Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
sonal home arena set up, it will require regular maintenance (weekly or monthly), addition
of footing materials every 4 or 5 years, and possible renovation after 15 years or so.
LOCATION
An arena should be located on dry, level ground that drains well. Anything located down-
wind of the arena will be the recipient of regular dust deposits, so take this into consider-
ation when choosing arena and round pen locations. If the site has marginal drainage, you
can improve drainage with a shallow ditch (swale) cut around the perimeter of the arena.
Depending on the terrain, the rainwater collected in the ditch can flow directly onto lower
ground or can be drained via French drains or an underground tile system.
LEVELNESS
The arena site should be level with a slight (1- to 2-degree) slope or a slight central crown
to allow rainwater to pass through the footing and flow off the base. The slight slope dis-
courages puddling. Be aware that a steeper grade could lead to erosion of the footing during
downpours.
SUBBASE
The native soil, or “earth,” is often a suitable arena subbase. But because you want a fast-
draining, easily compactable subbase, in some situations, such as areas with heavy clay,
you will likely have to add other materials to the subbase or find another location for the
arena. For outdoor arenas, you could consider adding stone dust to improve the subbase.
For indoor arenas, a more suitable subbase would be (depending on the specific materials
in your area) an equal mixture of sand and clay or slightly more clay.
BASE
The layer of material between the subbase and the footing is called the
base.
The functions
of the base include acting as a protective layer between the earth and the footing, giving
stability to the arena floor, and carrying rainwater off the arena. The base might be naturally
occurring material (such as decomposed granite) or added material such as road base or
fine gravel topped with stone dust and clay. The base must contain no large stones, and it
needs to be compacted or tamped as hard as concrete. A contractor with a 10- or 20-ton
roller (such as used by road crews) can do the necessary packing. If you are adding mater-
ial to the base, do so in layers, watering and packing in between each layer. Confer with
