Advice on Building an Outdoor Arena

[bota7800]

Has anyone built an arena?

We are moving our horses home and I want to build a 120 x 200 arena. I know there are companies that do this, and I may use one but am thinking I could do it with the right implements.

There is an arena groomer for sale that scarifies and levels (and is endorsed by at least 2 of the big name clinicians) that claims to be able to do all the steps but it is really expensive (did I mention the clinicians?)

Can a box blade rip up vegetation?

Can it level the surface and fill low spots?

Is it difficult to control the quality of the surface?

Is there anything I am overlooking - or any other implements to consider?

I do not have a box blade but can buy one and a basic arena groomer for half the price of the fancy one (a TR3) but can buy the TR3 for less than having the arena constructed.

 

[Kendall69]

A box grader attached to the tractor is the worst implement for grading when you need something level.

You need a grader that is not attached like a drag behind grader with wheels to raise and lower grade. Otherwise when the tractor hits a high or low spot it bumps up or down and so does the box attached to the tractor. But, with a drag behind the tractor bounced or dips and the drag box stays as straight as an arrow, and either knocks down the high spots or fills the low spots.

Depend son how level you want it - some come with laser guidance.

More Info:

Riding Arena Mud-Busting Tips -- What to do about that muddy riding arena

 

[dtd24]

I am planning to better my outdoor situation myself this spring. I have to contend with some wet soil first though. That arena groomer might work after the real work is done, but I think the box blade will be req'd to do the begining work.

 

[dtd24]

I love horse people

Arena Makeovers
Hire a road builder to shape the existing footing to a 2-percent grade so water can run off. Then lay filter cloth, add a layer of rock (2-inches deep or less), level, and pack with a roller. (Water it as you pack.) Allow this foundation to sit for a few days to harden, then add a layer of sand about 2 inches deep. Install railroad ties around the perimeter to keep the footing in place. This process costs about $5,000. --Marilyn Ulicny, Roseburg, Oregon

Hire a road builder!! heheheheheeeee

 

[Kubotasrking]

I love horse people

Arena Makeovers
Hire a road builder to shape the existing footing to a 2-percent grade so water can run off. Then lay filter cloth, add a layer of rock (2-inches deep or less), level, and pack with a roller. (Water it as you pack.) Allow this foundation to sit for a few days to harden, then add a layer of sand about 2 inches deep. Install railroad ties around the perimeter to keep the footing in place. This process costs about $5,000. --Marilyn Ulicny, Roseburg, Oregon

Hire a road builder!! heheheheheeeee

Been there and done that on the rock base...I wouldn't do it. When you groom your arena, you are bound to pull some of that base back up, and voila!, you have rocks in your arena.

I'd hire the excavator to level your spot, takes less than a day (unless you have a lot of grade to cut/fill). I would (and have) spread my own base (sand/clay mix for me), and put hogfuel on top. All told, it cost me $5,000 a couple years ago for a 70x140.

 

[Mike120]

What's your ground like, and what are you doing with the horses?

If you're on a sandy loam you can make a decent arena with just the TR3. I've got one and I love it. I use a tiller when it's wet to fluff it up and speed the dryup and, usually the next day, hit it with the TR3 for the footing depth and to groom it.

 

[LoneCowboy]

Funny, i was just at horse show and the TR3 people were all over me.
Look, i spend a lot of money on implements and am more than willing to buy the best (see roadboss thread)
But i thought the TR3 was SERIOUSLY overpriced and way underbuilt.
Serious hard sell people too
Not impressed at all.
not at all.

 

[drssg]

How particular are you about the footing? Do you plan on bringing in material to build a good quality arena, or are you just leveling out an area to ride on the dirt?

If you're planning on bringing in materials to build a 120'x200' arena, it gets expensive very quickly. So any labor savings by doing it yourself gets less significant. And it you mess it up (for example, not properly drained or compacted) you could end up wasting a bunch of money in materials that you might not be able to reuse.

I would try to find someone in your area that has built other arenas and check out his work. Talk to the owners and see how they like it.

For our arena, they took the following steps:

1. Scrap off topsoil
2. Bring in clay from a pond they were digging to elevate the entire arena
3. The clay is compacted with a sheep foot and then a large vibrating roller
4. Grade clay to a 2% slope off the centerline
5. Add 5-6" 1/8"x0 crushed limestone. Wet and compact with vibrating roller
6. Add 1.5" of washed sand

I'm not a fan of the TR3. I use a chain drag in the least aggressive setting. I'm only interested in leveling the loose sand footing, and I don't want to dig into the base.

I like the idea of using the filter cloth like dtd24 mentions, but we didn't do that.

 

[Renze]

We have a horse farm in Holland. Been there, done that.

NEVER EVER put any kind of rocks underneath a riding arena. No matter where you bury rocks, the frost and anything else mechanically you do to the ground, will drift them up.

Clay isnt advisable for an outside arena either. Just a bit of rain makes a mess of it.
beach sand on the other hand, will create a dust storm each time the horse sets a hoof when it is a dry summer. You will need to spray lots of water each day to get dust under control.

When we built our outside arena, we used an old single furrow plough, ballasted it with some tractor front weights and ploughed it about 50 cm deep. Using a normal plough at this depth means that the soil isnt turned upside down, but mixed up and any hard pan is broken.
Then grade it to a slope on all sides, with a ditch around it. Most handy is to plough it to the center, which gives you an advantage on the slope you're trying to grade after, and also creates 2 ditches on each side.

For our indoor arena we had 6 truckloads of loam trucked in. It holds water good enough to create a steady base, a sand soil under roof dries out and becomes a desert in a month. The loam also turns slippery when wet, but since its indoor, it doesnt get wet unless you spray.

 

[n8wrl]

We got a TR3 in December and have used it with great results on an area that used to be a garden on some property that we bought. It pulled up all the vegetation and after several passes, really levelled it out. We love it and think it was a great investment. Seems pretty well-built to me - thicker steel than in the Woods box scraper that I have.

-Brian