Definitely not a roller. You have the opposite problem of bumps; you have indentations. Take a weed popper or a hand trowel and raise up the indentations. It's a bit of work but it does the best job unless you are talking a large area with a lot of hoof marks.How would a roller work to repair damage from horses? Not terrible damage, but there are hoof prints all over about 2"-3" deep, with a few much worse. The horses got on the lawn when it was snow covered, but not frozen.
Golf courses: much different environment. Mostly sand based immediately under the turf. I guess I haven't been everywhere but I've never seen a roller the weight of an asphalt roller on a golf course. But I have seen them core aerate numerous times per season. But again, your golf course soil structure is not comparable to MOST home lawns.For all you people that claim these rollers cause tremendous compaction... why do golf courses use rollers on a semi annual basis? This supposed compaction from a 2 ton roller is VERY VERY minimal. I have used 1 ton asphault rollers to get a lawn perfect. I have noticed no adverse affects.
