Arena Surface Advice Needed

Kelly Marks

Kelly Marks

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7 November 2005
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141
Location
Upper Lambourn, Berkshire
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Has anyone got advice on arena surfaces? I'd be particularly interested if anyone has just organised with a quarry to get their surface! But also what depth do you think you need? And any pros and cons of the various types would be much appreciated.
Thank you!
Kelly
 
If this is for your own use / use in business one line of enquiry would be to see if one of the "names" would give you a heavy discount in exchange for the advertising value.

Any of the suppliers supplying more than one surface should have details of how much depth and or mix you need and an idea of volume and weight for each.

FWIW I foudn that trying to buy sand from a quarry was easy enough. THe haulage was a killer though.
 
I just had a menage done. Used high grade silica sand and clopf fibre. Took time to settle and ride how I wanted but totally in love now. Be interested to see how it is in the summer when its dryier (or meant to be!!!) you can get silica direct from a quarry though I went through a second party
 
Don't know much about the different surfaces but do know that at my last yard the surface was mostly sand which, if wet, would freeze in ruts in the winter, meaning we couldn't use it at the times we really needed to as the roads were lethal!
 
I just had a menage done. Used high grade silica sand and clopf fibre.

That sounds interesting. (Sorry haven't worked out the quotes thing)

All very well re. the 'discounts for advertising thing' but I'd like to work out something that other people can benefit from as well i.e. so I can give good advice - I just need good advice from others first!
 
Mines silica sand, topped with rubber. Havent had any issues at all. Still looks like the day it was done.

The only time we couldnt use it was the previous year when it got as low as - 15. A chap i know had his re surfaced with a bizarre looking top. It was like chopped black carpet. But his was the only arena that didnt freeze.

However, at -15 i didnt fancy riding anyway !

We used a specialist land drainage company, who did arena's as a side line. As from what i understand, its the drainage that make an arena.
 
I'm having an arena done atm, sand is arriving Monday and surface on Wed. I did a lot of research into which surface would work best for me but couldn't go for waxed surfaces as it is only for my own use for two horses so couldn't justify the extra £15-25k for wax.
I've gone for a base of equestrian grade silica sand, 140t for a 20x40 arena with Flexiride on top. I looked at Clopf and Combiride but need a surface I don't need to water in summer and in some cases both of these particularly Clopf got deep if not watered. I didn't want rubber as it can smell in summer when new and the arena is near my house so I chose Flexiride as it is environmentally better than rubber, gives frost protection and doesn't need watering. I searched a few forums for reviews on all and Flexiride had by far the most positive reviews over all the others. It does look a bit odd when first laid but everyone I spoke to said after a month or so it settled well and it needs little maintenance.
I'm having my arena built completely by a contractor so he is sourcing the sand. They have said that it's been difficult getting the deliveries from the quarry as the haulers are so busy atm and they have to wait a day or so whereas normally they can ring for loads and get them the same day.
I looked at several arena companies and went for the one who did the most extensive drainage and having watched and photographed every stage I am so pleased that I did.
I'm hoping to ride on my new arena later this week and I'm very excited to see how it is :0)
 
We researched DIY, but found the costs of haulage and plant hire meant we wouldn't be saving much. We ended up spending more on the drainage/sub base as we are on heavy clay.

We had topsoil scraped away (and sold some)
Herring bone land drains dug
Woven membrane covering the whole thing and going into the drainage channels.
Clean stone around the land drains and forming a drainage bed of approx 9 inches.
Non woven membrane, heat sealed joints and stapled to the retaining boards
5 inches sand - must be sub-angular so that it knits together and doesn't ride deep. We are lucky that one of the best sands is found in Norfolk at Leziate Quarry.
We then finished off with a budget rubber surface (chips of recycled tyres), I think it was only about an inch or so.

The arena rode well within a couple of weeks and has not frozen solid in the 2 years it has been in, though it does get firmer. It has also been used for turnout for up to 4 from 8am - 4pm over the wet weather and has coped well.

We had a 1m margin left around 3 sides of ours (the 4th is a triangle 1m-5m) so we could use it for the fatties in summer and to prevent fence hugging. The margin has become pretty boggy over the winter and is a bit of a pain as I keep having to rake bits or rubber back in, however it means that we can put hay nets on the fence and the hay doesn't foul the surface.

I would have preferred rubber strips, we went to look at an arena with these. They are much more stable and don't get kicked out, but it would have added several thousand to the price. If you are a water meter it might be worth thinking about waxed surfaces , just in case it ever stops raining. I have also heard good things about the shredded carpet type surfaces. Our old riding school had sand and PVC granules (PVC granules are a more budget option). This drained well but rode a little deep.

Good luck. Its a big investment to get wrong!
 
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