Building an Arena - Surface advice

[FoalLover]

There are so many options I wondered if anyone had any thoughts - I like jumping and should do more flat work! I am never going to the Olympics but a decent amateur. It will basically be used by just me and my children. Love to hear what people think.

 

[oldie48]

It really depends on how much money you have. I've got a sand with a rubber chip top, it's OK but you really do need to make sure you get a decent sand. My friend has a sand and fibre surface, it rides better than mine but it was a lot more expensive. We both have problems when we have a really dry spell. In the past we both had woodchip, but it's been so wet the last few years, it just rotted down so quickly that it was completely hopeless.

 

[dottieh]

Flexiride! Once you have initially bedded the surface down, it is a brilliant surface and requires minimal maintenance.

 

[TGM]

We have sand and carpet fibre in ours, been down two and a half years now and is a really good surface to ride on and low maintenance. One downside is that it is not quite as frost-resistant as sand and rubber, but not a problem for us as we are in the South East and our school is in full sun, so if it does get frosted it has normally thawed by the afternoon.

 

[FabioandFreddy]

We've got sand a carpet fibre too. Been down 3 years and used for schooling/lungeing mainly with odd jumping session. I really like it. My RI liked it so much she had the same put in when she had a new arena installed. Its fairly easy maintenance wise too. Admittedly it's only me that uses ours so only 2 horses a day on it, but hubby only needs to harrow it every few weeks, sometimes longer.

 

[JillA]

Carpet fibre - I am having mine topped up with it in a couple of weeks time but according to the company rep it is much easier to maintain, doesn't need harrowing or rolling, doesn't migrate to the sides and stands up well to wear and tear. I can give you contact details if you want them - mine has worked out much cheaper than rubber or sand too. And you probably won't need a membrane as it isn't fine enough to get into the stone base. Talk to the company about how best to use it.

 

[LynH]

Flexiride on silica sand is great for a private yard as doesn't need much maintenance. It needs thoroughly soaking to bed it in then doesn't need watering in summer as Flexiride keeps sand damp and doesn't freeze in winter. I don't level mine all winter and then level every 2-3 wks in summer usually when my friend rides my big mare round the outside track. If just the smaller horses it doesn't really need levelling more than every 3-4 months.