Richard,
Well... I guess I won't be showing her that post (she's 9 months pregnant and very sensitive right now).
She is really not as egocentric as I may have made her sound. In fact, she used to goat-tie and rope calves (loves dressage) - it's just that her talent is in racing barrels.
She has been involved with horses since she was 6 (25 years), and she moved from eastern PA to Oklahoma to go to college and rodeo. After she transferred to Tennessee in her junior year, she finished 1st overall at the CNFR. She's been racing in pro rodeo's ever since.
From what she has told me, some of her old rodeo friends had small arena's, and with one exception, they all had poor ground conditions (too clumpy, too sandy, etc.), but my wife cannot remember what types of implements they used (her strength is in training and riding - not mechanical things).
She simply wants the ground to be the best it can be. But trust me, it burns me a little when she questions my judgement also.
A little history: two months ago I had my neighbor run his chisel plow, followed by a disk harrow, over a 225' X 125' section of pretty dense pasture. Since then it has been my responsibility to work the ground into shape. But I am still having problems getting rid of the clumps of dirt (using only the scarifiers on my box blade, and a recently bought chain harrow), as well as the rocks (which seem to appear magically after picking thousands of them up).
I realize that it is time to get my own implements that can do the job.
Based on what you've been saying, it seems as if the disc may be the best tool to take care of the clumps, but thank you for the offer on the Parma groomer.
I'm glad you didn't take offense (neither did I), and if you can think of anything else, I'd appreciate a post.
Thanks for all the help.
hess