We have sand in our outdoor arena and have epic winds, so by the time you water one end and move the sprinkler, it’s almost dry by the time you go to ride. When it is soaked like after a good rain it is amazing, but when it’s dry it is too unstable for bigger jumping. Looking for ideas for moisture retention and stability.
We cannot afford to strip everything out and spend $150K+ on GGT and the like. Any ideas or suggestions would be great. TIA!
Mag flakes
Magnesium or calcium. We use it in our indoor in the winter (we live in Canada so we put bags of calcium in and water and harrow it really, really, well, and usually don’t have to water again until spring). It keeps the footing moist and stops it from freezing (which isn’t an issue for you, I’m assuming). Both mag and calcium flakes are used for dust control and retain moisture.
Full disclosure, I haven’t tried it outside, but it works great on our indoor footing, and rain doesn’t hurt it at all (it will help the footing hold the moisture from rain/watering longer).
Princess Sparkles, how big is your arena and how much do you use? Thanks.
Our indoor is pretty tiny, its about 100 X 60. We usually put about 10-12 bags of calcium chloride (the bags are 20 kg). Then we water like heck, harrow, water again, harrow, and we are good for 5-6 months (no watering at all). We starting renting the farm from people who did absolutely NO maintenance on the arena footing whatsoever, so it was really, terribly dusty. Like can’t see a rider on the opposite side of the ring dusty. And this worked like a charm.
So you can extrapolate to larger space and you should be good. I believe when I priced it out that the calcium was cheaper than the mag, which is why I chose the calcium, though I have had people tell me the mag works well too.
When you first put it in, just pick out the horses’ hooves well, as apparently it can have a drying effect (we haven’t had any issues personally).
Hope it helps!
Thanks, PS!!! 
That’s helpful.
I have been told (and experienced) that mag only works outside until it gets rained on and then it’s gone. We use mag in our indoor for dust control and there have been a few times we’ve gotten monster thunderstorms whereby the gutters and downspouts on the indoor can’t handle the rain and we end up with a portion of the indoor getting flooded. Once the footing dries out in that spot you can tell that the mag is gone.
We added crumb rubber to our sand outdoor to help stabilize the footing and it seems to help retain moisture as well.
We use Mag Flakes in our indoor but you can’t use them outside because the rain just washed it away. 
Will rain wash away the calcium as well?
I assume so. It will dissolve it.
My friend put down a woven textile fabric layer (not sure the exact name/term) underneath her base layer. I guess it helps with stability. I think she had lime soil before and it was really slippery/unsafe when it rained. Not sure what the top layer are but I think she put some rubber on the top. She hired a contractor who specialized in roads to re do her dressage court arena. Cost her $20k.
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