Good morning. I have 3 - 4" of footing in my indoor, which is a mixture of granite (shingle grit), rubber and Eurofelt. But with the addition of the Eurofelt, the footing began packing incredibly quickly. Even if I drag it every day, after two or three horses ride on it, the first track along the rail becomes dangerously hard. Then we try to avoid riding along the rail until I can drag it again. I’ve heard that concrete sand is a round particle and would mix with my footing to prevent packing. I have in mind that I might need about one inch of sand added to keep the 3 - 4" of footing from packing. Does that sound right? Where do people buy sand in the Central Maryland area? Thanks in advance!
What kind of a drag are you using? I found it made a huge difference when we switched from our big tiller to a Parma groomer on our GGT arena
Agree with the above. Parma groomers are great. If you decide to add sand, go conservatively. You can always add more, but if you put too much in, it’s a job getting it out.
Around here, the guys who sell things like sand, landscaping materials and such, overestimate how much sand an arena needs. Students of mine with outdoor rings ended up with arenas so deep they’re dangerous. Lots of tractor time spent removing the excess. Whatever the sand dealer tells you, halve their estimate – or even quarter it.
Get this-
It is not just the amount of sand, it is also the type of sand. (Right, types of sand, who knew? ;))
I use a spring harrow, which does a great job, but the first track packs up within just a couple hours of riding.
Thanks, but that’s just it! No one seems to know how much sand I should put onto my existing footing! I worked with a footings guy in our area to buy and lay down the Eurofelt, but he made a huge mistake and I never should have gotten it in the first place, due to having granite. I’ll never trust another footing salesman again.
What is shingle grit, and how much of that is part of the 3-4" of footing?
Thanks. I think concrete sand is the right type for me. Its not too technical. But I don’t know how much to put down and don’t want to get a footing dealer out here to sell me something expensive.
Shingle grit, when I first built my arena 15 years ago, was cheap and said to never degrade into dust like sand does. I got it from a construction company. They don’t need the sand that comes from manufacturing shingles.
I found this: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/ub038.pdf on another forum. I think it probably tells the same information as USDF, without the cost!
