Arena surface

[Ameli&Finlay]

So I am at a yard that has a grass arena, it’s naturally got very good drainage (it’s on a slight slope and it’s quite sandy soil) even in this weather it’s stayed fairly ok. I don’t feel comfortable cantering/ jumping on it as it’s just too slippy atm and I can imagine it will be like this throughout winter. So my question is, is there any surface that I could put over top to make it less slippery or is it a take it or leave it scenario? Thanks in advanced

 

[Quigleyandme]

All I can think of is sharp sand and you would need about 30 tonnes of it for a 20x40 arena plus a machine to spread it so it would be a very expensive operation.

 

[Ameli&Finlay]

Thank you I’ll look in to it x

 

[Ameli&Finlay]

All I can think of is sharp sand and you would need about 30 tonnes of it for a 20x40 arena plus a machine to spread it so it would be a very expensive operation.

I’ve just had a look in to it and apparently sharp sand is very abrasive so if I was to do anything I would probably go with silica sand. But my question is would I just be able to put it straight on top (but take away the grass) or would I have to do a hole drainage system ?‍X

 

[Quigleyandme]

By sharp sand I mean silica sand, I’m just showing my age here. If you spread sand on top of grass to improve grip the grass will grow through it eventually. If you are thinking of removing the grass completely that is a whole different thing and yes, you would need to install drainage and a membrane and kick boards to keep the sand in place and possibly mix in a stabilising fibre and in other words build an arena only after you had obtained planning permission from your local authority.

 

[Micky]

Do you need planning to dump sand on a grassy area?

 

[Quigleyandme]

No, because it is not a structure.