Impart unto a moron your arena footing wisdom

[ToTheNines]

Crone, I wonder if you should go look at some of the local arenas? I like Laura’s, which is sandy loam and maybe some rubber at one time. You could ask her. She does take care to groom it a lot tho. I also like the footing at Oakhaven, which is more of an angular sand plus some rubberized stuff. I am sure Senja or Debbie would be glad to have you come visit. Those are the two I know about, and I like them both.

Be careful of the local guys. I think they do a lot of western, who tend to have their footing deeper and shiftier than I prefer.

I think a lot of it depends on how much grooming you want to do. I love the way sandy loam added to sand fluffs up as well as gives some purchase, but it does tend to pack.

ETA: I just re-read about the sprinklers. If you can keep it watered, I LOVE the Oakhaven outdoor when it is watered. Go visit!

[ellisrun]

The facility where I board has the black rubber shreds/chips in the covered. They have to water ever day and the residue it leaves on feet, socks, shoes - is a PITA to get off. Ride in there and clean your nose and ears - black residue - wouldn’t be my first choice from a maintenance and cleanliness factor - but it is nice to ride on.

[babecakes]

hmmmm, adding organics produces dust, unless you love watering it all down. It is why people pick poop out of the footing.

[merrygoround]

[QUOTE=ellisrun;8600123]
The facility where I board has the black rubber shreds/chips in the covered. They have to water ever day and the residue it leaves on feet, socks, shoes - is a PITA to get off. Ride in there and clean your nose and ears - black residue - wouldn’t be my first choice from a maintenance and cleanliness factor - but it is nice to ride on.[/QUOTE]

Hmm! Our indoor has crumb rubber, and it has never done anything but lie there with the sand, and improve the footing. BO uses Mag Chlor, about 10- 40# bags for a 20 m x 60 m arena once a year, and never, ever waters.

[StormyDay]

OP, if you are looking for footing that you can run around on and feel pretty much no drag (like sand can cause), I would suggest doing all rubber crumb. A place i used to board at had this, and it was wonderful. Great to ride on, still had ‘give’ to it, but the best part was it didn’t cause any drag on the horses’ limbs so it was great for recovery from injuries. You only need 1 1/2 to 2 inches. Also, because it doesn’t slide around you don’t need to drag as often. It is what I am putting in my arena too.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I suspect that she has already finished the arena. The thread is two years old. Maybe she will come and update on what she did and how she likes it.

[StormyDay]

[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;8605189]
I suspect that she has already finished the arena. The thread is two years old. Maybe she will come and update on what she did and how she likes it. :)[/QUOTE]

Oh my :lol: Shows me for not looking at the dates of threads!

[Obsidian_Fire]

[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;8605189]
I suspect that she has already finished the arena. The thread is two years old. Maybe she will come and update on what she did and how she likes it. :)[/QUOTE]

@StormyDay;8605943

Oh my :lol: Shows me for not looking at the dates of threads!

Two years old or not… I have a question… so what do you do when your BO only has a clay base? (as that’s what is common ground around here). He did add some sawdust/bark to it at one point to break up the clay, but because nobody listens to the word “drag” the arena - they till it instead - now that’s all gone and we’re back to clay that packs and also becomes super deep and heavy.

What is the best option to add, when nobody is going to remove anything, and you need to stay cheap?

[StormyDay]

How high is your rainfall? If you have low to moderate rainfall, compacting down the clay to form a base and then adding two inches of sand should work. If it is high, you would need to add a draining layer like gravel to keep your arena from puddling. Maybe someone else has had luck with some sort of additive to clay, but there is a reason they use it for pottery. It clumps well.

[fjordmom]

Sorry a little late here. to answer your question chelzee: I have 6 inches of professionally packed road base. On top of that is several inches (forget exactly how many right now) of laser leveled, packed diamond dust, then the sand footing. The base was given a year to settle and then we build the indoor arena over it (as was suggested by a local friend who has a beautiful arena). Sand footing was added after the arena was built. It’s abut 2 inches of angular sand and a minimal amount of mag-chloride. Love it! For my outdoor, I just have a nice flat sod field that I use. I didn’t build a separate outdoor. Up here in the north, I figured I get the most use for my buck with an indoor and indeed I’ve been riding to my heart’s content this month while it snow, blows, and sleets outside.

[Obsidian_Fire]

[QUOTE=StormyDay;8611032]
How high is your rainfall? If you have low to moderate rainfall, compacting down the clay to form a base and then adding two inches of sand should work. If it is high, you would need to add a draining layer like gravel to keep your arena from puddling. Maybe someone else has had luck with some sort of additive to clay, but there is a reason they use it for pottery. It clumps well. :)[/QUOTE]

LOL…:lol: Yes indeed it does. It’s an indoor, we get a lot of rain, there is no puddling. It’s just a matter of working it up correctly and adding the right materials to it to alleviate the clumping/sticking.

Somehow around my part of this world, ‘working the arena’ means plowing it 12 inches deep. :no:

In the absence of convincing anybody to stop doing that, somehow we need to get that dirt to be more breakable rather than clumpable. I know it can be done - I’ve done it in my garden - but I used compost there! Not sure I go for dumping the manure pile into the arena…

[StormyDay]

Obsidian Fire: I know exactly how you feel, since I have ridden in an arena much the same. :lol: Besides my original suggestion of compacting then using sand, you could possibly add bark/mulch to it. A good friend of mine has an entirely bark arena and besides the occasional splinter it works well. However, after a few years (probably 5-10, depending on moisture) it breaks down.