Adding fiber to existing sand arena - help?

[Potato]

Hopefully somebody has experience doing this!

My farm has an existing sand arena. It was professionally done, and done very well. There is a solid base, it drains beautifully, and has an appropriate amount of sand on top (angular sand, enough for some cushion but not too deep). The arena is used year round in central KY for 4-6 horses a day for eventing, so we do dressage and jumping on it. It gets dragged whenever needed (currently about once every 7-10 days, plus after rain). We have a limited watering system (can water from a tank in the back of a gator) but there is no irrigation system and will never be an irrigation system.

However, we are interested in increasing the cushion or “fluff,” if that’s a possibility. I’ve been looking into fiber additives. GGT is pretty much out (know many other arenas with that product, it floats away and requires too much water).

Premier Equestrian seems good, and will do a free consultation with existing arena sand to complement whats already there. This is very appealing - has anyone used this service before?

Any other suggestions or experiences? Thanks!!

[ToTheNines]

Sorry don’t have an answer for you, but a question! Have you eliminated rubber products? Aren’t there some designed for outdoor arenas that will not float away?

[Potato]

@ToTheNines

Sorry don’t have an answer for you, but a question! Have you eliminated rubber products? Aren’t there some designed for outdoor arenas that will not float away?

My concern with the rubber is the floating away - in KY we tend to get bouts of insanely hard rain, our annual summer monsoon! For that reason, I ruled rubber out. If there is rubber that won’t leave in the first big rain, I would definitely be interested!

[mmeqcenter]

Can you put down railroad ties or landscape timbers for a perimeter to prevent footing from “floating away”?

[ToTheNines]

I asked about rubber because I used to ride at an indoor, and they added some kind of material that looked like fiber. But they said it was rubber (actually they said “tennis shoes” . It took a bit to mix it in with the existing sand, but I loved it. It did not seem like it would “unmix”.

[gumtree]

@Potato

My concern with the rubber is the floating away - in KY we tend to get bouts of insanely hard rain, our annual summer monsoon! For that reason, I ruled rubber out. If there is rubber that won’t leave in the first big rain, I would definitely be interested!

A number of people I have talked to regret adding rubber. Maintenance hassle and really doesn’t bring a lot to the table.

The go to area company around here told me adding sawdust/shavings gives the biggest bang for the buck. Can cut down on dust also. Depending on local availability by the truck load it is reasonably inexpensive,.

[OneTwoMany]

Many professional footing companies will offer a free consultation to suggest products to add to your existing footing to achieve your desired results. We have used two different footing companies with satisfactory results. Ask for references. Proper footing fixes or improvements can be expensive, so it is important to choose a professional establishment with satisfied clients.

I would be cautious about adding sawdust/shavings to footing. When the sawdust/shavings break down (and it will), the footing can become dusty if you don’t keep it irrigated.

[dressagegirl123]

I would recommend Premier. They will ask for a sample of your sand to best advise you on the additive for it. They carry fiber, rubber and athletic shoe rubber. Ask for Chris, he’s great to work with. If you have more questions, you can pm me. However, not having access to water does pretty much rule out fiber. I also add rubber, with a small perimeter fence, the floating is not a big deal, and I love the bounce it gives to the footing. The more energy you want given back to the horse, the more rubber you add. The athletic shoe additive breaks down, The rubber does not.

[gumtree]

@OneTwoMany

Many professional footing companies will offer a free consultation to suggest products to add to your existing footing to achieve your desired results. We have used two different footing companies with satisfactory results. Ask for references. Proper footing fixes or improvements can be expensive, so it is important to choose a professional establishment with satisfied clients.

I would be cautious about adding sawdust/shavings to footing. When the sawdust/shavings break down (and it will), the footing can become dusty if you don’t keep it irrigated.

“When the sawdust/shavings break down (and it will), the footing can become dusty if you don’t keep it irrigated”

Have not found this to be true. It doesn’t break down into fine “dust”. If the ring is not subjected to lot of rain or regular watering it will take a long time to “break down”.

As with all rings, arenas it really comes down to one’s use and more importantly their budget.

Synthetic footing is ridiculously expensive IMO and experience doesn’t warrant the costs. The fiber particulates are be coming a concern. I have read some interesting necropsy reports of “stuff” found in horse’s lungs from synthetic footing.

[Hej]

I have also had very good experiences with Premier Equestrian. They will work with you to find the best additive(s) for your sand, conditions and use.

I added their GGT dressage mix (fiber and small felt-like pieces) to my existing sand arena and have been very happy with it. A little bit of it does wash in a very, very heavy rain but most of it is worked into the sand and stays put.

[Guyot]

Following this thread with interest! I too have been thinking to add fiber to my sand indoor. My concern after adding fiber tho is did you need to get another arena rake to maintain the footing…?

[ToN_Farm]

@Guyot

Following this thread with interest! I too have been thinking to add fiber to my sand indoor. My concern after adding fiber tho is did you need to get another arena rake to maintain the footing…?

If you add a fiber like GGT or felt, it will not mix well unless you have the right kind of sand. The ‘right’ kind of sand
for this is expensive. If you do get the right mix, yes you need a special harrow. If you end up mixing felt with the
wrong sand (like I did), it is a mess. Do you homework on this and do not trust everything you hear. You need to
see how these products work after years in use.

I did not have confidence in the person I spoke with at Premier, but it was a female. She gave me incorrect info. Further, Premier used to push GGT and now they are telling customers that GGT is no good and trying to get them to
switch to another of their products.
https://premierequestrian.com/premier-equestrian-discontinues-sale-distribution-ggt-footing/

I had rubber w/sand for about 15 years in my outdoor with zero problems. It was great. Maybe it depends on the way the arena is graded as I never had any runoff problems.

[SCI]

We have fiber mixed with sand in the ring where I board. We do not have an irrigation system. As far as I’m concerned it was a complete waste of the BO’s money to put fiber in without an irrigation system. Our ring gets a lot of sun and the ring gets VERY hot and dries out quickly after a rain. BO put the fiber down thinking it would help hold the moisture in the sand. It does, but not for very long. The fiber (which I would describe as being like chopped up carpet) does not give you “extra cushion” or extra fluff. If that is your main objective, I would look into something else.

[TullyMars]

OP I am at the same crossroads as you, except in Southern California. I have been debating with Premier as well for the rubber footing. I did not know there were so many choices of rubber. Should we use smaller pieces of rubber or the bigger ones?It just keeps going around and around in my head and I am afraid to make the wrong decision! Let me know what you decided! We do have irrigation.

[ToTheNines]

I highly recommend ordering the Premier sample pack. It’s $10, but well worth it. There are samples of different additives, and the booklet is very detailed about what products do best in what types of arenas. I am building an outdoor, and am planning on using their Athletex additive, which is ground up tennis shoes. Not the same as rubber crumbles at all. I will get the exact sand they recommend. My arena guy will bring me samples, and you can send a sample to Premier and they will evaluate it.

Very technical, but the sort of thing I love researching. Paying for, not so much!

[Critter]

I added fiber to our sand rubber arena 2 years ago. I used Premiere Equestrian…sent them the sample and they came back and recommended one of their products. I was happy it wasn’t automatically the most expensive fiber…it was actually one that was mid-price. So they truly were basing the recommendation on the analysis. They were super to work with for ordering, shipping, follow-up questions. I also ordered the sample of footing and spread it on the track so we could determine the depth (they actually helped by dividing the sample pack, so I could put a certain amount down, ride on it, then put the rest and see if I liked it better or not).
It was brutal work putting the fiber down (I did it by hand…by myself, in a 70x200 foot indoor)…took me three solid days of work!! But I LOVE the footing…the fiber did exactly what I thought it would and 2 years later, it looks and rides awesome. The only downside was it took practice learning how to drag it (it can catch in the drag tines and clump and cause a mess)…and it gets stuck in all the tire treads of the tractor! Otherwise, love it…and PE was a great company to work with!

[DressageLin]

Check out footingsunlimited.com. A friend ordered a fiber additive for her indoor, and it’s great. It sounded fairly reasonably priced too.

[panpiper]

Has anyone tried https://trutexfooting.com

[TullyMars]

PanPiper, yes I did TruTex. I am not impressed at all. We are in Southern California and I cannot water it enough to get it right. It wants TONS of water. It has been difficult to handle. I was told my drag was fine, but it was not, was told to get a different one, which I did, still is a mess. I can’t afford to water it to the limit it needs due to water cost and water restrictions.

[MsM]

looking at the budget options that dont require new equipment to manage - can anyone else share experiences with adding sawdust? Did it add cushion? Easy to groom?