Yet Another Arena Re-Do

While our arena is not the fanciest, I wouldn't trade it for almost any other place. There are only two things that I don't like about the space in which I ride. First, it's not covered, and second, it's 10 meters too short. Neither of those things is worth complaining about, especially when compared to the things I love. And really, how many privately owned properties have a covered arena, especially for what I pay in board?

We don't have recycled rubber or shredded paper footing, but we do have firm, sandy footing with added DG. It drains really fast in the winter, and never gets deep. It is also rock free. Equally as important is that the ranch owner treats the footing regularly with ArenaKleen, a product that eliminates dust. Not having to water 10 months out of the year saves so much time, especially when riding after work in the fall.

Dustless and rock free

Last week we finally had time to drag and rebuild the dressage court. For about eight years, I would dismantle and rebuild the dressage court on my own, even when I boarded at the property across the street. A few years ago, the ranch owner asked if I'd like her help the next time I redid it. Of course I wanted help, but I never wanted to impose on her hospitality. It's a dirty job at best, and it involves a lot of walking back and forth.

The first time we did it together, it took about two hours. Each time we do it though, we get quicker and quicker. This time, it took us 20 minutes to rebuild the court. Of course the entire job, including dismantling the old court, dragging the arena, and rebuilding the new court took two hours, but most of that time was spent watching Reggie on the tractor.

We've ridden in it since dragging.

I've yet to buy "real" letters as my water jug version works great and is cheap to replace. For several years I've been using 1 gallon water bottles as dressage letters. I cover the sides of the bottles with letters printed on paper and adhere them with heavy duty shipping tape. The last set of letters lasted through the heaviest rain year we've had since the 1990s. While they were still upright and full, the letters had since faded or fallen off though. They were due to be replaced.

This is a cheap and easy DIY project that requires no skill and very few materials. A kid can do it. I start by buying 12, 1-gallon water jugs. I buy the cheapest ones I can which run right around a dollar, less if I catch them on sale. The ranch owner then uses her commercial grade printer to print out the letters from a PDF that I send her. I can print the letters myself, but my ink cartridges are really small. 

This is all you'll need.

I use a small paper cutter to remove the excess paper from the top and bottom of each letter. I then lay each letter on a water bottle and tape it in place. To make them semi-waterproof, I tape over the entire letter which requires 4 to 5 strips of tape. I usually use almost the entire roll of tape. When I place the letters on the bottles, I make sure to lay the paper so that a letter appears on each side of the bottle. When I place them in their spots, I can see the letter whether coming or going. The whole job costs less than $20 and takes about half an hour to complete.

The rails of the dressage court are made up of a mixture of materials. We have fence poles, PVC pipe of different diameters, and long 2x4s. We're trying to come up with a plan for replacing all of the many bits and pieces with longer PVC poles, but that's a slow burn project that's going to need time to mature into a definite plan. For now, what we have works great. 

Finished and ready to be placed.

I am always the first one to ride in the arena once it's been freshly dragged and rebuilt. If you need motivation to ride, re-drag your arena. It never fails to make me feel like a pro.

​With that, I better get to it!