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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1161
  
| I don't have a lot of pasture. I have a nice large riding dirt arena. So I was thinking of planting it and just ride on the grass I know the do its and stuff it would have to be smoothed out ocationally. We don't ride everyday and don't ride hard. Would like to hear the dislikes and likes. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 682
Location: Northwest | I am currently in your situation, but reversed. We moved about 6 months ago and haven't had time to put in an arena however we have an enormous yard. I ride on it probably 2-3 times a week and haul to other arenas the rest of the time. I w/t/c in LARGE circles on it no problem but won't do any small tight work even at a trot because the grass can be slippery with the horse's shoes on. It's just a personal precaution I take. I'm sure all my non-horse neighbors that drive by think I am crazy for riding on my yard but it hasn't hurt the grass any. My husband always jokes that all the horses are ready to run at Pendleton :) |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1161
| I thought of even doing half of the arena to do the small circles or if they want to be crazy but didn't know if it would just become a pain |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 788
| I had a grass arena for years. I just had sand around the barrels. It worked fine, never injured a horse. I had one slip one time when it was wet and I was loping in a low spot at the front but other than that it worked great. My arena now is almost grass since it keeps raining and not enough time between to disk it. I will tell you it will get a horse where they do learn to stand up on hard ground for sure but then they struggle when they go somewhere with deep dirt so make sure you still haul other places often to let them get accustomed. |
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 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11511
Location: 31 lengths farms | I do not have an arena and so only have the creek to ride in, the neighbors pasture and until recently a "dirt patch" my fiance worked up for me. The pasture gets a little slippery after a rain, but is safer to ride in after a hard rain sooner than the creek or the dirt patch. I have one gelding with some navicular changes however and during the summer months the pasture gets too hard and if I do a ton of riding in it he tends to get sore. I now have a trotting path worked up thru the top 2.5 acres of our property that I love! If you did it, which I get because pasture is nice to have, I'd leave the edges unplanted and maybe the middle so you have dirt to work in on the horses.
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Expert
Posts: 1543
Location: MI | I agree with horsieace. I have pasture/lawn only and a compacted dirt driveway. We have a few trails around, but no soft dirt to work barrels at all. I do drills in the pasture when dry and w/t/l on trails. If you have finished horses it may not be a big issue.
My 5yo was still learning good control at cantering right last year and slid right out from under me when turning on our front lawn because of the few last year. Made him more cautious, but me too lol.
Also, he has trouble in deep ground. He works hard, but just isn't used to it. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 422
Location: Fort Bragg North Carolina | If you have the arena keep it. Many people who ride on grass are those not able to have an arena. Most drills and work we do with barrel horses aren't necessarily safe to do on grass. Sure trotting and loping straightaways and circles are fine but dirt seems safer and the better way to go |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | I haven't had an arena since we moved here several years ago. I ride on farm turnrows, in the pasture, and I have a grassy slope set up with my barrel pattern and obstacle course. It works fine for working at a walk and trot, and loping circles, but I can't lope a barrel pattern, and there have been times getting after one (a young horse especially) that I thought we were going to die. I'm a lot more confident about them keeping their footing on dirt when things go south, and that has negatively affected how I have handled my youngsters. Considering my young mare fell with me last fall (rather spectacularly) and has been having soundness issues popping up ever since, I would say my instincts were correct: I need dirt.
Some people, if they have a sandy base for their grass, can get by with it. My dirt is silty loam with a thick covering of grass and it's slick as snot out there. |
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Veteran
Posts: 285
| Ours is grass. We just plowed it though and its that hard dark dirt. After the rain in soften up and is better to ride in. I rode on the grass for years and never had a problem. I don't work barrels after it rains cause its slippery. But I've never had a problem just slow loping. |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | I pretty much only ride in our hay field during the summer. In the winter I haul 10 minutes to the fairgrounds. The only problem with grass is as some mentioned it's slippery when if you try to do smaller circles. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3534
Location: Stuck in a cubicle having tropical thoughts | I haven't had a dirt arena at any of my places for the last ten years. The last young horse I started on the pattern, I just put three barrels in the hay field. I worked lots of drills and exercises and taught her the pattern. I could only walk, trot and slow lope though. When I was ready for her to add some speed, I'd either haul to my mom's or a local indoor to run her on nice ground. The mare I have now, I've also just ridden in a flat spot in the yard or through the hay field and I haul somewhere when I need better accomodations. We don't have the equipment to work up a dirt area and would have to cut into the hay field to do it.
When I was 23, I bought 10 acres down the road from my parents and the gelding I had then would trail ride really well so I'd actually ride him down the road to my mom's when I wanted to run the pattern in her arena. But my others where to young and spooky for me to trust to ride down the road. SInce then my hubby and I have moved twice and still haven't put in an arena.
So far, this works for me, but I'd love to have a nice, worked up dirt area to ride. If you already have one, I'd say to keep it. If you absolutely need more grass, I'd only seed part of it. |
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 No Tune in a Bucket
Posts: 2935
Location: Texas | I had a piece of plowed ground that I really liked but put an arena for the kids because I felt safer with them in the arena. We don't really run at home and have done slow work on grass. I prefer plowed ground over grass just because I think it is easier on their legs in the long run. . |
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