Arena Footing

[enjoytheride]

I have a good sand in my outdoor and indoor arena, what we call “23 sand” here in Indiana. My indoor I added sand to 5 years ago and it now needs a refresh as it has compacted enough I only have about an inch left. I need to add more sand and was thinking about adding something in with it.

My indoor is small, and I only use it for starting babies and in the winter so I’m not interested in something super expensive, or high maintanance. We have a spider drag but I’m not upgrading to a fiber footing drag, and I’m not watering it weekly. I will add mag flakes.

Any suggestions on additives that fit my cheap and low labor preference?

[Pico_Banana]

I have posted before that I have the Master Surfaces TexStride footing, which is carpet fiber, mixed with sand. The guy I bought it from is based in MN (or maybe MI?) and at his place, he drags it with a chain harrow and then I think he said once a year or so he fluffs it with a rototiller on his tractor.

I only have an outdoor and we get enough rain here that I literally watered it once this year, in early summer. I’m not sure how that would translate to an indoor.

If you want, I can PM you the distributor’s contact info. Great guy to work with. He got me an awesome deal on shipping (found another load going close by he could add my small amount to) that actually got screwed up and he did a great job of finding new transport and didn’t charge me any extra.

Pricing of this is significantly less than all of the other fiber options I considered.

[NancyM]

I just rototilled mine this week. It’s a sand/sawdust mix, with a good compacted base underneath. We covered the base with some topsoil with some peat in it early on, which compacted well, with the sawdust/sand mixture on top of that. But getting too hard now, and I am semi remote so getting much that is specialized is difficult. I was quite nervous about the rototilling, but it went well. If you do it, just be careful with how deep you set it, start shallow and see how it goes. Mine is improved with doing the rototilling. Managed to not dig up the compacted base. Top layer is fluffier again.
Good luck, it’s a bit nerve wracking.

[NaturallyHappy]

My arena guy added a DOT manufactured product to mine and it’s been outstanding. He drove to several quarries to find what he wanted. It looks like bluestone or crushed limestone. I can send you a sample if you pm me (provided I can see those) your address. He mixed 2 inches of sand w 1inch of the product.