Any type of ground requires moisture, to reduce dust and keep the footing from packing. Yet outdoors, weather conditions can damage footing. All-weather footing should withstand rain, wind, and heat. The show manager has the task of controlling the moisture content of the cushion. The show must go on, despite the weather.
Rainfall can destroy footing, unless the ring is constructed to divert excess water.
A ring can be sloped, so its surface is free from standing water. A sheeted ring has one side slightly higher than the other. At a show, when you have lots of trips, and many people drive your drags, we sheet our ring. A crowned ring would require a crew trained to drive a tractor and harrow according to the slope of the ring's construction. Struzzieri noted that when constructed with a slope of only one-half of a percent, riders don't notice the amount of the pitch of the ground.