What do you do to keep your riding area groomed?

My dream has finally become a reality and we have purchased the house and 30 acres I've been boarding at for the last year and a half. I havent had horses in my back yard since 2009 when my horses were tragically hit and killed by a truck. So this is a pretty big deal to me and I cant wait until move in day

Anywho - the little ole lady used to keep it nice and tilled up for me but since we dont and wont own a tractor for a while, what can I do to keep the dirt nice? Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

PS - this will be my view come April Can you tell I'm a little excited?!

I have a piece of drag that I pull with my 4 wheeler. Works perfectly fine. Not as good as a fancy tractor and drag but as long as I keep on it , it does the job necessary

I've pulled a disk with a pickup....drag with a 4 wheeler, asked the neighbors to work it when they went by with equipment.  If there's a will there's a way!  The type of soil will determine how/what will be needed to work.  Congratulations!  Your new place looks great!

With a good saddle and a light drag, you can work your ground and your horse at the same time.

I didn't have a tractor for a long time.  I rented one and got everything I could get done with it before I took it back. You'll need a good plow or disk the first time you work it up every year. After that a springtooth and a 4 wheeler or pickup will keep it smooth the balance of the year.  It really depends on your ground and what you are planning to do. Barrel racing at high speed needs the ground to have the hard pan tore up about 8" deep.  

We have an old farmer's disc and I hook it up to my pickup truck. About twice a year we rent a tractor and ripp up the ground really good then! 

No input---I use a tractor but CONGRATULATIONS on your new place.

When the wild hogs came to our house and totally plowed the yard, we used the JD Gator and an old roll of chain link fence to try to level it back out and it did a surprisingly good job.  Last year we bought a mid size tractor and a tiller and I am loving it.  It is the first time in my life that I could work the ground whenever I wanted.

Nice place.  I’m happy for you!

Very nice, hope you enjoy it immensely

I've thought about pulling a disc behind the truck, but the "arena" isnt large enough or wide enough for me to circle around driving a 1 ton. Wondering if you can back up with those? In my mind I dont see that going well LOL.

Thank you all so much! I cant wait to get in there.

No. You really can't use a pickup in a small area. They don't turn sharp enough to get into the corners.  You might ask at the feed store if anyone has a tractor service. But I like to do things myself so I can do it the way I want to. I think renting a tractor is the best way.  

Congratulations on a beautiful new property. 

We won't buy a tractor until hubby retires in a few years. With all the military moves the last thing we need is a huge piece of equipment to move.

So we use an ATV.  We found a used ATV pull behind disc for food plots etc on facebook for 350.  Hubby is a welder and used scrap steel rod and drag pins to build a finish drag to level the ground.

Same here. I like to do it myself. Hopefully I will have something in place when the ground is finally thawed out!! Which might be late July at this point...

Thank you!!

We bought one of these a couple of years ago.  In the indoor we were pulling it behind a Gator and it pulled pretty good, in the outdoor we used our tractor.  We sold the tractor and got a loader so we bought a 4 wheeler to pull it with.  It doesn't work very well with the size of drag we got but I think if you got the smaller modle it work.  In the video all the use is a 4 wheeler.

https://www.ezgroomer.com/arena-drag-groomers/

Back in the day that I didnt have a tractor, I use a harrow that had some weight added to it behind my 4 wheeler.. I would work up my riding area real good with the farm tractor and then I would keep it groomed with my harrow.. Heres a couple pictures I found for you they are not mine but this is what I used at the time..

Maybe you can find someone to work up your riding area and then you can do the up keep yourself with a harrow untill its time for some tractor work again.. You can add some weight by putting a railroad tie on top of it or what ever thats kind of heavy..

And your view is awesome, your going to soooo enjoy your new home.. Congrats

I dont have a tractor  What we did (have a small area to ride!) is I got sand and over time it does work into the ground and stays on top and I dont have to work it bc if it gets hard it loosens up and I can ride in it even if its muddy.  Its my round pen but a big roundpen.  I know to do a whole arena would be expensive but if you did a load or two at a time you be surprised how well it works!  I have clay dirt by the way so can be very slick when wet. If i only work it up bout once a year but now I havent had to work up in long time guess maybe bc of all the rain we've gotten!  and Congrats!!!

I have naturally very sandy soil where I live. If I added anymore, it would be entirely too deep to work horses in. I just need something to turn the ground up after the frost leaves the ground. After that, I think I should be able to maintain with a nice drag. Sounds like renting a tractor is the way to go for now! Thanks everyone!