horrible boggy deep mess. You can get away with it if you ride on grass, carefully and varying the spot and only doing it in good weather. But trying to use a small clay based mud area will be horrific in no time sadly.
 
I’m afraid that being on clay it will really not work.

I had a well managed grass arena for 25 years on loam and it was doable in the right weather conditions in late spring to early autumn. Even so after rain I’d just have to hack instead.

I had to keep moving the boards slightly to get fresh ground, too. A fenced and therefore restricted 60m x 20m isn’t really practical.
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback. That's my worry that clay is no good. Its very rocky underneath and there's good drainage but still I feel it won't last.
It wont be until the spring anyways I can use it and I'm trying to keep to one area that I don't really use as I don't want to mess with the turnout fields. The field needs reseeding anyways so I might just go ahead with that as I have other fields to reseed and maybe see how it goes in the spring. Family have the machinery and capabilities to do an arena for me but I feel like its a massive expense for someone doing very little.
 
As others have said a lot of challanges, but there are a few things you could do to help it.

If you reseed, invest in a sports turf mix or there is a grass mix specifically for grass airstrips. These grass species have been bred to not grow too long and tolerate heavy traffic.
They will really need a year of minimal riding on to properly establish if going for long term persistence, and the area can't really be used as a scarifce area over winter.

If the area is heavy clay, definitely don't roll unless very poached, harrowing to level would be better.
 
I have grass on clay. Mine is bigger space than 20x60. I basically use it from end of April until end of October. Most of this year was unusable as too hard. I harrow/roll in April. I purposely keep the grass on longer side so that I don't have to put studs in. It works great and I think it's better for horses than being in an arena. In winter I just borrow arenas or hire.
 
dorsetladette said:
I think you'll be OK in summer but winter you may have think of an alternative.
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Usually my horses get a break over the winter as I struggle to get much done in the evenings with the time change and work ramps up coming up to Christmas. I'm thinking of using it from March - October but mostly doing arena hire or hacking.
 
LEC said:
I have grass on clay. Mine is bigger space than 20x60. I basically use it from end of April until end of October. Most of this year was unusable as too hard. I harrow/roll in April. I purposely keep the grass on longer side so that I don't have to put studs in. It works great and I think it's better for horses than being in an arena. In winter I just borrow arenas or hire.
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Thank you, arena hire in the winter or I have use of a family members arena 20 minutes away but It'd be nice to not always be rushing to get loaded up and on the road!
 
QueenBella said:
Usually my horses get a break over the winter as I struggle to get much done in the evenings with the time change and work ramps up coming up to Christmas. I'm thinking of using it from March - October but mostly doing arena hire or hacking.
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You should be OK then.

I use a grass paddock to ride/exercise at home, but I'm on sand so totally different.

I don't do alot with my boys once the clocks change as I work office hours and don't have lighting.
 
YourValentine said:
As others have said a lot of challanges, but there are a few things you could do to help it.

If you reseed, invest in a sports turf mix or there is a grass mix specifically for grass airstrips. These grass species have been bred to not grow too long and tolerate heavy traffic.
They will really need a year of minimal riding on to properly establish if going for long term persistence, and the area can't really be used as a scarifce area over winter.

If the area is heavy clay, definitely don't roll unless very poached, harrowing to level would be better.
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Thank you very much this is great advice. I have well established grass areas in the turnout fields but I don't want to ruin the grass. I don't use the area I'm thinking of putting the grass arena for grazing because there's no grass in it and luckily the horses have a dedicated winter field so this area would solely be for riding.
 
I'd probably wait until the spring and roll it, then reseed it if you want to grow grass on it again. alternatively you could put a layer of hardcore down and then some sand/bark on top to make a temporary arena for some steady work both both will have their pros and cons - bark will go to mulch in time and need replacing and can be quite slippy so I'd only advise very gentle and steady schooling if using bark. Sand can get quit dusty on summer. Tbh if you were going that far you may as well go the while way and do it properly and have a proper arena put in. You won't regret it and will probably find you do more as a result of it - it will also add value to your property.
 
spotty_pony2 said:
I'd probably wait until the spring and roll it, then reseed it if you want to grow grass on it again. alternatively you could put a layer of hardcore down and then some sand/bark on top to make a temporary arena for some steady work both both will have their pros and cons - bark will go to mulch in time and need replacing and can be quite slippy so I'd only advise very gentle and steady schooling if using bark. Sand can get quit dusty on summer. Tbh if you were going that far you may as well go the while way and do it properly and have a proper arena put in. You won't regret it and will probably find you do more as a result of it - it will also add value to your property.
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Thanks for the reply. After all the replies I am almost leaning towards putting some sort of an arena in. I'm fortunate that I can get the stone, materials and machinery relatively cheap as a family member owns a construction/quarry business and my partner is a machine operator so he can do it for me as he has done arenas before so it seems a no brainer. I could leave it as a hardstanding area for the time being until I get the funds together to top it up with sand. I still feel it would be wasted on me as I don't do a whole pile but I might leave this project for now and come back to it in the new year when the horses come in from their winter break and I have more motivation 😅
 
I use a grass arena to school as well. I have 2 20 x 40 ish paddocks which i alternate. Topping helps and i spray the weeds as areas of docks arent good for riding on. I dont use them for turnout when the ground is soft and try not to let the grass to get too long or short. Its not perfect but useful for schooling on dark nights when hacking isnt possible, it also means doing a test on grass isnt a suprise to them.
 
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