Indoor arena footing

[weedsportpete]

Any suggestions out there for footing material for an indoor riding arena?

We've got mostly glacial clay, really hard stuff that turns to concrete after a rain. The sub-base of the arena is compacted glacial clay. I'm thinking of putting in crush run gravel as the base, and I have no idea of what to put on top of that or how thick it should be.

I've read alot about soils - particle size, compaction, drainage, etc., but there are no specific recommendations anywhere..

I'm thinking about mixing topsoil and sand as the footing. We looked at crumb rubber, but its a little out of our price range, and we are not sure if you can hold reining competitions on it. We have a lot of topsoil to work with.

We also have a space for an outdoor arena that is already compacted and settled, and I'm thinking of putting the same stuff there. I've also seen screened gravel mentioned.. would that be for the base or the footing?

tia
Pete

ps Is there a horse/equine site out there as good as this site is for tractors??

 

[MikePA]

Hi Pete!

Is <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.perma-flex1.com>this</A> the stuff you referred to as being out of your price range?

 

[cowboydoc]

Weedsport,
There isn't a site out there like this for horses, arenas, etc. I have been trying for a number of years to get something going but just don't have the time or knowledge of the computers to do it.

Back to your question for your indoor you do not need to use any kind of a drainage unless you get water in your barn. You will be watering the arena everyday just to keep down dust. If you want to go the most cost effective way you would use a sight and level all your ground down 4" from grade and compact the heck out of it. Then I would bring in arena sand. Don't use river sand, etc. They have a special grade for arenas. It's a little more but it's worth it. Spread this and level it and you will a nice arena for reining. The most important part is getting the base right. Then you will need to buy an arena groomer to keep the arena worked up nice and extend the life of your sand.

Your outdoor arena is a different story. You need to have drainage and the best way for this is to first build up your arena so it has a natural drain to it. Then I would tile it, then compact, and then add your sand to it after that. The problem with the crushed rock is that it settles to much and doesn't provide a firm base, esp. for stopping reining horses. You want to get your drain primarily from the firm base and having the base sloped so that it drains. Then the tiling will take care of the rest. This way your base won't get saturated and you develop holes in it which is bad for reining.

 

[gerard]

Well Pete you came to the same conclusion we did - the rubber I think would be optimum - less dust, good cushion and will last forever - downside was the cost was a bit much. As far as your base I wouldn't use running crush. Get some screened clay, level it and compact it well. Then put whatever footing you decide to use on top of that. reining is pretty tough on footing and if you use running crush you'll wind up getting to the base at times and the stone will then wind up mixing with your footing which you definitely DON'T want. The clay is in the area (We used Action Topsoil in Minoa) as is the sand cowboy doc mentioned which we used for our outdoor. The sand is kind of black in color. I THINK it was concrete sand. Bigger particle size and doesn't breakdown as much. For our indoor we went with material called fibar. It's wood chips treated to inhibit the wood from breaking down. Our neighbor went with this too and he does reining. Not as good as rubber but a little less dusty than sand.

 

[patrickg]

Can you mix in a hygroscopic mineral/chemical like CaCl to attract moisture and help keep the dust down?

Patrick

 

[cowboydoc]

Yes you can and alot of people do. I have sprinklers hooked up in my arenas so I just turn them on before I go ride to wet it down. I don't do it because I will feed the animals on the arena in the winter at times.

 

[weedsportpete]

Yup.. thats the stuff.. I've looked at Surefoot, Equi-Tred and Permaflex; I've also found a more 'wholesale' supplier (Acorn Processing in Albany, NY) who had the best prices (and delivery) (518-438-2716 Steve McKiernan). It was a lot closer to what we could afford, but still just a little too much money. Maybe next year, after taxes. Pretty much everyone we talked to recommended mixing the rubber with sand, close to one to one mixture, or a little more sand than rubber.

 

[weedsportpete]

Its too bad you can't run a equine site like this.. I know you could add a lot of value to it. All the sites I've seen so far are a little more primitive (now that I'm used to the way these discussion/postings look and work, with all the questions and answers on the same page, I really can't stand those sites that only have the hyperlink/hyperlink/hyperlink/hyperlink setup).

But anyway, so are you saying for the indoor arena to just have the compacted glacial clay as both sub-base and base? and cover that with arena sand? Nothing in the middle? That would save money. I'd have to be careful how I raked it, so I don't rake up the base. Somebody told me I could just use chain link fence with a bar across the top and bottom as a harrow for the outdoor arena; maybe that would be fine for the indoor arena also.

The indoor arena is built on a pad that extends out 12 feet on each side; the excavator is coming back to smooth out the pad and slope it away from the walls (and on one problem side he is putting in a swale (sp?), which gradually slopes down to the far end. The far end will have a real drain that drains out on the other (naturally slopped side). So as long as I keep up with the snow, nothing will drain under the walls.

I'm not sure about the slope of the outdoor arena.. I'll have to look. When you say tile it, you mean put drain tile around the outside? Or all across the arena? Then cover the tile with crushed graval and compact the gravel? And make sure that the base (compacted base) is sloped to drain to the sides.

Then use same arena sand as in the indoor arena?

 

[weedsportpete]

So the reason you don't recommend running crush is because it could mix upwards and get into the footing? Screened clay will compact down into something different than the glacial clay I've got now? Then the arena sand or concrete sand is preferred because it has a larger particle size?

I just saw something on that wood fiber material yesterday.. I'm assuming its cheaper than rubber.. you have to keep it damp but not so wet that it breaks down (biologically - mold, whatever)?

Also, when you say compact it well, do you mean bringing in heavy duty steam rollers, and not the rollers you can rent at National or Taylor Rental? I've got my little Kubota 2200.. not sure how much roller it can pull..

 

[weedsportpete]

Did the sprinklers cost a lot? I guess I'll be watering to keep the dust down. I've got a little pond (20' across) that I could use as the water source. Do you have overhead sprinklers? I saw an add for a sprinkler that you pull out to the far end of an arena, and when you turn it on, it slowly pulls itself back to the other end of the arena (as it sprays). Can watering sprinklers also be used (permitted) as fire sprinklers? I have no idea of the cost of sprinklers.

What I'd really like to do is put in more water lines in the barn. We're pulling hoses around to get to all the stalls; I'd like to get water lines run to more accessible places, maybe to each stall. Or maybe get one of those swivel pipes you see in do-it-yourself car washes.

I'm trying to set up the place so its easy to maintain and work when we are older. There are no kids around the place, and we are so small, I'm not sure we will have hired help. Anything we can do to avoid lifting hay bales and water is good.