People familar with.....?

Question

People familar with riding in corrals,arenas,round pens,ect...

I have a newly built corral.It is 55ft wide and 85 ft in length.It is covered with grass.I do keep it mowed down.I want to be able to worl my horses in it without them being distracted by all of the grass around them...so

* how/or what can I do to get rid of the grass?

* Do I put sand in the corral?

* Is there anything you can buy for a ATV or tractor to get rid of the grass?

P.S.....I dont want to use any kind of chemicals.

I also dont want to get rid of the grass by working my

horses too much in the corral.

Answer 1

If you are "working" your horse his attention should be on you not the grass or anything else. There should really be no reason to get rid of it. Your horse should be able to work with or without grass.

Answer 2

A thick layer of lime dust should kill the unwanted grass.  It is dense enough that grass and weeds don't usually force their way through.

Answer 3

You might want a small harrow to pull behind your ATV... here's a link:

http://www.wingfields.com/dragharrow.htm

My brother-in-law owns one of these, and it really makes driveways, corrals, etc. look really nice.

(Tilling is a good idea, but it would take you awhile....believe me, I have a half acre garden, and my back is about broke!)

Answer 4

I would till it up then put some horses in there. Keep a couple horses in there long enough and EVERYTHING will be gone. ;)

Answer 5

Just leave a  horse or two in the corral.  They will eat all of the grass in a few days and trample the rest down quickly, especially quick if shod.  If you put sand deep enough it will smother the grass and help keep new grass and weeds from coming up.  Ideally you should remove the top soil and replace with clay and sand to get rid of the grass more permanently.

   It's a pain to keep clean with a horse in there full time but can be good training and quality time with the horse.  Picking up after two horses is more work than you'd think, and nasty if you don't keep up.

   I often kept colts in the round pen a few days so they are used to it and have fewer distractions when we start giving each other lessons.

  Personally I wish there was a way to work on fresh mowed grass all the time but it's gone all too soon leaving paths and a dusty or muddy place to work till you put sand or such down.  

  Either tie some old tires together with a few straight heavy 4X4s or larger or go to your implement dealer and they can fix you up with a proper size/configured drag to pull around the area you need flat and smooth.  There's lots of different designs and sizes to choose from.   One mounted on a 3 point hitch is easiest to use to get the corners, turn sharp, and back up.

Answer 6

I have a similar situation in the planning stage, and I haven't found a way to get rid of grass without using chemicals.  I have been online and asked around, so I'll be interested to see what people come up with on this.  I have pretty much resigned myself to using the chemicals, since I don't think it will enter the groundwater.  I'm curious as to whether there is another reason for not using them that I haven't thought about?

Answer 7

you can till the grass,

here is a tiller: http://mantis.com/home.asp

it will grind up the dirt.

thats the only thing i could think of.

hope this helps

EDIT:

Debi made a good point though.. you should be able to control your horse with or without grass