What type of arena footing?

[lovezehorses]

@purplnurpl

Wanna know a secrete about all this new fancy textile footing?

It makes horses lame.

I figured this out last year after lessoning in it for 2 months and going to a few venues that were equipped with it. My mare said…eff this sh*+.

I provided feed back to one of our venues because they asked for rider input. They sent my email to the actual company. The COMPANY EMAILED ME DIRECTLY and told me my theories were correct and the fancy footings ARE NOT made to be ridden in daily.
They are made for venues so that when/if heavy rainfall occurs the show can go on.

My education is in biomechanics.
These synthetic footings cause the horse’s foot to stick rather than slide and put a ton of torque on the soft tissues especially collateral ligs.

I don’t know how high jumpers don’t break legs.

grass, dirt or sand for me.

If the arena has to be drug with a roller and not an actual drag… that’s the red flag.

I learned this too, especially when you really pay attention, you really see how much the foot slides in each step.

[Pony_Fixer]

Thank you all–I hadn’t checked this in a while and there is more good information. I think for now I will go with some kind of sand–just not clear which kind yet. I hope to visit a few rings and see and feel the footing and take a sample of the ones I like. Then maybe if I think it’s necessary I can add crushed rubber down the road. I REALLY appreciate everyone’s input.

(Oh and for reference I have 2 horses that get ridden 5 x week, so the ring will get no more than 10 rides per week in it. I enjoy hacking out too, so it’s probably more like 6 rides per week in it. 😉 )

[Moogles]

Side question- what do you do for sand outdoor that cannot be watered and often packs hard when dry? Is there some sort of additive that can help prevent compaction?

This footing also has a fine dust that lingers when it is dry, not sure what type of sand it is. (Not my ring…)

[Hazelnut]

This $10.00 book is great! We built our own arena and got everything we needed from our local landscape /stone store. We used cement sand. If we don’'t drag, it gets hard.

https://store.usdf.org/products/underfoot [h=1]Underfoot[/h] Regular price $10.00

NEW 2015 Edition. Everything you need to build an indoor or outdoor arena is contained in this book. Published by USDF, with input from Premier Equestrian, LCC, and a host of experts, this book defines arena building and footing.