2 barns to choose from. One has footing that is new, nice and soft but pretty deep (about 4 to possibly 5 or even 6 inches) in some areas…mostly a couple ares in the center. Edges are good. BO will be fixing it in the hopefully near future. Other barn has a very hard abrasive surface, old footing, that’s about the right depth along the edges but there’s barely an inch in the middle. Small rocks constantly come up when it’s dragged. No plans to re-do the footing. Which would you choose for low level dressage schooling and just plain riding?
Maybe this is controversial, but for (what most people consider) low-level dressage, I don’t think it matters too much either way.
What will matter is if you take time to acclimate your horse to the footing at whatever facility you choose.
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i wouls go with the new arena. Owner making a commitment to improving. Have never seen new footing put down where there was not a breaking in and redistribution phase
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You can’t trust either barn to do what they say in future. However, you do know that the barn with new deep footing at least making an effort and may be committed to continuing to improve. Whereas the barn with the old footing is just letting things slide. Or best case scenario they renovate and turn into a deep footing.
It often takes some tweaking to get a new arena to the optimal stage. Harrowing watering compacting.
I understand that the riskiest thing is moving suddenly between types of footing, like galloping on hard pack that suddenly turns into plowed ground. Horses however can adapt to.different footings
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I’d go with first option. I generally prefer footing that is too hard over too soft, but that assumes the actual depth of footing is adequate. I’ve been at barns where the footing was hard because the depth was inadequate and found it started to get very slick because the horses were hitting the base of the foundation. The rocks would also concern me.
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All else equal I’d go with barn 1, but I’d be very surprised if that is the only difference 
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I’d go with hard & even over soft, deep & uneven…imo, that’s a soft tissue injury waiting to happen. Can you stay where you’re at until the footing is option A is fixed?
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This was my first thought too.
But then, I have healed more than one of those darn soft tissue injuries and not having to deal with that is something I keep in mind.
I suppose if your horse has a history of hard ground being an issue you (general) would look at it the other way.
The way the OP is written it sounds like you prefer barn A, so go to barn A.
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I also prefer firmer footing. Having boarded at a number of places, promises to fix things aren’t promises I put stock in.
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It’s unlikely that someone who has put the very significant investment into new footing isn’t going to get it worked up right. Particularly if the recognize the issue.
My barn has professionally re-footed both of our arenas in the past year to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. It’s been a process to get them settled and right and even now there are some tweaks going on, but it’s still soooo much better than before.
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You say that, but I boarded at one that did exactly that. They put thousands into new fiber footing but failed to fix the base, so the footing just slid all over the place. So then they blamed the boarders for longing and “riding in the wrong areas”.
They had a dedicated longing area, but it always had a horse turned out in it. Whole thing was a nightmare of bad planning and management despite it’s hefty price tag. Soured me enough to buy my own place!
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I’m not defending the barn. As a barn owner, I’ve redone footing 5 times. I now have what, to me, is the best footing ever. When I was looking for footing the last time, I looked at a brand of fiber footing at three different barns. All three told me it was explicitly recommended by the manufacturer to not lunge or turn horses out in the footing as it would move and displace. I did not buy it.
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Totally get it - I don’t think I was clear in my post - I think the problem with this one was that they were supposed to put that grid underneath it in order to keep it from moving, and that should have stabilized it for riding (at the very least). But even though no boarders were riding or longing in it, it was still “boarders fault” somehow. When the barn owner longed in it because she didn’t want to be lawn darted one day despite informing us that we were not allowed to do so, I was annoyed enough to decide to leave.
That’s anecdotal, but my point was, when I move to a barn, I don’t buy promises.
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I don’t blame you for moving at all. That’s why I bought a farm😀. I just was really surprised the footing manufacture told them not to lunge. Who wants footing like that? And expensive, to boot!
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Did you find a fiber that didn’t shift? Sorry for hijacking the thread op, but I’m curious - I used to really like rubber crumb, but that seems that people have abandoned that for all of these fiber footings. However, fiber seems really finicky in terms of the water content necessary, plus the shifting issue and I’ve only got an outdoor so the idea of losing any expensive fiber outside just gives me the jeebies. The only problem with crumb here is that it’s hot, and adding anything dark to sand just feels like it would be unpleasant.
No…I actually put in Premier fiber footing in my indoor before I went looking around. I had a professional arena installer put it in. Somewhere, there is a thread about how awful it was. I got rid of it. My indoor is now a mixture of 2 inches of screenings mixed w a DOT manufactured product similar to blue stone. It has give, but enough support that, if you turn one out and they fool around, they don’t slip. My outdoor is concrete/mason sand. Both are on a base. Concrete sand slips in the indoor. It’s great outside as it weathers. Hope this helps.
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I’d prefer the shallow, firmer footing. Twice I have seen barns redo footing and it ends up too deep. Each time so much money was spent on the footing itself that no more was able to be spent on getting it properly installed . One of those times was using Fibar footing, self-installed. They literally could only afford the footing, but not the installation, so it was so deep the horses were sweating in the winter at a walk. Moral of the story is making improvements does not always mean they have extra money after it’s done for continued improvements, and people still cut corners while trying to make updates, like people who hire cheap contractors.
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Thank you!! I rode in lots of those blue stone types of outdoors on the east coast and they stayed nice. I don’t see them here in the midwest as much, but I’m not sure whether they just aren’t as popular or the material isn’t as readily available. Our sand is ok, but it’s getting tired and needs a lot of moisture as it is. It’s right about perfect after a few days of heavy rains and a drag. Just hard to get enough water in the summer when there are extended droughts like this year. Anyway - thanks!! Ok, sorry op, back to our regular discussion.
One more off the subject addition- I’m also in the Midwest. The arena installer who did this footing drove to several quarries until he found this product. I think the Department of Transportation uses it on shoulders, etc. it’s my understanding it is manufactured by crushing.
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Thanks!!! I’ll check with the quarry next door and see if they have anything. We have what we call “chat” which I think is stone dust, but that hardens to basically rock. I wonder if mixed with my sand and dragged regularly if it would work. Where it washed in does seem to be a bit firmer than the plain sand. It just has too much particulate matter and is too deep in some areas, as they didn’t really clean it for 20 years and they turned horses out on it. I’ve been working it, but it’s still not ideal.
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