Hi all, I put new footing in my indoor after giving up on my fiber footing we could never get right. I love it-it is a combination of limestone screening w another man made, crushed limestone product similar to the bluestone arenas. I added mag for the winter as I e had good success w it in regular sand. It might not be the right product w this footing material. It drags nicely but gets hard again pretty quickly and it did not behave that way prior to the addition of the mag. Has anyone else had this happen, and if so, how did you resolve it? Thank you!
Can you share your experience with fiber? I’m deciding what to do for footing in a new indoor. And so sorry to hear you continue to have troubles.
My new barn’s indoor has Mag chloride with some sort of sand or dirt mix and it’s really packed down. The BO just got an arena ripper and has been digging it back up again. It’s packed so hard in some spots I suggested a rototiller to break it up (saw that on a post here), and then maintain with the ripper.
My worry now is that my pony is used to the firm footing and it’s now quite deep and soft. She’s suggesting SMBs for a while for all the horses until they get accustomed to the change.
On the plus side, the footing is definitely dust-free.
Paddock Wood, sending you a pm.
Hi Pony, thank you. I’ve read one can put a sprinkler on it and wash it out, but I’m chicken to try that. I’ll just keep dragging.
@PaddockWood We just moved from a barn that had fiber footing and although it looked nice it didn’t ride great. My own horse who seemed fine at shows and on our track would trip whenever he was slightly distracted (bad the first month, then seemed to acclimate and became rare) and I also found it very easy to catch a toe when I lunging/on the ground. We just moved to a place with ground up sneakers and sand and all the horses are moving better and the tripping issue is completely gone.
That is certainly good news! This ring was fabulous before I put the mag down. I’ll get it figured out somehow.
Limestone packs like concrete when you add moisture. I suspect that is your issue. I have it in a certain form as a base in my outdoor.
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Thank you, I think so, too. I’ve read on these forums one can get MAG out by watering so I’m hoping someone who has done that will chime in. I suspect it’s a problem with this product because of the particle size and shape.
Yep. It’s not the mag, it’s the limestone. Limestone will be fluffy until it gets wet, then it will set like concrete. However, limestone is also very dusty in my experience, so you need to either water or add mag flakes. If you mix the limestone with a looser masonry sand, it can be a great combination. That is what we have in our indoor currently with mag flakes.
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Hi All, Thank you for your ideas. I adjusted my drag a little differently and footing is fabulous again. Duh!😀
