Horse People -- need some advice

CVHoss · Sep 3, 2001

I'm not much of a horse person, but wife and daughter are. One of the "selling points" of getting the tractor was that I also got a roto-tiller with the intent of making them an arena out where their critters are. They do barrel racing and the typical "shodeo" type stuff. This area is pasture land that hasn't been tilled or turned in at least 30 years. Would appreciate some advice on what depth to till the ground so as to prep it for the best footing for the horses.

Thanks,
Hoss

TWINKLE_TOES · Sep 3, 2001

Hoss,

CowBoyDoc and Chip (LazyK) and others had a long thread on this subject about 4 months ago, you might try searching or hang tight. I'm sure they will provide all you need and more.
Al

CVHoss · Sep 4, 2001

Twinkle Toes,
Thanks for the tip. I found the thread, I think, (if it's the one here in tractor projects), but most of it dealt with how to handle the ground with plow and disc. From reading it, seems that most of the guys on that thread know "what" they want, were just discussing the best way to get there. My problem is that I know how I'm going to get there (roto-tiller), just don't know exactly what I want. My main concern is should I till to the maximum depth of the tiller, about 7", or should I raise it up and till to a shallower depth to give the horses the best footing possible. This is only a practice area inside of the fenced in pasture, so no fancy fencing around it, etc. Maybe someone "in the know" will catch this post after the weekend and toss me some quick advice.

Hoss

cowboydoc · Sep 4, 2001

Hoss,
You want no more than 4" of loose ground. Make sure your surface underneath is packed and not rough. On mine I took out 4" of soil. Then I put back in a mix of black dirt and sand. The black dirt doesn't pack like the clay or other soils do and so I have to work it up less. If you want to just stay with the soil you first of all prep the soil like we talked about in that thread. Then after that you just need to set your tiller or whatever else you work the ground with at 4". If you go more than 4" it's too tough on your horse's legs.

CVHoss · Sep 4, 2001

Thanks Cowboydoc, that's what I was needing. Just wasn't sure what depth of "tilled" soil was best for the horse.

Hoss

LazyK · Sep 12, 2001

Hoss... I defer to the 'Doc'. He's gotten my head screwed on right as to the depth and preperation of an arena surface. I was over-depth'ing the top surface of my arenas by grooming and dragging with a chain harrow, tines down. Looks good, fluffs it dandy, but creates a 'volley-ball' court softness that Doc correctly referred to as a very stress producing riding surface. I followed his formula, even back-plowing out several inches of fluffy mason's sand, and filled over with a more dense mixture of sandy loam and hog fuel, no deeper than 3-4". It seemed like a pretty hard surface at first.
Not so! The dressage purists loved it, the 4-H and rodeo barrel racers really liked the new-found traction without undue torsion on their cayoos's
legs. An added benefit was: less loose sand depth; less dust and less watering. By doing what Doc advised at the start of the summer my arenas take less grooming, less watering, less rock-picking and I take less hassle from the front office. I'm strictly operations/maintenance. (no one appreciated my, "Let's have pony-burgers!" -comment when our miniature horses took second place in cart driving.)

"doc" do know of what he do!

Lazy K - Chip