The Art of Raking the Arena

I love raking the arena. I think there is something therapeutic about smoothing out all the hoof marks in clean straight lines. Almost like a zen garden 😊 It got me thinking though, what is the optimal pattern to efficiently rake the arena with the shortest route? Iv always done the same, around the edges and drive smaller and smaller circles but is that the best way to do it? I did some research and found the following:

1. Speed of your car is key – going to fast or inconsistent speed will create bumps in the sand
2. Change direction of your pattern each time so that you don’t push the sand in the same spaces causing certain sections to be thicker than the others.
3. Type of rake matters – check your groves are not too deep making it uneven for the horses hooves to land on when your done.

Here’s an interesting animation showing 3 ways of doing it:

https://www.abiattachments.com/videos/how-to-drag-a-horse-arena-drag-patterns-animation/

Would love to hear from you how you do yours!