Arena surface - how long till you could ride on yours?

kerilli

kerilli

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A friend had a new arena professionally installed last november, good silica sand + turffloat. sand and turffloat bought from same company, who had worked with the experienced contractor in the past.
she has diligently levelled and rolled it in all directions many times since, spent more time on 4x4 than on horses. works a few horses in it a day, maximum. it is 20x60.
the surface is AWFUL. firm in places, soft in others, very deep in others. she has lunged on it, but the deep bits are random, not just where she's lunged... plus, levelling and rolling should have evened it out again, surely?
she's had 2 horses injure themselves on it recently.
she's contacted the company and they've said it will take 6 months to settle!
My arena was rideable from the day it was finished, and hasn't changed. was yours?
all replies much appreciated.
 
That's crap and exactly the same situation I was in!

I spent more time riding a bloody quad in it than I did riding Diva in it! The only time it was OK was when it was really cold.

We contacted Martin Collins who came out and did a site survey and basically the sub base was unlevel and our silica was not very sub angular. We ended up having the contractors back (independent not through Martin Collins) to relevel the sub base. The sublevel had been disturbed when the sand and rubber was delivered and when the fencing was erected.

The surface was then relevelled and we added Martin Collins Clopf to it.

We have had it power harrowed and rotovated in and am really pleased with the end result. It will require watering in dry weather though.
 
ours was a self-build and was great from the day it was finished and so it should be if the underneath is properly level and has a membrane
 
I went to look at Turfloat arena when I was changing my surface in November and it was very very firm, not my cup of tea as I like springy surfaces which you ride on top of so i had silica sand and rubber chip. I was riding on it the next day after installation, although I had extensively rolled the sand before adding the rubber on top.
 
Ours was super from day one, but then we ignored all the advice and used sea sand mixed with rubber and silica, because just using silica indoors had previously given us a deep unstable surface.
When we decided to build the outdoor arena we had jars of sand outside for weeks testing which combinations worked best under rain/dry sun etc. The above was a surface with a little give but not a lot, stable and great in everything bar snow.
I would be insisting on a site visit and more work, perhaps they need to roll it with a massive roller or add more of one ingredient, but I'd be kicking up a fuss!
 
mine was brilliant from day 1 - Jackson arena with rubber. I had heard of several which had the same problem as the one you described. And it was down to the sub standard sub base and the wrong sand. get the contractors back.
 
Yard I was on previously had Turfloat and I really didn't like it. The surface was about 12 months old when I arrived and still settling, it dug up very easily and got very lumpy and deep in the summer. The only time it was good to ride in was when sopping wet but then it froze solid for days on end when cold!

Needless to say it was not on my list of possible surfaces when I had my own manege built, way too expensive for a start. We had a local contractor who did a fab job for half the price and used silica sand from manchester Plastics. The rubber was lucky buy from Springride and I just waited for the first downpour before using it, the rubber needs spreading a little more evenly but it has been pretty much perfect otherwise, didn't have a single day this winter when I couldn't use it, even in snow.
 
Manor Farm EC in Cambs had the exact same surface installed last summer I assume from the same company as they are the ones that supply turf float. They had Lee Roberts install the arena.

They held a BSJA show on it the weekend it went down and had problems it was so deep especially in the corners. They got Lee to harrow in the turfloat a bit more and also had a weekend of seriously heavy rain and since then it has been fine. (well it was the last time I jumped on it last summer). I beleive they also have the Hydrogel in it which is supposed to help retain moisture.

I had a new surface installed on my arena end of last summer, sand & ecomony track fibre, it was fine to use after it had some rain on it. I get a couple of deep patches in it after using it for a few days but I think that's because I probably need some more fibre, but I am looking at some sort of rubber to go on top as it is very windy here and so it dries the sand too quickly.
 
There are 2 schools near me that both have Turfloat (indoor) and they are both fab to ride on, and have been since day one. they both used the same sand from somewhere in Fife I believe.

One of the schools we use regularly for SJ clinics and at the end of the day, when the jumps are taken down you cant see where they've been.

The other we use for dressage comps, and it holds up well to 50 odd tests being ridden in it.
 
We built our own using traditional methods and I had a lesson booked so asked the farmer laying the surface to please do one half at least, by the Saturday of my lesson. I have pics of me having my lesson in my beautiful new half finished school, with mounds of yet-to-be-layed surface behind me, with me riding quite happily at one end on a 20m circle. Has anyone ridden in one quite as immediately as that ??????
 
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