How good is your arena

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Shipley

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My arena (Livery yard - Charles Britton) drains perfectly even in all this weather, but it has a track (at least 6 ins deep)around the edge that is left. the rest of the arena is flat.

I do not go on the track as I have a youngster and it causes them to step up down, should I use the track? Also I am constantly thinking about it when schooling and think this is why my schooling sessions are not as good as they could be.

What are other peoples views.
 
We have a Martin Collins and it is superb.

The track shoud be kicked in about once a week to prevent it becoming a trench! That's just poor arena management I'm afraid and most, if not all, schools require the track to be kicked in if people use it regularly. Once the track is level we run the grader around the school. Works v well
 
agree with Boss - thatts poor arena management im afraid!! Your track should be dug in at least once a week and all the sand/silica/rubber dug in from the corners aswell - our arena is racked once a week by YO, and the corners and edges are dug in at the same time so it goes beautifully flat again.
 
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The problem is the owner wont do it as she teaches a couple of beginners and it helps! I wish I could

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If they arent good enough to steer in from the fence then they shouldnt be off the lunge....
If youre paying for the use of the arena I'd insist it is properly maintained, it's good to ride in from the track generally but you do need the track for lateral stuff etc
 
Ours is being built at the mo
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The YO wants to drive in it so it's a 60m x 30m
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The fence is now up and it is huge. Can't wait to chase the Shettie in there, one lap and that's the shettie exercised
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Ours is in a state at the moment due to the rain. The surface needs flattening as it has got really deep. Nobody can be bothered to do anything about it except moan. On a dry day I am going to try and do something to it as it is making it hard to school in there.
 
Ours is sand and rubber built to same spec as Charles Britton (but by local comp)

Only me and OH use it but it has never had a puddle and we rake in edge fortnightly and level it at the same time.

To be fair though neither of us work that much on the track
 
Our cushion ride arena is really bad at the moment .I'm afraid it needs a top up which we can't afford at present. It was good for the first 3 years but now is terrible as it has rotted away and the heavy rain was able to take a lot more of it as it had disintegrated.
 
Our surface is cr@p. Its rubber and sand and was brilliant when first put in but the YO really hasnt looked after it properly and it needs a serious top-up. In fact although its a livery yard I am seriously thinking of spending the £2k Ive got left from sellling the lorry to get more rubber.
 
Mine is 17 years old!! It is OK except that it rides deep and always has. Coming soon....a brand new arena. Yaaay!!! Working on Hubby for a waxed surface but just had a couple of quotes and over £20,000 just for the surface. Eeeeek. Anyway existing arena rolled at least once a week and our roller pulls the edges in for you so whole arena all one level. I don't think it's good for your horses legs to havea trench round the outside.
 
Our surface is perfect at the moment, the more it rains, the better it gets!
The maintanance has to be done however which involves physically digging the sides in once a month and levelling afterwards with the tractor. We get occasional stones appearing which are instantly removed.
poo picking is supposed to be done by anyone who uses it, if I see they aren't bothering , they will get told next time they want to use it they can't..
I would go and dig the arena out yourself for now, at least the owner will then perhaps realise how much beter it is afterwards, and take the hint herself.
 
I am surpised how well our school has held up in all this rain. It is brand new, only just over a month old. It was really deep when it was first laid and took a lot of rolling but now it is fantastic. We have had a little bit wash through the boards but we have back filled upto the fence now so that has stopped. It needs rolling again but it was a little soggy from last night's rain and we only have a large tractor to put the leveller on so we are waiting until it dries so we don't dig it up with the tyres. The fence is eight foot all the way round so I can finally loose jump my horses with some peace of mind!!
I don't want to push my look but I have got my eye on some of those arena mirrors, they look fantastic!
My only grumble is that it is not 20mX60m, it was meant to be 20mX40m but we had some extra fencing and plenty of sand so we stretched it to 30mx50m. This is great for jumping with the extra space but not quite long enouhg for a long arena. It is a good idea though because if we ever do want do hold clinics or unaf. comp.s there you can fit dressage boards in and trot round the outside and also a judge's car at a push.
LOL I sound so ungrateful when I read through this again, I love it really!!!!
 
ours is 5yrs old, good old lough neagh sand. Only problem is stones are coming up, a lot of them too.
It is fab in the wet, no puddles but does need more maintenence as ony one who can do it is dad and he's never got time
 
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