# Round Pen Footing Questions



## Wendybird (Dec 5, 2020)

I am in the process of setting up a round pen and am concerned about footing. From what I have found it would be best to have a good base to help with drainage, I have been recommended to use decomposed granite or limestone, one is very pricey and the other I can't even find. I have someone who can till up the dirt, level it, and compact it with a rolling machine. Could I get away with no base and just putting sand on top of the compacted ground? The contractor says he has done 2 pens with no base and it came out great. I live in CA and we do not get much rain where I am or terrible weather, I do not want it to become a muddy mess but also am having such a hard time finding an affordable base. Any advice is appreciated, I am so out of my element trying to figure out this footing situation lol. I do want to use sand, but am still confused how many inches would be best. My mare is 17 ish and its just for basic training, exercise, and light riding. There wont be any super rigorous work done in it.


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## 289250 (Dec 11, 2020)

You could try without having a base if you feel the ground is already pretty packed. Is it pretty level? If not, you will want it fairly level, and of course that could disturb your packed ground but if you have any areas that are uneven enough that when she's worked, it might cause her to trip even with light work. 

As for how deep, I would not recommend anymore than 3 to 4". My horse developed bilateral suspensory desmitis (ligament damage to his back leg tendons) that put an end to his career in the ring. And, since he wasn't shown heavy, the only thing we could determine is the footing in my arena was too deep. It was 6 to 8" in most of it. I thought I was doing in him a favor. I ended up having several truck loads hauled out after that. ☹


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

My round pen and pens are natural dirt and grass. Since that is the the same footing as in the pasture where the horses are ridden most of the time. My round pen has a little slope which works well for drainage and there are a few days that I don't ride in it to warm up and if I feel it is too muddy there I usually wait a couple days to ride cause the pastures are too. I suppose a good alternative to bringing in rock or sand would just be to tiller up the top 4" and that would make it softer. A tiller that goes behind a tractor would be very handy for this.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

If the ground is even I would try putting sand right on the ground. We did that in the pasture to make a schooling area, it has worked well, at first there was too much sand and it was heavy going for the horses so we had it spread out even more to thin the sand, ended up having to do this twice but now it is good footing not too deep to cause strain and injuries.

I also have had sand put down on uneven ground and a lot of it washed away with heavy rains so it is important to have level ground.

so many places have the sand too deep and makes hard going for the horses and I don't like that. I don't like to see more than 2 to 3"


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