# Footing for outside riding area/paddock



## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I have a 75 x 120 foot area which my horses use as a dry paddock and which we use as a riding ring. I prefer trail riding, but want to be able to continue to polish my riding by doing arena exercises once in a while, and my daughter does occasional lessons in this riding arena. It's fairly flat, and currently, is covered in what's left of trampled grass stubble. Since I pulled my horses off the pasture for the winter, they spend all their time in there. While it's level overall, there are high and low spots, which I find annoying. 

I've considered adding sand (and yes, I know you have to add pebble under the sand for drainage), but my trimmer does not recommend it. My horses are barefoot and according to her, living on sand 24/7 can lead to more serious cracks (the sand gets wedged into small fissures and widens the crack - she claims to have seen this happen in one of her client's horses who just had sand put in). She recommended pea pebble, but that sounds pricey and unpleasant to walk in. I'm thinking it would be a PIA to keep clean too - I pick all the manure out of my paddock daily. I've also thought of just dragging the soil a few times to fluff it up a bit and level it off. But I worry that once I do that and kill off what's left of the grass roots, I will have one big muddy mess. The grass does help avoid erosion and absorbs some of the moisture. We get a lot of snow over the winter so I suspect I would see a lot of mud in the spring. But then again, since this is my first spring with the horses at home, we may see that anyway, even if I leave the grass. Currently, there is an area right in front of the horses' stalls (they have dutch doors and stall access 24/7) where there is a fair bit of sand from the construction of the barn. They tend to stand there a lot since there is an overhang, and the drainage there is great, so they're not standing in mud or anything, but I'm guessing some of the paddock will be a mess in the spring and may become unusable anyway. 

What would you do? Am I going to regret it if I rip up the grass? Should I wait to see what it looks like in the spring before making a decision that may be irreversible? Having separate areas for riding and for turnout is not an option. We've already fenced off all the open fields on our property except for one way at the back which we may do next summer but would not be practical as a turnout area or a riding arena. Furthermore, we don't ride that much right now (1-2 times a week) and are still doing pretty basic stuff. But the ground is soft and the grass isn't really growing anymore, so it's taking a beating. Should I just ride on the uneven surface and suck it up? I can do figure 8s, serpentines, circles, diagonals, it's just that I constantly have to shift my balance as I go slightly up and down depressions and elevations and I have to keep pushing my horse to slow down or speed up because of the terrain. I dream of a soft, level surface so I can just focus on my riding, not on adjusting my weight for the next change in surface. But maybe that's just part of the learning curve. 

This picture of Harley and my daughter shows what I mean by uneven.


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## Roman (Jun 13, 2014)

This is the only pasture for your horses? If so, that size of an area isn't big enough for multiple horses. If you have another grazing area, I don't see why you couldn't make this area into a riding arena. You can always just work the arena up so its dirt and soft, not hard and grassy.


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

All the horses at my barn live on sand most of the time, some 24/7. The only cracks we get are from horses hitting a rock occasionally and chipping part of the hoof. Cracks grow out just as well or better IMO than when I've had the horses on other surfaces. 

Brittle and shelly hooves prone to splitting are not caused by the environment (unless thrush or white line disease sets in) but by diet and mineral imbalances. Horses that get enough copper, zinc and biotin in balance with the rest of their diet have stronger hooves. Even if they do get a crack, it will soon grow out with proper trimming regardless of where they are kept. 

I'd prefer a sand base for riding rather than a grass or dirt surface. It can be difficult to keep sand from migrating or getting blown away, depending on your environment.


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

I cannot tell what your soil is....butvif it has a decent amount of clay in it, do not put sand on it. The clay particles are thin, flat, and tiny, but the sand particles are round and huge, compared to the clay. They cannot be mixed without organic matter to build the fungi in between the clay particles. 

Putting sand on top of clay is the same as spilling bb's on a tile floor..slicker than ice!


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## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

If it were me I would wait until spring. It's unfortunate you aren't able to have a separate area for your riding arena. 

I get where you are coming from in wanting to level it...but I think if you worked the ground and dug up the grass you would just be left with a mud-hole. Which would likely be useless as a turnout or a riding area. I would either leave it grass, or sand it. 

My 'sacrifice paddock' used to be grass, but due to all the moisture we got and the horses' feet ripping up the soil, it has now turned into a mud hole. It's disgusting - the horses are constantly slipping on the mud, they are filthy and their feet are more prone to thrush. I've had to re-open my large grass paddock for them until it dries up. I stress out about rotation as I only have 3 paddocks (2 with shelters) to rotate my guys on. Darned horses!!!


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Acadianartist said:


> Should I just ride on the uneven surface and suck it up? I can do figure 8s, serpentines, circles, diagonals, it's just that I constantly have to shift my balance as I go slightly up and down depressions and elevations and I have to keep pushing my horse to slow down or speed up because of the terrain. I dream of a soft, level surface so I can just focus on my riding, not on adjusting my weight for the next change in surface. But maybe that's just part of the learning curve.


Yes, just suck it up, IMHO, or you'll be CONSTANTLY needing to fill/drag/groom it to keep it like you are hoping for.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Roman said:


> This is the only pasture for your horses? If so, that size of an area isn't big enough for multiple horses. If you have another grazing area, I don't see why you couldn't make this area into a riding arena. You can always just work the arena up so its dirt and soft, not hard and grassy.


No, if you read carefully, you'll see I pulled them off the pasture. They are now off it for the winter and will remain in this paddock. We get snow, a lot of it, so it is common practice here to keep your horses in a smaller area during winter. They lose interest in wandering around a large pasture when there's 4 feet of snow in it. The smaller area will get packed down so they can still move around in it.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

greentree said:


> I cannot tell what your soil is....butvif it has a decent amount of clay in it, do not put sand on it. The clay particles are thin, flat, and tiny, but the sand particles are round and huge, compared to the clay. They cannot be mixed without organic matter to build the fungi in between the clay particles.
> 
> Putting sand on top of clay is the same as spilling bb's on a tile floor..slicker than ice!


Interesting - and yes, we have tons of clay in our soil.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

cbar said:


> If it were me I would wait until spring. It's unfortunate you aren't able to have a separate area for your riding arena.
> 
> I get where you are coming from in wanting to level it...but I think if you worked the ground and dug up the grass you would just be left with a mud-hole. Which would likely be useless as a turnout or a riding area. I would either leave it grass, or sand it.
> 
> My 'sacrifice paddock' used to be grass, but due to all the moisture we got and the horses' feet ripping up the soil, it has now turned into a mud hole. It's disgusting - the horses are constantly slipping on the mud, they are filthy and their feet are more prone to thrush. I've had to re-open my large grass paddock for them until it dries up. I stress out about rotation as I only have 3 paddocks (2 with shelters) to rotate my guys on. Darned horses!!!


That's my worry... so yeah, maybe I should wait and see how it goes. It does drain pretty well so there's always an area that is dry. The far end of the paddock will be the worst, but they tend to avoid that area and we just ride on one side when that far end is too wet (we've had a lot of rain lately). This paddock sits on the high end of our property so the water tends to run off. It hasn't gotten really muddy yet, but I dread seeing it in the spring.

If things get too bad, I can open my pasture up and create a small sacrifice area with some step-in posts to let the paddock recover a bit. 

I think the best thing to do is see how it looks over winter and in the spring and then decide what I want to do for next year. I've seen far too many horses living in mud over the tops of their hooves and certainly would not ever let my horses live like that. 

Thanks for your input!


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