Indoor footing too deep sand

[Dizzhorseanon]

Hello

The vet came out for an exam for my horse and said that while the horse is in great shape, the footing in the indoor at my barn is putting him at risk. It is deep sand like 4-6inches deep. I mentioned this to the barn owner once and she indicated she wouldn’t do anything to change it.

Is there any way I can approach this with her to convince her to fix it? Offer to remove some sand? I feel like it’s putting all the horses at risk not just mine. She is definitely a little overwhelmed. I just really don’t want to leave the barn it took me a long time to find a place I like. While the outdoor is better in our climate I’m usually inside about 70% of the time so I need a good indoor.

[trubandloki]

@Dizzhorseanon

Hello

The vet came out for an exam for my horse and said that while the horse is in great shape, the footing in the indoor at my barn is putting him at risk. It is deep sand like 4-6inches deep. I mentioned this to the barn owner once and she indicated she wouldn’t do anything to change it.

Is there any way I can approach this with her to convince her to fix it? Offer to remove some sand? I feel like it’s putting all the horses at risk not just mine. She is definitely a little overwhelmed. I just really don’t want to leave the barn it took me a long time to find a place I like. While the outdoor is better in our climate I’m usually inside about 70% of the time so I need a good indoor.

When you asked her to fix the footing once already, what was her actual response. I know you said she indicated she wouldn’t do anything, but wondering if it was that she felt it was not an issue or it was on the list but she was not getting to it, or even maybe she knows it is too deep now but the footing contractor says that it will be fine soon with a little bit of use?

[Dizzhorseanon]

So when I first moved there she said she thought it was too deep (8 months ago). But then a couple weeks ago I mentioned what the vet said, and she said there’s nothing she can do and that her horses have gotten used to it.

[LCDR]

Sounds as if one of her own horses will have to develop a too-deep-footing related injury for her to get motivated to fix things.

Spring is coming and you can ride outside. Just bide your time. At eight months, you are still a newcomer to the barn and don’t have much clout to get things changed, especially if change will involve money.

[steelerino]

Is your barn mixed disciplines? Western people have a different preference when it comes to depth of footing.

[Dizzhorseanon]

It’s only English. Various levels of jumping with most people 2’3 and under

[Dizzhorseanon]

That’s a good point. Thank you

[Jackie_Cochran]

Horses work harder in deep sand.

Go slower, at least until your horse gets fitter and more used to the deep sand.
.
My riding teacher has rather deep river sand in her riding rings. She mainly teaches hunt seat and most of her jumps are around 2’.

[fordtraktor]

You may be able to make it more stable by the addition of moisture. My indoor can feel a tiny bit “deep” when I need to water it. a heavy dose of moisture and it is perfect again.

[2DogsFarm]

If it’s new footing, she may not be able to financially handle the cost of removing that much sand.
It’s easy to add, not so easy to remove.
It may pack down some with use.
Or, as suggested, wetting it can help.
Can you ride anywhere else? Outdoors?

[Dizzhorseanon]

Yes. I think it’s about a year old. I can ride outside but probably with the weather like 1-2 days a week versus 4-5 days I can make it there. And my horse is overweight and needs exercise

[findeight]

You could get a second opinion about the footing depth and ability of the horse to work safely in it. I never had a vet outright condemn a ring like this. Are other horses going soundly? Have other boarders complained? Other vets judged it too deep?

Far as BO changing it, you are talking thousands they probably do not have (after paying to install that footing just a year ago), might need to raise the board to cover and, maybe, the BO prefers it the way it is.

No barn is ever going to be perfect and none will make $$$$$ changes based on what one boarder wants. Most cannot afford to make any changes anyway.

Whatever you see on day 1 is what you will live with as long as you are at that barn…regardless of promises of future improvements. Boy did I ever learn that the hard way over 50+ years in boarding and training barns as well as idyllic private set ups that went to hell.

[Demerara_Stables]

@Dizzhorseanon

And my horse is overweight and needs exercise

It would be hard (not impossible!) to injure a horse while walking, even in deep footing. If your horse is overweight then just walking in the deep footing, starting at maybe 10-15 min each day and working up to more, is more exercise than you might think.

[Dizzhorseanon]

Interesting. Yes I wondered about that. Two vets from the same practice said the same thing. I called today to clarify if it was just when jumping or riding at all. The vet said, if your horse is tripping in that footing but doesn’t trip elsewhere then it’s probably the footing that is the issue. He does trip. But don’t all horses trip sometimes? In more shallow footing the horse has a beautiful, light floaty trot…. In this footing he definitely doesn’t feel floaty and trips. I don’t know I just don’t want to injure him.

[findeight]

Well, try not to ride in that arena at anything but a walk, Or start looking for another barn, you cannot force any any changes, BO probably cannot pay for it so if you feel strongly, time to go.

[punchy]

@Dizzhorseanon

Interesting. Yes I wondered about that. Two vets from the same practice said the same thing. I called today to clarify if it was just when jumping or riding at all. The vet said, if your horse is tripping in that footing but doesn’t trip elsewhere then it’s probably the footing that is the issue. He does trip. But don’t all horses trip sometimes? In more shallow footing the horse has a beautiful, light floaty trot…. In this footing he definitely doesn’t feel floaty and trips. I don’t know I just don’t want to injure him.

I hate tripping—it can hurt you, too. All horses might trip, but they don’t regularly trip unless there is a problem. And since he regularly trips in this footing and nowhere else (?) then the footing is not working for him, as the vet said. I agree with others that walking in it is fine, and ride outside whenever you can.

[FieldMack]

deep footing is a suspensory waiting to happen. i wouldn’t ride in it.

[enjoytheride]

You could offer to split the cost of someone w a skidsteer removing some of the footing.

[blondewithchrome]

If the vet for my horse advised me that riding in the indoor at my barn would lead to an injury for my horse, I would honesty start looking for a new barn. I would not feel comfortable riding this horse in the ring with that sort of comment from my vet and it would just not sit well with me to lose an amenity I pay for to ensure my horse doesn’t get hurt. Horses are expensive to keep and if I’m paying for a program with an indoor and I can’t use that indoor for fear of injury it really hurts the value to me - and I’d never expect the BO to change it just for me (one boarder). Footing is crazy expensive! Just my two cents, OP!

[touchstone]

If your barn owner doesn’t want to fix it, you’re sort of out of luck on this. Footing is one of the things that really determines barn choice, because it’s very expensive to change, people have different preferences, and it really can influence your horse’s soundness.