Explosive turns and acceleration are inherent to barrel racing. The wrong footing conditions can cause dangerous slipping as the horse digs deep into the ground on the straightaway and around the barrels. Good arena footing is an absolute necessity to avoid injuries to both horse and rider. But what exactly is good ground, and how can you get it? Several factors play a part, and as our experts explain, they all are important to achieve safe conditions.

The Importance of Good Ground

Chuck Dunn is co-founder of D&G Barrel Productions, and he has many years experience handling barrel racing footing. He says improperly prepared footing can cripple a barrel racer, and he’s unfortunately seen it happen too many times.

“Safety is always our biggest concern,” Dunn said. “When you’re dealing with unfamiliar ground, you don’t know how the dirt’s going to react. That’s why we prefer dirt that’s just a little bit on the deeper side because it is safer ground.”

Providing safe and fair ground conditions takes effort and thoughtful planning on the part of event producers. Photo by Verl Luppes.
Providing safe and fair ground conditions takes effort and thoughtful planning on the part of event producers.  Photo by Verl Luppe.

Good ground for some events is a bit “faster” than others, says Dunn. Some competitions prefer a safe, deeper ground. Others, like futurities and rodeos, prefer a bit harder ground.

“Hard ground is when you just barely drag your harrow over it and it just barely covers your holes,” Dunn said. “A lot of futurity trainers like it that way. They like the fast dirt. But if you have your choice between hard ground and deeper ground, slightly deeper ground is always safer ground.”

Defining Bad Ground

The most dangerous characteristic of unsuitable barrel racing ground is a hard pan. Dunn says an arena with a hard pan could look nice on the surface, but a hard, slick underlayer a few inches below the surface prevents the horses from digging in around turns. This can cause dangerous accidents when the horse can’t get a grip on the ground.

“We see more examples of horses broadsiding [from a hard pan] at rodeo arenas,” Dunn said. “This happens when they don’t work the ground on any type of a frequency—maybe once or twice a year. They pull in a plow, usually a disc. Knock the weeds down, make it look pretty on top and they think everything is going to be fine. But that disc actually helps set that hard pan.”

The ground also needs to have a balance between being too soft and being too hard. Jim Brown, a co-founder of an arena footing educational organization, Safe Arena Footing Committee (SAF), says ground that isn’t firm enough can contribute to soft tissue injuries, and ground that is too hard can lead to bone injuries.

“When the horse goes around that barrel, he has to be able to make an angle with his hoof that allows him to push off that dirt,” Brown said. “It’s about a four degree angle. But you don’t want it to slide out or blow out from under him. If there is too much sand, he’s liable to slip and slide into the wall. If it’s too hard, then he could break a bone because you have an impact problem.”

Steve Thornton, co-founder of SAF, has 30 years’ experience producing barrel races. He says good competitive ground has what he refers to as shear strength, meaning it holds up to the horse’s lateral push around the barrel.

“You get shear strength two ways,” Thornton said. “You either get it by adding more water to the ground and that makes it a little stiffer, or you put more clay in it. Then you have to be real careful about mixing enough coarse sand in there so that the clay doesn’t bind back together and it becomes hard and slick.”

You also have to watch the moisture content on arenas with too much sand versus clay, because these mixtures can contain too much silt.

“Silt are particles in size between sand and clay,” Thornton said. “If you have a cushion with too much silt or a high silt/clay ratio and then if you put water with that, the silt can act as a lubricant within the soil. If you get too much water on those types of arenas, you have the potential of creating a sliding board.”

Different Events Require Different Ground Conditions

Finding a happy medium on an arena footing that appeals to multiple disciplines can be challenging. However, Dunn says good ground can work for more than one discipline.

“A lot of times I’ve heard that stock contractors don’t like barrel racing dirt,” Dunn said. “That’s not true. Stock contractors like what we consider fast ground. They don’t want their roughstock getting bogged down with deep ground. You can still go in and tear that ground up, get rid of that hard pan and then with adequate moisture, put it back together with a firm feel to it.”

When barrel racers have to share an arena with other horse show events, it can get a bit tricky.

“Reiners want more of that hard pan underneath and almost pure sand on top,” Dunn said. “They want that ground to give. They want those horses to be able to set and slide. Each discipline requires somewhat different ground.”

Thornton says proper tools are needed to convert ground that has a hardpan and loose sand on top to safe ground for barrel racers. Sometimes the arena crew will need to dig deep to loosen the hardpan and mix the clay with the sand on top. This step is very important to ensure that barrel racers don’t slip and broadside in the arena.

Good barrel racing footing requires the proper materials, moisture, and maintenance to ensure safe conditions.
Good barrel racing footing requires the proper materials, moisture, and maintenance to ensure safe conditions.

Start with Ground Composition

Arena footing should be a mixture of sand and clay, with a small amount of silt. Jim says this mixture creates a variety of particle sizes and angularities that create structural support.

“A lot of people have too much of the same size sand, and it’s like sticking your hand in an aquarium filled with marbles,” Brown said. “Your hand will go right to the bottom. If you filled that aquarium with different size balls, such as grapefruits and softballs and Ping-Pong balls, the differences in size lock up to give structural support. In an arena, different sizes of sand does the same thing, and the clay holds those particles of sand together like a glue to give that needed impact without breaking a bone.”

With so much weighing on the composition of your footing, it’s wise to get your dirt analyzed by a company specializing in arenas such as Environmental Technical Services, a lab with equestrian experience, before you make any decisions. You also need to have your ground tested regularly because the particles will degrade with use or exposure to the elements and losses due to erosion or migration.

The biggest difference between barrel ground and other event footing is the need to eliminate a hard pan below the soft upper layer.
The biggest difference between barrel ground and other event footing is the need to eliminate a hard pan below the soft upper layer.

“Your sand wears out into smaller particles because hooves are hitting them,” Brown said. “You have to test it on a regular basis to make sure that you’re not falling into one particle size, like all fine size. It’s very important to have the right percentages, and those percentages vary with different disciplines.”

Brown says in general for barrel racing, he looks for an arena to contain a variety of coarse, medium and fine sands that make up 75 to 80 percent of the ground composition. An additional 15 to 20 percent of the composition should be clay, and the remaining percentage is silt. Brown says people often mistake silt for clay, but silt does not absorb as much water, so it can cause slippage sooner than clay. Clay is moldable, a property that is referred to as plasticity, while silt particles are a completely different mineralogy and are particles which do not exhibit plasticity.

“Barrel racers need a bit more clay than other disciplines because they’re going a lot harder into turns than say, ropers,” Brown said. “The competitors in barrels need to be able to cup and launch.”

Brown works with SAF and equestrian facilities to test the footing and adjust its properties as needed, offering recommendations on where to purchase sand or clay and calculating how much is needed. Brown has used the services of Michael DePew, an agronomist and soil scientist, with Environmental Technical Services (ETS) with his work both with Tex-Sand and for SAF.

“We have worked with ETS in evaluating various arenas and other equestrian footing applications such that SAF and ETS have established a database of various ground properties from venues considered ‘good’ and ‘bad.’” Brown said. “We have been able to apply this information to help improve footing conditions for many arenas. By going in and evaluating the material properties of the soil, we can then devise the type of materials and the proportions needed to modify and improve the footing conditions without having to resort to the expense of bringing in a whole new soil. In some cases we also have to look at other additives to help manage sodium or carbonates, which may be present in the ground and which can impact the performance of the cushion.”

George McDermott, an equestrian footing consultant and member of SAF, says the ground composition is the most important part of the arena care equation.

“You cannot protect the rider without protecting the horse and you can’t protect the horse without protecting the ground,” McDermott said. “The actual material that the horses are on, that’s the most important. If you get that right, the other stuff will fall in and it’ll be correct.”

Good Ground Requires Proper Equipment

It’s impossible to achieve ideal footing conditions without the right equipment. From the Kiser DragMaster to the Reveal 4-N-1, there are several options available for an arena crew to perfect the ground.

Dunn prefers the Reveal for preparation leading up to an event, but uses a circle harrow for efficiency during the competition.

Neil Merrill produces the Black Widow, an arena-grooming machine used by many event producers and rodeo committees. Its design allows the “Widow” to run independent from the tractor, which allows it to self-adjust to make the arena floor flat and level.

Many drags require a four-wheel drive tractor. Merrill says adequate horsepower is ideal, but the biggest tractor isn’t always better. Whatever tractor you use, you should stick to the same one throughout a competition for consistency in the surface for all riders.

“Oversize tractors pack the ground faster,” Merrill said. “Depending on the particular ground you’re on, it can help or hinder your outcome.”

Your drag must be the right size to fit the tractor, meaning wide enough to cover tire tracks even with a tight turn. Some drags like the Widow come in several sizes to match your tractor.

Moisture is Important

Among other methods, Dunn and Merrill both employ a simple test to determine if the ground has enough moisture.

“Grab a handful of dirt and make a fist,” Merrill said. “This should make a clod without making your hand wet. Then bounce it in the palm of your hand and it should break apart fairly easily. If you can’t make a clod, it may be too dry. If it doesn’t come apart easy, it may be too wet.”

Dunn said moisture is just as important to an arena as the type of footing itself.

“If you have good ground without the proper moisture, you haven’t got much,” Dunn said. “After years of doing it, you feel your dirt, see how it’s reacting and then we put water down accordingly.”

Dunn typically adds moisture give or take every 500 riders in a competition, depending on factors such as humidity, whether the arena is indoor or outdoor and overhead fans.

Correct Technique is Key

In addition to ground composition, moisture and equipment, technique cannot be neglected.

“No tool or dirt can make up for the knowledge and experience of a good ground person,” Merrill said.

Arena care starts with an awareness of the ground composition, depth and its moisture needs. Prior to an event, Merrill recommends deep-ripping the entire arena to a depth of six to eight inches, which will remove hard-packed areas and even out the underlying base. He recommends floating the entire arena to a depth of one to four inches to push the air out and firm up the ground.

Throughout the event, most ground crews will drag around the barrels every five riders. Every 50 riders, Dunn also performs a “big drag” using the Reveal 4-N-1 to rip around the barrels. He then finishes the area with a circle harrow implement.

Merrill says to watch for any horses slipping, which could indicate that the ground is too loose or too shallow over a hard-pack underneath.

“If the tractor bounces as you drive over an area, such as behind the first barrel, make another pass until the tractor moves evenly over the ground,” Merrill said. “This will produce even compaction.”

Keep an eye on the depth and the moisture throughout the event to make sure the conditions are still ideal. You might need to make a deeper pass or add moisture more often than you realize.

Merrill recommends moving in a forward motion instead of small circles for best results with the Widow. He also suggests varying your drag pattern enough to keep the arena flat, such as moving around the pen in a reverse direction every other drag.

Thornton suggests making turns at the ends of the arena instead of following where the horses run.

“If you go straighter longer, and then make your turns in the ends of the arena, then you are going to keep your arena a lot flatter,” Thornton said. “You’ve got to work your hydraulics on your lift so you’re not carrying your dirt. You can’t just go to sleep up there in the tractor. If you don’t pay attention, you’ll have dips and valleys.”

The role of the equipment operator cannot be overstated. McDermott says the training is more important than even the implements themselves. Consistency of maintenance throughout the event ensures all horses have access to the same quality of ground.

McDermott likens creating a good arena surface to baking a cake.

“You have to have all the ingredients right, but then you also have to know how to bake it and prepare it,” McDermott said. “You can have very good ingredients for a cake and the right proportions for everything, but if you bake your cake at 200 degrees and think it’s going to come out good, you’re wrong. So the equipment as well as the proper method and the proper procedures ensure that the ground you’re working with is right. The surface that the horse runs on has to be prepared well. You can ruin a good surface with a bad operator, and you can make a poor surface work better with an excellent operator. But if you work everything together the right way, you can have a very safe environment.”

For More Information

Safe Arena Footing Committee (SAF) is a non-profit organization working to establish ground standards for the rodeo industry. SAF is a member of several American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) committees with the goal of creating standards for equestrians on surfaces and providing testing methods, tools and practices. The organization offers education and consultations to anyone looking to improve their arena conditions. SAF has a database with Environmental Technical Services of more than 200 equestrian surface analyses, and sources of materials from all over the United States.

Meet the Experts

Neil Merrill is the owner, designer and sales director of Black Widow Groomer, a ground-working implement used by several major barrel futurities at South Buckeye Equestrian Center in Arizona to prepare the ground. His wife, Barbara, is a barrel racer that has competed at the National Finals Rodeo and trained many winning barrel racing horses at all levels of competition during her career.

Chuck Dunn owns and operates D&G Barrel Productions. Dunn, along with the late Phil Goosetree, founded the company that now has more than 50 years’ experience producing barrel races. Both Dunn and Goosetree worked the ground for the Barrel Futurities of America World Championships as well as the National Barrel Horse Association World Finals. In the past 15 years, D&G has produced more than 100 shows with a payout in excess of $3 million.

Jim Brown is a co-founder of the Safe Arena Footing Committee (SAF). He has 40 years of experience working with sport and equestrian footing, including testing the composition of arena dirt. He has a degree in Agronomy from Stephen F. Austin.

George McDermott is a committee member of SAF and is a member of ASTM. An equine service specialist with 40 years experience with ground and maintenance, he was the track superintendant for two racetracks. Today he consults on racetracks all over the country.

Steve Thornton founded SAF, and has produced the ANHA SHootOut in Waco, Texas, for 30 years. It is the oldest independently run barrel race in Texas. He is a PRCA Gold Card Member.

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