Ideas for Stabilizing Deep, Soft, Sandy Riding Arena

[Marla_100]

The natural soil on my farm is sand. Deep and soft. Rambunctious horses sink about 4-6-8 inches deep when in high gear. Even on the grassy pastures they can really tear it up when galloping around.

I’m getting close to having time to ride in my nice fenced arena but I need to add something to firm it up. Any ideas other than removing sand and starting from scratch?

It won’t get heavy use w/ just me but I want it safe. I prefer not to go the rubber route as my friends have spent $11-12,000 and I don’t really care for the rubber for many reasons. Plus I don’t want to spend that much.

Would a couple inches of reddish clay help firm it up? It would eventually get mixed in w/ the sand and I’m not worried about wetness as it’s got a nice slope already and drains well.

Open for any suggestions. thanks!

[normandy_shores]

I’m in the same boat, I’ll be curious if anyone has good ideas. When I bought my place last year, my ring had close to a foot of soft river type sand that you sink in easily. The previous owners were barrel racers but even still! I scraped out almost all the footing, though it’s quite bare in some areas and a bit deep in others, so I harrow it a ton to try and move it around. There was enough footing that came out to top up a friend’s arena, make a round pen, and donate enough for a brand new arena at the riding club. I still have piles of it! (my ring is 100 x 180).

I’ve thought about adding crusher chip or something that is more angular and thick, but I worry about adding MORE, plus we’re only here for 4 more years.

[sid]

Try to remove some of the topsoil (which is what I guess you are saying you have) and add bluestone dust. That will hold it together and tighten it up and it drains well.

[Marla_100]

This is Florida- and old orange grove property so there is NO topsoil to speak of due to being tilled for many, many years. It’s pure sand.

I need something that is available locally and we don’t have bluestone (dust) here. Would other kinds of stone dust work?

[sid]

Hmmm…let me think, but surely their is soil under all that sand, no? I mean “base”. How do oranges grow…in sand and no soil? :lol:

What kind of rock is mined down there?

[Manni01]

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=crushed+mussel+shells+as+a+base&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#rls=en&q=crushed+sea+shells&revid=264306667

[Marla_100]

Sid, what we call soil is really sand and yes orange trees love sand. I can’t think of any rocks mined here. Used to be mining/collecting of coquina rock which is really sea shells stuck together. But I think the supply has dwindled and it’s no longer available.