How to rejuvenate an overgrown arena

[Acchiappanuvole]

Hi all,
I've got my horses on livery on a yard that has had no horses on it for over a year. There's a little sand school, but it's solidly overgrown with grass and weeds with a bit of bramble in the mix. It has a solidly constructed base with hardcore for drainage and sand-fibre-mix for a top layer, but that is *all* overgrown with grass. The rabbits are running the show there atm, and if I want to use it I have to go there first with a shovel to level out the minefield they've left behind.

I was thinking of hiring a rotovator or something to basicly till the surface to get some control over it - the growth is too think for any harrowing to make a difference - but I'm afraid a rotovator would dig too deep and hit the baselayer. It's not a big arena, maybe 16mx35m, but still a little too big to start breaking with a gardening fork.

Any ideas what to do with it?

Pic of my lads casually joining me for some outdoor arena gardening

 

[TheMule]

I would spray the weeds off and then borrow a friendly farmer to power harrow it

 

[sport horse]

I would try to pull out as much as you can by hand before spraying otherwise you will be left with loads of dead vegetation in the surface. I would then harrow it it, use it and see what you have.

 

[Quigleyandme]

Yes, spray the weeds and dig out the biggest clumps and then try to find a farmer with a quad or car drag chain harrow to go at it like blazes. It’s a chore but you might have to loosen the edges into the outside track with a hoe if your only option is a tractor mounted harrow because it won’t get close enough.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I agree pull and spray what you can without digging too much surface then pick up as much as you can then Harrow, I would continue to spray it for some time and Harrow regularly to stop any regrowth.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

It's almost a criminal offence to let a an arena get in that state in my mind anyway, I would have to sort it out as well such a waste otherwise.

Be good to see the end result ?

 

[emilylou]

Spray, pull, rake and strim. Then harrow. Lots of work I'm afraid.
also I think I strangely recognise that arena! I'm curious so have PM'd you. Hope you dont mind

 

[littleshetland]

Ive just weeded my arena...Ive pulled up all the grass clumps growing deep in the corners, and it was knackering. I pulled up about 9 wheelbarrows full, and this is my arena that's used everyday, but it does look a lot better now. OP, that photo of yours made me break out into a cold sweat! I reckon doing most of the weeding by hand would be the best way not to cause any damage, and then lots of harrowing. Does it have a membrane?

 

[Polos Mum]

I would just use it as it is, unless weeds make them trip (hard to see).

The root structure will be holding the sand together and getting rid of them might make it worse !

What would be the issue with riding in it as it is now?

anything you do to dig / power harrow might damage the membrane / bedded in layer of stone. If you mess around with it too much you might make all the stone underneath unstable and come up to the surface.

If it's deep to ride on, I would add some carpet fibre over the top (inc over the weeds)
Harder if it floods but it doesn't look wet

 

[Goldenstar]

Before you use a Harrow you need to know if there is a membrane how deep down the membrane is if there’s one there , you can’t risk tearing the membrane .

Your going to need a way of levelling it on a regular basis so think that through.
Don’t rotavate it , you do t want it getting loose it will ride to deep .

Get out the big weeds , level it and start using it .
Level it regularly.
See how it goes .

 

[Acchiappanuvole]

The main issue is the the rabbits: their burrowing has left it full of potholes that I can't level out because of the grassy surface. It's basicly like a garden lawn that you can't harrow level any more.

I agree, somebody put a lot of money into a decently constructed little arena, and then it was left to go to waste. I wouldn't mind the grass surface, it is not hard, it is the potholes that make me tear my hair out. Sticking a gardening shovel into it and I'm hitting the gravel at the base at 3 inches or more. Also, the grassroots are tying up so much surface sand I'm afraid I'll lose half of it if I just pull this out and throw away, that's why I though I'll just break it up and mix it in. I think I'll send the next picture "how's it going" sometime June 2023

 

[Acchiappanuvole]

Howdy all, I thought I'd give an update on how it went with the arena We've been here a year now, I've been working on it through the year whilst using it at the same time. It has doubled as turnout for the horses as well, when the fields turned into a muddy bog in the winter.

It's taken tilling with a hand-operated electric tiller, raking around the edges, spraying all the vegetation, spraying again, and spraying once more, and again, and weeding by hand. It did freeze pretty hard at one point in the winter when it went below zero for days on end, but all in all I've found I've got use of arena that drains beautifully. It took two days of biblical downpour for one big puddle to appear, and that disappeared pretty guickly after it stopped raining. As it's surrounded by trees I did wonder what to do with the leaves in the autumn - letting them rot in the arena would just generate mulch and feed the grass that's forever creeping through. I shouldn't have worried - the autumn winds blew them on the sides, the rain and frost first rotted them then froze, and it took less than half an hour one day to go around and flick the frozen slabs of rotted leaves over the fence. Very satisfying half an hour

The rabbit bandits are still around, digging their minefield, but I can kick the holes away now.

Some pics to go with the story:

This it what we had when we arrived When I first saw the place the grass was thigh-high, but the yard owner had hacked and mowed it down so we got this:



Last summer's drought turned it yellow and rock solid:



When I say minefield, I mean minefield - the only way to get rid of these holes was with a shovel:



Tilling with the electric tiller. Got it off ebay for 14 quid - happened to be fairly local as well so I could go and fetch it
I had to be careful not to let it dig too deep, though at this stage that wasn't difficult, the hard grass surface took some work to break up.



I did rake up and pick up some of the broken root clumps, but I tried to keep that to minimum - it was taking away way too much of the fibre mixed with sand and I didn't want to lose the surface alltogether.



By mid-winter it was looking like sand school This must have been around December, when the warm spell brough about a grass growth, and I had to spray the arena for the first time.



With my main man on sick leave and me busy with work the arena got neglected for a spell earlier this summer. To get on top of it I sprayed it, again, and then weeded, with a rake, by hand. That took a few days, particularly when I didn't have much time for yard work and had to do it in sections.



The arena now
It gets packed hard with rain and no use, and it needs harrowing, but that is all it needs now. Use and harrowing. I still have to spray it regularly to stay on top of the growth - it's not just the seasonal weeds that self-seed, it's the grass that is lurking in the surface in bits of roots that I will never get out. But all in all it's a heaven.

That messed up patch in the near corner? My main man's favourite rolling spot

 

[Acchiappanuvole]

It's almost a criminal offence to let a an arena get in that state in my mind anyway, I would have to sort it out as well such a waste otherwise.

Be good to see the end result ?

To notify Pinkvboots about the end result

 

[ycbm]

Great job!
.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Well done you have done an amazing job when can I come and try it out

 

[Surbie]

Wow!! That is hours and hours of pretty back breaking work. What a transformation.

 

[cauda equina]

Well done! that looks brilliant
I wonder if the grass roots might actually be not all bad, they might help to stabilise the surface like marram grass in sand dunes

 

[Quigleyandme]

Good job. Nobody tells you how much constant maintenance an arena needs but such a great amenity to have.

 

[Acchiappanuvole]

Good job. Nobody tells you how much constant maintenance an arena needs but such a great amenity to have.

Ne'er were truer words spoken

 

[Acchiappanuvole]

Well done! that looks brilliant
I wonder if the grass roots might actually be not all bad, they might help to stabilise the surface like marram grass in sand dunes

Tbh it is not dusty, at all. If anything it's heavy, in a sense it needs regular harrowing to stay soft, but what arena doesn't need harrowing..

 

[Haniki]

You have worked hard! Nice to have a useable arena though.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Lovely job! Looks great.
Aww I’d kill for a school

 

[Goldenstar]

Looking great