Didn't realize new arena would need so much rain on it

[rebmw]

As title really...
Had a new sand and rubber arena finished over 2 weeks ago and was told by the installers I needed 2 inches of rain on it before I could ride.
Having been so pleased with the recent turn in the weather and several days of rain and heavy downpours I was jumping up and down with excitement at being able to venture out onto my pristine surface. However even just staying in walk, in places the sand is still too dry and is coming up to the surface.
How much rain do I really need to be praying for?!
I've been told that if the sand is dry and mixes with the rubber it will ruin the surface, but surely in dry spells this is going to end up happening in time?
I am being very patient as this is a dream come true to have my arena, but I can't help wondering will it be december by the time I ever get to trot or canter on it?!

 

[honetpot]

I think you will probably have to water it. Once its really wet underneath the rubber on the top should trap the moisture in and it shouldn't mix so much. I think ménages are always more work than people think.

 

[LynH]

When my new arena was installed in February this year I was also told not tried on it until it had 2" of rain and not sprinkler as that wasn't even enough. I didn't find this out until the day it was finished so I was gutted I couldn't ride on it straight away. In reality it needed more like 4" of rain for it to settle enough.

For a completely unrelated issue I've just had to have my new arena dug up and the whole base was backfilled with stone so now I have to do the whole rain thing again. Tbf the sand that was there was completely packed and wet despite the recent warm weather so the topping really does keep the moisture in it.

So yesi would say definitely wait for it to get the water it needs to compact properly. Frustrating isn't it after last years rain. I put a container out to catch rain so I could accurately gauge how much it had.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Don't bother putting a sprinkler onto the surface because it will make little or no difference, it doesn't put enough water down. You will just have to be patient, you need loads of rain to really soak the surface & bed it in. As for the rubber mixing in with the sand & ruining the surface, that's rubbish. When it rains & you grade the surface the rubber comes back to the top. We have a sand & rubber surface & at the moment it's riding a little deep due to the lack of rain. We've had a couple of thunder storms but it's still not been enough to really soak the surface & get the surface back to being lovely to ride on. Many surfaces are suffering at the moment due to drying out, but they will recover.

 

[Shamrock123]

No further advice really, but to make you feel better we had ours finished the middle of June & apart from a couple of canters round just after it had rained we are still waiting! We tried watering but didn't help for long as the drainage combined with the temperature dried it out again. We have flexiride,and the company did say that a lot of people were struggling with the sand drying out. The tricky thing is knowing exactly when to start using it properly!! Will be worth it when winter comes tho

 

[AmyHack]

possibly a silly question...but what do you do if you have a new indoor rubber and sand arena?

 

[oldie48]

possibly a silly question...but what do you do if you have a new indoor rubber and sand arena?

You need a proper watering system or use a waxed sand.

I had a new sand and rubber surface put down at the beginning of the year, despite the wet spring it is still bedding in. I'm finding that the rubber pops back up again with heavy rain but you will lose some of it permanently in the sand, but I don't think that's a problem.

 

[eggs]

At a yard I was at they had a new sand and rubber 70 x 30 school installed and they paid the fire brigade to come and water it.

 

[Bobbly]

My arena is built up out of the ground by a metre at one end, sand and rubber and it's far too dry, there's too much drainage underneath and any moisture just goes straight through. While some rubber comes to the surface after rain it still is not enough to keep it rideable for more than a couple of sessions without grading it over. Not sure I can fix it though

 

[cavalo branco]

Ooohh! I'm getting some rubber topping for my sand arena on tuesday, have been told that it needs a good downpour to settle the surface but surely every time it doesn't rain then the rubber will sink? I'm getting mine mainly to give some spring and stop the sand being blown onto one side (and out of the boards!) by the prevailing wind.

Will be disappointed if it just sinks

 

[Tiddlypom]

I have a 40m by 20m sand and rubber arena which was put in 2 years ago by a well known arena construction company (a dream come true after 25 years here!) I was told I needed 4" of water on it to saturate the sand layer and to get the sand particles to 'lock' together before taking a horse on it. When it's ready, if you stick a finger into the sand it should not penetrate by more than an inch.

I used a garden sprinkler (no hosepipe restrictions!) running all day for 3 weeks to get the 4" on over the whole area, marking out the area covered each time and overlapping a bit. It was clear when walking across the arena to move the sprinkler which parts were done and which weren't, the watered areas were much firmer underfoot.

It is definitely a factor to consider when planning the timing of the construction of an arena. We had to have dry conditions to allow the heavy machinery access across our field to the site of the arena, but as soon as it was finished we then wanted a deluge of rain! Ours was built in May, if I hadn't watered it artificially I would have to wait months before using it.

The surface rides a little deeper when the weather has been as dry as lately but I level it regularly to keep the rubber on top and the sand is still wet underneath. It's a great surface and all horses seem to work well on it. I would follow your installers recommendations, it'll be worth it in the end.

 

[LynH]

No further advice really, but to make you feel better we had ours finished the middle of June & apart from a couple of canters round just after it had rained we are still waiting! We tried watering but didn't help for long as the drainage combined with the temperature dried it out again. We have flexiride,and the company did say that a lot of people were struggling with the sand drying out. The tricky thing is knowing exactly when to start using it properly!! Will be worth it when winter comes tho

I've got Flexiride on my arena and once the sand is thoroughly wet and bedded in the Flexiride does a really good job of keeping it wet even in this weather. Mine had just bedded in nicely when we found the problem with the clay underneath so I now need to wait for the top half to bed in again. It's so frustrating but worth it in the end as the arena rides beautifully once it's been soaked the first time.

 

[rebmw]

I used a garden sprinkler (no hosepipe restrictions!) running all day for 3 weeks to get the 4" on over the whole area, marking out the area covered each time and overlapping a bit. It was clear when walking across the arena to move the sprinkler which parts were done and which weren't, the watered areas were much firmer underfoot.

We are on a meter here so no option to leaving the sprinkler on. However we do recycle a lot of our rain water so OH had the idea to put the sprinkler on while it was raining yesterday. At least as we are emptying the tanks, they are refilling at the same time and then the arena gets a little extra watering. Set to rain a bit this week so fingers crossed for us all that we get enough rain to get schooling our horses!

Thanks for all your replies. Some really interesting points

 

[PerfectPony]

Find a friendly farmer local who's having his sprayer MOT'd he will be able to drench it good and proper. My husband has done it for me! I have sand with rubber strips and after the initial wetting it has ridden fabulously for four years. With the dry weather just the odd rain shower has kept it riding well and put the rubber back on top!