Cheap and effective arena fibre top-up

[ycbm]

I know there are a number of forum members who struggle with arenas that are too well draining in summer. Mine is one but it would be unusable in winter if it didn't drain so well.

I researched additional fibre and it was very expensive. So I thought 'what short chopped, binding, non rotting fibre, that will hold water but still drain, can I add for myself? I was going to wait for a year before I posted publicly, but it's going so we'll that I thought it was only fair to let other people know in time to add it before next summer.

Wait for it ........ dog clippings. I have a friend who runs a dog trimming business, and the hair is thrown away, so I get it free. Its doing an absolutely fantastic job and looks so much nicer than shredded carpet and cloth. I'm also using old polyester filling from quilts and pillows and horse rugs, and that also works very well but is less easy to pull into little pieces and spread. It's also very white!

Every time there is a footprint in the arena, I scrape back an area to the flat orange sand, spread a coating of hair and then kick the loose over again. Recently, I've started throwing the black and brown stuff on the top and only burying the white and tan. The white eventually gets discolored by the black rubber, but it takes a while.

I hope this helps other people like me who can't justify the cost of arena fibre.

 

[ycbm]

Bump because I really want to let peopler know about this and it's getting a lot of views even if no comments.

 

[loobylu]

Sounds barmy but glad it's working! Do you have pictures?

 

[ycbm]

I'm not sure what you'd see. A beautifully flat arena with a dark surface I agree with you on the barmy,. I keep wondering if I'll be able to harvest a crop of puppies in the spring

 

[ycbm]

Just an update to this thread as I see people posting good and bad about carpet.

No puppies grew this spring, but my addition of dog hair trimmings to my arena is amazingly successful. I only have a small supply from a friend's daughter who trims one day a week, but it has now built up to a point where it is beginning to mat together.

I'm getting far fewer deep footprints than last year and I'm really thrilled with it. I plan to add my friend's herdwick (black when young, very coarse hair) sheep shearing this summer and then I reckon it will be well and truly cooked.

Of course it's labour intensive to bury it, but for me it's a labour of love as my arena is my pride and joy. And ....... because dog hair and black sheep fleece are worthless ..... it's free!!!

 

[PorkChop]

This sounds genius

I don't use my arena - was here when we bought the property - it also drains too well. So if I ever get the urge to use it I will certainly try the dog hair!

 

[ycbm]

This sounds genius

I don't use my arena - was here when we bought the property - it also drains too well. So if I ever get the urge to use it I will certainly try the dog hair!

A friend has told me that she recently read a very old article where Harvey Smith says he is using pig hair on his arena. Obviously I'm reinventing the wheel!

I am seriously beginning to wonder why no arena surface supplier is offering wool. The black and grey stuff is completely worthless and this would give suppliers a market.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Glad you're happy with your arena topping, ycbm. When I saw your post asking about black sheep fleeces, I was pretty sure why you wanted some .

I'm not brave enough to add any materials to my arena that haven't been tried and tested by many users over a long period, but I shall follow your updates with interest .

 

[ycbm]

You are somewhere near me, feel free to come and see!

I'm waiting impatiently for my friend to shear her herdwicks. It will give me a year's supply all at once. I am a bit concerned about the lanolin, but if necessary I can wash each fleece in the washing machine before using it (in a bag of course!).

 

[FfionWinnie]

I would definitely wash it otherwise it will clump / weave together and potentially be a trip hazard I think. You will probably need to comb it to sufficiently break it up as well.

I have a naturally occurring sheep wool surface (self shedding sheep lambing in my schooling field!) hence my observations

 

[ycbm]

Ffion I think the herdwick stuff will be good because the young (black) ones have such coarse hair. But of course i want it to hold water, not repel it, and lanolin is so waterproof! So I think you are right, I need to bag each one and wash them. I'm used to pulling the dog hair into wisps and find it quite therapeutic, so I'm just planning on doing the same with the fleece.

I had a terrible sheltie fleece last week, it was all one piece and I had to resort to scissors!

 

[FfionWinnie]

Well herdwicks are only good for carpets so you are cutting out the middle man.

 

[ycbm]

Well herdwicks are only good for carpets so you are cutting out the middle man.

I don't understand why she wants to breed them, but, heck, I'm not going to turn down free black hair, in that quantity

 

[FfionWinnie]

They take a good photo?

Friend had some for training young dogs once and we spent the majority of the time looking for them as they had gone awol (or indeed a-wall-hopping).

 

[ycbm]

They take a good photo?

Friend had some for training young dogs once and we spent the majority of the time looking for them as they had gone awol (or indeed a-wall-hopping).

They have a well deserved reputation as escape artists! Very difficult to keep in anywhere, as she has found out . Very pretty though



Added benefit for me is that the wool board won't pay anything for black or grey fleece in England - free arena fibre!

 

[Regandal]

I always assumed that hair/wool would eventually rot. You live and learn. What about human hair from a hairdresser?

 

[ycbm]

I thought about it and asked my hairdresser, but compared to a dog the quantity is tiny and sometimes the length is too long and would need chopping up. Dog and sheep is just right

I did a bit of research first. Hair is extremely strong and doesn't rot. Corpses centuries old are found with a full head of hair. My rocking horse is twenty years old and has a full mane and tail of real horse hair (some from my own horse). I think it's because once it's above skin level hair is dead anyway.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Well herdwicks are only good for carpets so you are cutting out the middle man.

Brilliant !!!

You are somewhere near me, feel free to come and see!

Thanks, would be interesting to see how it fares long term. Can I pop round sometime in, say, 2021 ?

 

[ycbm]

Brilliant !!!

Thanks, would be interesting to see how it fares long term. Can I pop round sometime in, say, 2021 ?

I'll try and stay alive that long

I'd better put the sprouts on now if you're coming at Christmas though.

 

[PorkChop]

I had mentioned this thread to my husband and the first thing he said was that surely you could also use wool

Much easier to source and use in quantity - let us now how it goes

 

[ycbm]

Dog hair clippings are washed, which makes them pleasant snd easy to use. And the odd sheltie aside they don't mat as badly as fleece and they aren't full of bugs!. And also I didn't want to go mad on it before I had tested an area of heavy use in case I had to take it all off again.

In the meantime, my friend has created a great supply of wiry black wool by deciding to breed herdwick sheep, which you may know are born black and turn white over several years. Since it's been so successful, I'm going for bulk this year - I'm going to take every non white fleece she's got

 

[ycbm]

Update on the use of sheep fleece as arena fibre.

I've spent the last year integrating shreds of fleece into the arena surface and I would say that is the only thing that kept my arena rideable during the recent dry spell. I'm tickled pink with it. It grabs the sand better than dog hair and sticks on in the wind. I've got it up to a level where there is about as much as I need, by doing an hour or so every few days, and by filling in each footprint with fibre. I don't now get any footprints unless they've done something daft. It stays damp for a long time, preventing the arena drying out. And it doesn't track.

I didn't wash it, in the end. (See earlier discussion). Instead, I pull it into clumps the size of a small plate and leave it to weather in the ditch around the arena. Then I pull it into shreds the size of a large mouse when it goes into/into the surface. I don't put too much at once in any one place, or if I do, I do it in layers so it all gets sandy and then it doesn't start clumping up with its neighbours.

I know that it will disappear over time, but from fleece left to weather by a friend of mine, that will be several years, so now all I need to do is top it up with a few shreds now and then. It does decay, but not in the way that flesh does, much slower.

For anyone with a arena riding too deep, short of cash and rich on time, who likes a Zen-like activity where you can just go into a trance, producing a really satisfying result (or has a bunch of willing worker bees) I totally recommend dark colour sheep fleece as an arena fibre top up that costs next to nothing.

 

[siwsi]

Hi, I was thrilled to see this thread, and finally registered to comment.
I was wondering if you have any more observations a few years on, as we're looking at using our fleeces this year.

Thanks

 

[Chinchilla]

Can we have pictures please? This sounds awesome. (Shetland pony clippings any good?!)

 

[ycbm]

It's worked really well. Every time I see footprint deep enough, I put a shred of fleece in it before I kick the surface back over. It seems to last about three years. I don't know at what stage the broken down hair cells would begin to block the drainage, but at the moment there is absolutely no sign of it doing that, even in last years endless rain.

I'll take you a photo later C, but there's not a lot to see, most of the hair is mixed into the sand and rubber.

.

 

[siwsi]

Thanks. I don't know if my aunt is going to give it a go. If she does I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[Polos Mum]

I think hair takes ages to break down, i was recently reading that you should put horse hair on muck heaps if you want to spread them on fields because the hair will take forever to rot.

 

[Gracie]

I was just listening to the radio 4 programme on this evening about the lack of funds available from British Wool who usually buy many of the fleeces from UK farmers - Covid has greatly reduced global sales and potential revenue streams for wool. I use my sand paddock as a turnout area and also for lungeing - so I need to keep my surface 100% natural as it gets poopicked and thrown on the muckheap that then eventually goes back onto the fields. I had a trial of rubber and I end up picking it out of the muck heap so it doesn’t contaminate the paddocks! I couldn’t think of a better solution than sand and British wool... especially if it helps out the farmers. Im just not hugely time rich at the moment to be able to shred it myself....but I will be looking to buy some!

 

[ycbm]

It does rot down over time (it just disappears) so I'm not sure what the effect on drainage would be over many years. I use it as a binder, not a layer on the top. It goes in any loose area or footprint.

Wool has barely been worth the cost of the sharing for years, especially dark wool. You should be able to find a farmer of black or brown sheep who will give it away or charge a token amount.
.

 

[tristar]

you should have been an inventor, the things do, sarcoids, feet, toppings for arenas etc