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Do you also want to avoid your ride in the arena turning into a swim? In other words: How do you keep a riding arena free of water? We asked you, the readers on Instagram, what you do to avoid too much water during your ride. The advice you have given constitutes two main solutions, and they are vastly different in their scope: Either you need to grab the shovel, or you need to grab your wallet.
If you have an arena that is a bit too good at retaining water, you can first try a completely free solution that just requires a bit of elbow grease. Grab a shovel and go out to the arena to find the places where the water accumulates the most. Then dig a couple of drainage grooves or “streams” in the top layer of the base, running from the water-filled areas to the other side of the arena. This should allow the water to distribute into the grooves and run off.
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If the drainage grooves can’t sufficiently help you get rid of the water quantities, according to some of our users on Instagram, there is only one thing to do: have the arena relaid with drains. This is, of course, a more costly affair, but it can pay off in most cases – at least in the long run. Here, it is obviously necessary to consult with an expert in constructing riding arenas.
Another option, which is also a bit of an investment, is to lay mats with holes in them under the arena. The mats will not only collect the water from above – they also ensure a more slip-resistant and resilient surface, so the arena neither becomes slippery nor hard in rainy weather.
One can also choose to construct or reconstruct their riding arena so that it slopes slightly to one side. This way, the water can run off more easily. If the terrain around the arena naturally slopes in one direction, it is obviously important that the arena’s slope follows it.
There are, of course, also things one should avoid.
A user on Instagram recommends completely avoiding clay under one’s riding arena. The soil in many places in Denmark is very clayey, and it retains water. Therefore, it is about using the right sizes of sand grains in the different layers of the arena. Here too, one should consult with a riding arena specialist.
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One of the worst things one can do is to place their riding arena lower than the surrounding terrain. The precipitation that falls around the arena will then run directly onto it, and suddenly one is dealing with twice as much water. For the same reason, it is a great advantage to place one’s arena so that it is slightly raised above the terrain. If one knows how to utilize gravity, which to some extent can be used as a ‘natural drain’, one can thus save a lot of money on installing drains under their riding arena.
There are certainly many more options to get rid of the water masses in a riding arena. Here, we have just based it on your suggestions, which we are sure can delight many others out there.
