Arena Surface- which one?

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ellietaylor10

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Hi All, I'm just having a new outdoor school put in. I'm after your experiences with regard to surface. We are looking at silica sand + one other. Has anyone used plastic granules or flexifibre? I'm looking at it as an alternative option to rubber seals/rads/trax ! Any advice would be appreciated :-D
 
Hi... I'm pretty sure our Y/O has just (a few months ago) had flexiride put on ours - it's made from car upholstry materials so is a mixture of foam, plastics and carpet. It is a beautiful surface to ride on in all weathers - obviously haven't tried it after a hard frost yet, but so far so good.

It's nice to manage too :)
 
CBFan said:
Hi... I'm pretty sure our Y/O has just (a few months ago) had flexiride put on ours - it's made from car upholstry materials so is a mixture of foam, plastics and carpet. It is a beautiful surface to ride on in all weathers - obviously haven't tried it after a hard frost yet, but so far so good.

It's nice to manage too :)
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Thanks for that :-) I've just contacted them for a quote. One advantage is that you can lay it directly on to the stone drainage, without the need for a silica sand base- I'll let you know how cost effective the quote ends up being !! :-)
 
Clopf is very good.

Stear clear of the big bits of rubber, they stain the horses legs black, and I find horses trip on the larger bits too.
 
I would always go for silica sand and fibre. We have silica sand and Martin Collins Clopf and it's amazing, everyone compliments it :)

When we first built it we had rubber on top of silica sand and it was ok for the first year. After that it became too loose and I was constantly maintaining it, with the Clopf is so easy. I never have to water and it only gets levelled once or twice per week.
 
I'm no expert but I have just inherited (with new house!) an old Charles Britton school. It has sand and tiny plastic granules/plastic flex. So far it's been an amazing surface, never floods but is quite compact. Having been on several livery yards with a variety of surfaces, this is my favourite.:)

I have been on a school with sand/fibre but in the summer when dry, the fibre came to the surface and fluffed, getting into velcro on boots and generally not doing its job!! I have no idea what this was called though.:confused::confused:
 
The yard I have just moved to has a shredded carpet type surface - very springy, doesn't freeze in the winter - never floods and my boy seems to love it. I was a little dubious at first but it seems great - the show jumpers yard down the road from us uses it too I noticed. It eco friendly too :)
 
cavalo branco said:
I'm no expert but I have just inherited (with new house!) an old Charles Britton school. It has sand and tiny plastic granules/plastic flex. So far it's been an amazing surface, never floods but is quite compact. Having been on several livery yards with a variety of surfaces, this is my favourite.:)

I have been on a school with sand/fibre but in the summer when dry, the fibre came to the surface and fluffed, getting into velcro on boots and generally not doing its job!! I have no idea what this was called though.:confused::confused:
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I would agree with the sand/granules/plastic outer casing of flex mixture, our old livery yard had this and I can only remember about 4 days in 8 years when it was really not usable. YO raked it about once a month ish and there were about 5 horses using it daily.
 
cavalo branco said:
I'm no expert but I have just inherited (with new house!) an old Charles Britton school. It has sand and tiny plastic granules/plastic flex. So far it's been an amazing surface, never floods but is quite compact. Having been on several livery yards with a variety of surfaces, this is my favourite.:)

I have been on a school with sand/fibre but in the summer when dry, the fibre came to the surface and fluffed, getting into velcro on boots and generally not doing its job!! I have no idea what this was called though.:confused::confused:
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Yes, I have to agree with you on both counts!! The old style plastic granules make a really nice surface.


and the fibre tends to be a pain in the bottom..... thats if it doesn't blow away!!
 
Hi ellietaylor10, not sure if you have made a decision yet but I have flexiride down and I have not had a problem with it. I think it is brilliant its low maintenance, environmetally friendly and the horses love it. I have young horses as well so i find it brilliant to turnout on, and to fall off on!!!! :D Hope this has helped.
 
I have combi-ride. Fantastic, haven't graded my surface in six months!

A friend has the old Passada surface (sand and plastic granules) and it tracks badly and goes deep when dry.
 
Hi ellietaylor10

Just to let you know i have a flexiride arena with a sand base and i love it. its brilliant to work on, turn out on and maintain. So far this winter it has not frozen, and i would really recommend it to anybody it is great for all disciplines and is brilliant if you have an occasional tumble! :D Hope this helps!
 
Hi
Be careful with Flexiride- I had it put down last year and started finding pieces of shredded metal in it (2 to 3 inches)- There is no quality control done by Equestrian Direct.It took 9 months to resolve and alot of hassle - so my advice based on my experiences avoid flexiride.
 
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