Last year I bought what seems like 1 million bags of mag flakes. Now it’s time to do something with them. I’d like to check in with people who have experience with the preparation and application. I know I’m supposed to water the arena and then sprinkle the flakes. I have a little seed spreader that I can pull behind our tractor. Footing is sand and foam chips
I could use advice in terms of how much water should be before application, and after care in the immediate few days after application
Our indoor is 66 x 164, 10824 square feet. Footing is a sand/ clay mix. 10 horses use the ring year round (less in the winter). Spring of 2021, I top dressed it with 25 bags of Mag Chloride flakes. I had watered the ring once a week for 4 weeks before, not soaking it but maybe putting 1/4" down, and that was my usual chore all summer to keep the dust down. Once the MgCl was spread (lawn seed/ fert spreader behind lawn size tractor) I let hooves mix it in and only chain dragged it once a week as per usual. It kept the dust down very well, and I didn’t water again that summer or 2022. I put down another 25 bags early summer of 2023, and again just let use and the weekly chain drag incorporate the flakes into the footing.
The MgCl works very well if there’s any humidity in the air. On the sunny side of the indoor and during low humidity, the surface can be a little dusty, but not like it was before.
It looks very pretty right after spreading, like a snowstorm with sparkly flakes. But you can see the moisture around the flakes almost immediately if there’s any humidity at all.
Not sure I answered your questions, but ask if you have more.
It’s fairly foolproof. I lay out my bags in the arena so I can gauge how much I need each bag to cover. Then, I tear open a bag and pour into a wheelbarrow. Then I use a small bucket to scoop and scatter an area. I try to cover somewhat uniformly, but once you drag it gets mixed in well enough.
Thank you very much for this info! Do you find that it changes the texture of the footing much? I have sand footing with a small percentage of foam flakes in it. Do you find that it makes it compact more readily or does it stay reasonably loose?
Ours stays the right texture for us. We like a firm base with a couple of inches of cushion on top. The flakes didn’t change the texture any more than watering the ring would IMHO.
Thank you!
I would not water, we live in a humid area and the mag flakes had puddles on my sand without any watering at all. I did find my compacted because wet sand compacts, and I felt it made the footing more grippy. I used half what they recommended, I spread, waited 24 hours, then drug. You can always add more later.
I drag before using a spreader, and then I apply in a crosshatch/checkerboard pattern. I find I use roughly a 50-lb bag per 400 square feet, although my first application required more. I then re-drag after to even out the moisture in the sand.
I would suggest you start light and add as you need.
I have never watered before or after; where I’m at, humidity does the work.
My footing is sand over compacted limestone, and I prefer the slightly firmer support of the treated sand.
greys
I also don’t water before applying. I have a 75x150 indoor, and the climate is humid enough that watering would be overkill. The first time we did it, we made the mistake of using a push spreader. That was tedious. Now we use a seeder attached to back of the tractor or ATV—so much faster. We have GGT footing, and I don’t find the texture changes. After applying, we drag, and the mag gets fairly well distributed. About 30 bags took us through the winter. Getting ready to reapply now.
I was curious about this. I’d never heard of watering and haven’t done it in my indoor and LOVE mag flakes. I apply it when I see the footing start to get dusty and put down 8 bags or so every 6 months or so. I have tried it all - a spreader (the flinging type you use to seed), a walk behind spreader and then lately I just take a coffee can type container and fling it. Let it sit about 48 hrs and it’s perfect. 72x144 arena.
So are we saying that in some instances you water first?
I am saying that some people say you should water before Mag and others say you shouldn’t. I did not because it pulls humidity out of the air.
Very interesting. I’d never heard that.
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