Wow! That’ll be an expensive experiment!
Agreed, pea gravel mixed with something else (stone/rubber/wood/?) might have the makings of a good draining footing. I certainly can see its use alone in places like walkways, outdoor bathing areas and the like.
The Northern Bean consistency is akin to what we were on at the approvals. Very strange stuff to try to run in, as it was loose and slippy underfoot. Felt “dead” too. I like something with a little springiness to it. For when I fall off!
[QUOTE=Beasmom;4541023]
The Northern Bean consistency is akin to what we were on at the approvals. Very strange stuff to try to run in, as it was loose and slippy underfoot. Felt “dead” too. I like something with a little springiness to it. For when I fall off![/QUOTE]
Hey at least if you use Northern Beans as footing you can cook them afterwards!
I’m gonna make a fortune promoting “Beasmom’s Patented Speshul Northern Bean Footing”.
When they get soaked by rain, they swell up and become fluffy! When they sprout, you get turf footing (for a while). Patented Speshul Northern Bean Footing self-regenerates. Once applied, you never have to add more footing!
Blame it on snow/cabin fever.
It’s actually quite nice to ride in, besides the noise.
We prepared ours by putting a base of clay, then a base of screenings (they were already there, so what the heck), then about 4" of pea gravel. I think there may have been something else under the screenings, but I’m not 100% sure.
It’s great because it doesn’t get hard like screenings, it doesn’t get deep like sand, doesn’t get flooded (seriously, even during the hurricanes it drains), and it never freezes. The upkeep is simple, you just drag it like any other arena, and the gravel doesn’t move around and shift off the rail as much as other footing. We only have to pull the gravel off the rail once or twice a year (we have rail road ties around our arena), and we have at least 8 horses a day being ridden in there.
It’s not slippery or heavy at all. The horses seem to trip less than in say, a sand arena, and they slip less than they did in the screenings arena we had before. It’s got a good amount of cush, but not so much that the horses get bogged down and tired. I’ve had the opportunity to test it out a couple times, and so have a few others, and it’s really the best thing I’ve fallen on in a while :lol:
Don’t knock it 'til you know a bit more about it. At first thought, lots of things that we use for footing makes you go “huh?”. As long as it’s prepared properly, and used in the right setting, pea gravel, wood chips, rubber, etc can all be good footing choices.
Good to know, especially the preparation part. How coarse is the pea gravel you are using, Coppers Mom?
[QUOTE=narcisco;4540452]
It’s pretty common here in What I have seen is a very, very fine grain, mixed with sand and/or rubber. I think it may actually be called pea sand. The base is prepared as normal. I suspect the grain and the mixture make all the difference. The drainage tends to be really good.
It doesn’t seem to damage the horse’s hooves any more than sand (think sandpaper). And I don’t see more than the usual soundness issues from it.[/QUOTE]
An arena at the barn I board at is like that, fine gravel (I think they call it “chet”?) mixed with sand. I liked it when I first got to the barn because it drains well and isn’t dusty, and it seemed comfortable to my mare. Certainly no lameness issues for the horses at the barn.
But, my mare’s barefoot, and after a while I noticed that it was wearing her hooves faster than I like. Other arenas I rode in regularly didn’t do that. So, now I ride in another area with wood chip footing about half the time and all is well.
I personally am not a huge fan, but just because of the additional wear on the hooves for a barefoot horse. That’s not going to be an issue for the vast majority of dressage riders, though.
Beas Mom, I think our pea gravel is really different than yours. Ours is much more angular and has fantastic “gripton”.
Yes, the angularity would make it different. The pea gravel I saw was fairly roundish.
Pea sand and chet is something different – not the stuff I’m thinking of, and I think I’ve seen it around here – and ridden on it. Usually mixed with something else.
Every region has its own problems. Here, it’s usually dry and windy and the native soil is very hard. This year we had more rain than usual, in places eroding the footing right out of arenas.
I can see where adding a certain amount of pea gravel, pea sand or “chet” to footing aids drainage, etc. This has been an interesting discussion.
I work in road construction and what we call “pea gravel” does not resembles peas! It is more like a coarse sand that “moves” easily. We use it with other materials when building culverts or inlets.
By “moving”, do you mean it slides easily, not “locking” together the way some substances will?
I remember pea gravel in my Mom’s dog kennel runs. It was like little pebbles. So now I wonder if different applications (or industries) use different terms?
I’m going to get confused!
[QUOTE=Beasmom;4541250]
Good to know, especially the preparation part. How coarse is the pea gravel you are using, Coppers Mom?[/QUOTE]
Fairly coarse, ranging in size. Usually between the size of a pencil eraser and a pinkie nail, so a bit bigger usually than what you’re describing. It’s not round either, so it’s not slippery little pebbles like what others are thinking.
The gravel that is called pea gravel out here is roundish and doesn’t pack, just slides around. It doesn’t seem like it would make very good footing.
The quarry where I usually get my gravel has a 3/8 minus crushed gravel that sounds like what some of the people here have been describing.
The course ground sand/gravel they sell around here (in the same zip as Beasmom) is called squeegee. I may have spelled that wrong, hmm. I get huge winds out here and it seemed like a good solution to keep my footing in my arena. I didn’t like it much as it packed into the clay and became rock hard. I would also find small rocks wedged into the hoof and thought it could be a potential problem working its way in and creating an abcess. (I would think pea gravel could have a similiar issue.) Anyhow, I left the squeegee as a base and added sand over it and I do like it better. Some of the squeegee comes up but that seems to be okay. The weather can make my footing feel great but during a dry spell, not so good. I think arena footing is a continual work in progress.
Beas Mom, if you PM me your address I’ll send you some!
You’re on!
My driveway is done in slightly larger than pea-sized gravel, and I can’t imagine riding on it-don’t the stone wedge in under shoes or along the frog (ouch)? Also, there is give in it, but no “spring?” How does it cushion the impact to the legs? I don’t run on our driveway because of the gravel-it feels deep and slippery, and pokes me in the feet, even with shoes on-how does gravel (even though it’s slightly smaller) not bruise soles?
And last but not least…doesn’t it hurt like hell if you fall off and land on that stuff?!
[QUOTE=HenryisBlaisin’;4543157]
My driveway is done in slightly larger than pea-sized gravel, and I can’t imagine riding on it-don’t the stone wedge in under shoes or along the frog (ouch)? Also, there is give in it, but no “spring?” How does it cushion the impact to the legs? I don’t run on our driveway because of the gravel-it feels deep and slippery, and pokes me in the feet, even with shoes on-how does gravel (even though it’s slightly smaller) not bruise soles?
And last but not least…doesn’t it hurt like hell if you fall off and land on that stuff?![/QUOTE]
We’ve never had a problem with it getting wedged between the hoof and shoe. If you do, you need a new farrier. We’ve had it for 4 years, and never had a problem with it.
As far as bruised soles, think about it. A bruise comes from stepping on a single rock that is raised above ground level, and won’t give under the horses weight. A million little ones that aren’t packed down, and move easily out of the way (shifting to accomodate the horses weight, etc), are not going to cause a bruise. 4 years, no stone bruises, even with barefoot and straight off the track TBs.
It offers more “spring” than sand or screenings. And, anything that is prepared and put down deep enough (depth depends on the material, obviously), is going to lessen the impact on the legs. And, like I already said, it is less painful to fall off in than sand or screenings. That’s all I have to say about that.
I don’t understand why people are so convinced that horses will be somehow injured by this footing, especially when they have no experience with it. It offers far more reduction in concussion than screenings, another popular footing down here, and it doesn’t bog the horse down like sand. Not trying to be snarky, but I really wish people would get over the initial “ew” reaction (which surely accompanied the introduction of rubber, wood chips, etc), and use common sense. You know, think about what causes a stone bruise (not omg stones=stone bruise always), and how one would prepare it in order for it to actually work, not just slap down some random materials.
[QUOTE=Beasmom;4540296]
Yeah. I can’t imagine anyone recommending it for dressage arena footing. I was so gobsmacked, I had to ask for more opinions or actual experience with the stuff.[/QUOTE]
We use it all year round and one I go to regularly is at mostly for dressage being that it is at one of my dressage trainers:lol:. The Wood chips work very nicely for added cushioning, I havent personally ridden in an all pea gravel arena, but I love the pea gravel wood chip mix.:yes:
It’s simply that gravel/rocks have no shock absorbing abilities at all. I hate screenings for footing as well. If you can HEAR the horse hitting the ground, the concussive forces are great.
[QUOTE=lstevenson;4543295]
It’s simply that gravel/rocks have no shock absorbing abilities at all. I hate screenings for footing as well. If you can HEAR the horse hitting the ground, the concussive forces are great.[/QUOTE]
And neither does sand or screenings. But if prepared correctly, it will indeed absorb shock.
I disagree that if you can hear the horse hit the ground, the force is great. It’s not hitting the ground that makes the noise in a pea gravel arena, it’s the stones flying up against the fencing, moving, hitting things set up in the arena, etc. Just like sand or anything else. It just makes more noise than sand because it’s bigger, same with screenings and sand.
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