arena surfaces..?

[worMy]

well basically my gran (where we keep the horses) has a tennis court which like never gets used, and she's decided to get it converted into an arena for us!! how exciting!

she had a man over to look it over, and apparently it is perfect for converting. lol

anyway, we have been looking at various surfaces, and was wondering if you had any recomendations.

Thanks

 

[milliepops]

blimey, lucky you.

My instructor has TurfFloat from Equestrian Direct which is sooo nice. My horse always goes so much better there! I expect it is very expensive though.

I also like the surfaces at Abbey Dressage nr Tewkesbury. I think they are mixed up 'in house' - there's a link on their website.

Don't skimp on it if at all possible - my yard has the wrong sand and hardly any rubber, and it's a terrible surface

 

[connie1288]

Thats what i was trying to find, they have it at Vale View and it is fantastic. The TurfFloat that is!!

 

[worMy]

Thanks, will look it up!

 

[punk]

DON'T GO FOR A WOOD SURFACE!!

Because my OH is in the timber business, we felt obliged to go down this route. We spent a lot of money on getting excellent drainage and construction (from others) but then the surface arrived!! It was SO deep and moved SO much that we could hardly ride on it. They kept saying that it would settle, and so we persevered for a year! NO difference!

They then said that they had provided the wrong guage of wood chips, so would take it away and resurface. This meant having our paddock filled with wood chips in a HUGE pile. Then 3 x walking floor lorriesarrived with the new stuff - unloaded, and then scooped up the PILE from the paddock (well - most of it) and went away.

The new stuff was almost identical to the previous lot - and three years down the line, I still don't dare ask anyone to come to clinics on it, and can only work or jump very well balanced horses on it!!!!!!!!!!!!! No way could I lunge or jump a youngster on it as the surface is so unstable!!

Obviously can't mention names/brands here, but you can PM me!!!!!

Wish now that I had gone down the line of rubber and sand.

The only good thing is that, should I decide to get rid of it, at least it is recycleable - ie - I can deposit it anywhere in the woods and no-one will complain!!!!!!!!!

On a different note, I have heard on a different site that silica sand is actually very toxic - in that it gives off a very fine dust that is very bad for the lungs, and that it may eventually be banned for use?!!! What do you do with your arena surface then?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[scotlass]

The new school in our yard was built by Equestrian Surfaces around 18mths ago. Great surface to ride on, but unfortunately, you can't lunge in it, which is a total pain in the backside, as the surface impacts and goes hard. Not sure if the yard owner realised this at the time.

 

[Golden_Match_II]

We have FlexiRide, which is okay, but makes work for the horse very strenuous - I'd reccomend something more sand-based

 

[horseywelsh]

Also wouldn't have wood chip, but we are in a green belt area so had to have something enviro friendly so opted for a wood fibre surface, far superior to wood chip. Used easiride, but cushionride do the same product too. Not had any trouble with it been insecure, or becoming wet and unusable. Doesn't get dusty either like some surfaces. Would highly recommend it for anyone having an arena for their own personal use.

 

[punk]

Easiride sounds great - but is it VERY expensive?!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Baydale]

We've got McArdles secondhand surface that was down at Your Horse Live 2007, I think it was called Mactrack then. It's waxed and is v low maintenance, you can lunge, jump and do everything on it. It only froze for 2 days when we had all that snow and the rest of the time was useable.

 

[langside]

we've got a sand and rubber chipping arena think it was andrew bowen? (they advertise in H&H)
they're really good we were thinking of not putting drainage down as land is normally really good but they advised us to put it in as less problems in the long run
its never flooded even when the fields were water logged,low maintenace and not deep
over all i love it!!

enjoy what ever you get!

 

[MandyMoo]

we have sand and rubber chippings...but more rubber than sand...so its really nice and ''non sinky'' so it isnt heavy going on the flat...but it is light and bouncy for jumping and has ''give''...it is really well drained and i don't think it is really expensive xx

 

[worMy]

thanks for the tips, will have a google search later at all the types you suggested!! much appreciated!