Help for my ring!

[spots1]

I have a new ring that we had professionally excavated. My husband borrowed a tractor and had just put 2" of stone down on the dirt base (we were going to add more as money permitted). We then got torrential down pours for two days. My ring is a mess! The water had made all these little streams and gulleys. There are mini hills and unevenness everywhere :( I have harrowed it several times, but I can't get it level/even. Any suggestions how to fix? I haven't used the other side of the harrow with the long tines (that’s used for seeding etc) because I thought it would mix in too much of the dirt. There are too many areas to shovel and spread myself.

Is it still ok to ride in?

[Romany]

Sounds like you might want to let it dry out some more before riding in it again, although maybe try walking across it just to find out?

And I agree, don't flip the harrow; the longer tines might just mix dirt and stone-dust together - which may make a great footing base, come to think of it!

In the meantime, if you have a lawn tractor or an ATV, you can make a good arena drag from old mattress springs, chain-link gates, or ask the gravel contractor for an old stone screen. Drag, drag, and drag again, and eventually it'll come level. Hand-rake as a last resort.

[kellidahorsegirl]

yuck!

My only suggestion is to not take the same path when you harrow every time. One time go in circles....next go horizontally, next go diagonally.

This will really help even out the rough patches.

My arena is dirt/clay with a HINT of sand haha and it gets the gulleys and streams when it rains.....yay. But working it each time in a different direction has kept it pretty even.

[Flipper]

Spots - what type of base do you have under the dirt - is there any gravel, or is it just soil? And what type of 'stone' did you put on top of the dirt? Is that like stone-dust, or gravel? Is that going to be the finished product that you'll ride in, or is there something else you're putting on top of the stone?
I'm just wondering, because if you don't have a solid base underneath (something like gravel that'll percolate), & if the arena isn't graded properly (ie, 'crowned' ), then you're going to experience this soupy-swampy mess each time you get a heavy rain. If you need to fix it, now's the time before you add more material. I know this gets expensive, but ... if you do it right the first time, you get to enjoy it for a whole lot longer!

[cutemudhorse]

yuck!

My only suggestion is to not take the same path when you harrow every time. One time go in circles....next go horizontally, next go diagonally.

This will really help even out the rough patches.

My arena is dirt/clay with a HINT of sand haha and it gets the gulleys and streams when it rains.....yay. But working it each time in a different direction has kept it pretty even.

Yes, that's what I did when my ring was new too. It wasn't perfect (but not super $$$ either) but it's a whole lot better after regular maintenance. The local guy here did a great job and I can ride in it after all but a monsoon, but he just didn't get it 100% even from the get go.

But I'm very happy with it.