Grass Arena vs Sand Arena

[qse]

Ok, what are the pros and cons of a grass arena? Is there special maintenance / consideration one has to give to the construction of a grass arena? I know at some shows you have no choice but to ride in a grass arena.

Sand arena's are obviously vastly more expensive.

[tigger]

Grass arenas have to be planted on good soil, watered, mowed and weeded. They also need to be fertilised and composted regularly. They can also get very hard in the dry months and muddy and damaged in the wet months.

Sand arenas cost more to build but are much lower maintenance.

[chief]

I have both and find my grass arena awesome it gets mowed once a month and once a year I top dress it with a mulch of stable manure run through a mulcher which gives it bounce to prevent it going hard I run a sprinkler on it in the dry months for a few hours a week I move my jumps reg. and try not to work in the same space all the time it is a 40 x 60. My sand arena however is much more maint, but awesome to work on it needs almost daily watering and I rake it a min of three times a week also needs to be checked reg. for grass growth as seeds settle on top and sprout. We tend to use the sand a lot more esp for the young horses It basically boils down to a personal preference I am very lucky to have both but from a maint point the grass is easier but the sand is divine to ride in.

[qse]

Thanks so much for that informative post. What sort of grass would last the best chief?