Is there a "pattern" to follow when dragging a ring?

[ljc]

Finally finished my new little sand ring here at home. Having never had my own ring before, and having not especially watched others drag arenas over the last 50 years, I'm not sure the best pattern to follow when dragging the ring. Do you stay in an overall circular pattern , rail to centerline, or do you figure eight? Do you reverse and go in both directions? I know you generally water first, then drag. And you seal (flatten) the ring before it rains. Any other tips or suggestions? The ring is still a bit deep (had the contractor take out two full loads of sand and I now have a pile of sand that will last until I die); will dragging help with that or should I plan to get out the ol' wheelbarrow and start removing sand by hand?

Thanks. It's quite exciting to have my own ring!!!!

[yellowbritches]

The only thing I routinely do is obliterate jumps since I go too fast and cut turns more than I meant to. :lol:

No pattern, really, I have my own general system (start along the rail and come in, then just whiz around the jumps as close as I can- usually tearing them down in the process), but it is only how I think to do it. no right or wrong way.

[Jaegermonster]

That's what I do too, only I'm careful around the jumps since we built them ourselves and they are expensive to replace. Plus I don't want to measure my gymnastic again.

[WorthTheWait95]

No specific way but I usually do one full lap around the perimeter then start figure eighting and changing direction as needed. I usually get the big open spaces done first then concentrate on dragging around the jumps if I was too lazy to tear them down and get them out of the arena. I'm pretty good about not obliterating them but I usually knock one/drag by accident.

[shawneeAcres]

If the ring is empty, then I drag down one side on the rail then halfway across short side I tunr up the middle, then back over to the same long side, a tractors width from the last drag marks, back up the middle a tractors width form the last drag etc, until I am all the way over to the opposite rail long side. Then I make 3 - 4 passes around the rail starting on the rail and moving inwards one tractors width each pass. If there are jumps I take down ALL rails of jumps and leave standards and do a similar pattern

[skyy]

Since our ring is a rectangle and we use a York rake, I do one pass around the outside in one direction and then go the other way. This gets all of corners evenly. After that, I just drive around.

[Bluey]

Some arenas, you make two or three passes around and around and then up and down, from one long side to the other, then again around the outside to cover the tracks of turning around.

Other arenas, you just go around and around.
Some times, it depends on what implement you use to groom the arena.

You will learn after you use your arena what works best with the way you ride in it.

[Equibrit]

It's pretty good fun (because it's a boring task) to make all sorts of weird patterns and odd rules for acheiving the end.

[WorthTheWait95]

It's pretty good fun (because it's a boring task) to make all sorts of weird patterns and odd rules for acheiving the end.

Also bring your iPod :). Dragging the ring is one of my favorite stress relieving activities b/c it is boring and mindless. I actually fight my BO for it somedays since she loves it for that reason as well. There are days when it is the only 20 mins I have to turn my brain off and chill out. Plus it's instant gratification.

[blaster]

Just talked to an excavator whom got paid nicely for fixing a poorly drug ring. She apparently always drug lengthwise one to the other, lifted the harrow, reversed, and then drug lenghtwise from the same end.

By doing this, she actually changed the slope of the grade by 2-3 degrees, leaving no sand at one end, and a nice sand mountain at the other.

[mbhorse]

The ring is still a bit deep (had the contractor take out two full loads of sand and I now have a pile of sand that will last until I die); will dragging help with that or should I plan to get out the ol' wheelbarrow and start removing sand by hand?

Thanks. It's quite exciting to have my own ring!!!!

It depends on the depth and type of sand, as well as the base underneath, but most eventually settle (unless there is just way too much sand). It just takes a lot of rain, dragging, and riding. Ours took a good 2-3 years to settle to where it is just perfect now. When the ring was about one year old, we still had one end that was deeper than the other. We ended up adding one or two loads of bluestone on that end and blending to firm it up.

Congrat on your new ring!!!

[cutemudhorse]

I found out by trial and error what worked best for my particular ring. It's now absolutely perfect, but at first I had to just watch which parts had too much sand or sloped or dipped. (I didn't pay an arm and a leg for it!) You kinda get a feel for it, by riding and dragging.

I generally make figure eights, going as close to the fence as I can by whipping around tightly. (It's fun!) That's going across the short side. Then I go lengthwise, outside line to centerline and keep moving the tracks toward the other long side.

Even if yours got a perfect start in life, I do like how doing both directions fluffs it up.

[merrygoround]

If the ring is empty, then I drag down one side on the rail then halfway across short side I tunr up the middle, then back over to the same long side, a tractors width from the last drag marks, back up the middle a tractors width form the last drag etc, until I am all the way over to the opposite rail long side. Then I make 3 - 4 passes around the rail starting on the rail and moving inwards one tractors width each pass. If there are jumps I take down ALL rails of jumps and leave standards and do a similar pattern

Sounds like this farm, except now and again someone will do donuts up and down the area, finishing with a couple of around the edges runs both ways.

[suze]

I second the ipod - mine's loaded with my "tractor" tunes. Songs I can sing along to at the top of my lungs because nobody can hear me. I vary the patterns I do so I'm not repeating the same pattern all the time. There are 5 arenas that get harrowed almost every day; the toughest is usually the jump arena since the arena is seldom stripped of jumps - they just get moved around a lot.

[baysngreys]

Ditto on the ipod.
Make sure you drag your ring in each direction - up and down and across and back again.

Drag around the outside a time or 2, then reverse and drag the other direction, do some figure 8's to change direction.

You just want to make sure you "mix it up" so you don't keep dragging all the dirt to one end or side.

[deltawave]

No special pattern, but I do try to work the one corner that's "downhill" in an "uphill" direction so I'm dragging stuff OUT of that corner, not INTO it.

[twofatponies]

Practice dressage tests? :D

[suze]

Practice dressage tests?

Except how do you do the lateral movements? Somehow I don't see me doing a half pass on my 990 with a Red Reiner behind it! :lol: :lol:

[deltawave]

Do it when it's muddy, going a little too fast . . . ;)

[suze]

Do it when it's muddy, going a little too fast . . .


Oh gosh, been there done that!! My (ok, not mine, but BO's) tractor doesn't have a front loader - the BO's does, so naturally hers has more weight on the front end. Also, the spring tooth we use for the cow pen (think deep) is a lot lighter than the harrow on mine. So I kept telling her I needed weights on the front of *my* tractor to balance it & she kept saying "xxx says we don't need them" & I was getting pretty frustrated with trying to keep control in the round pen with my tractor so light in the front end. Then I was gone one weekend & she had to use my tractor/harrow & almost took out a couple of panels. I had weights within the week.:) She didn't like that side slip no steering control either, I guess.

[deltawave]

The worst feeling in the world with our tractor is going a little too fast, in snow that's a little too deep, with the snowblower attachment--suddenly you are going in a straight line no matter what you do, in spite of the fact that your TRAILER is just ahead and you really, really want to turn! :eek: :lol:

We need chains up here, but they are SUCH a PITA. :sigh: