FAO: everyone who has sand or part sand surfaces....READ..

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VLHIEASTON

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If you have 'equestrian ' sand on your surface and had it within the last 5 years pls get it tested/ analyised.....alot of well known sellers are/ have selling /sold sand described as 'Equestrian sand' which is NOT suitable for equestrian use !!!

I can supply the name and number for a company who will check it for you for around 45 pounds....and tell you if it is suitable or not, in writing....if it's not , go back to your seller and tell them you want your money back....This shud not be allowed to happen !!!.....then phone comsumer direct / trading standards......

Keep all you can as copies, keep all data sheets and anything which describes your sand as being fine good quality 'Equestrian sand'...i.e. the advert, invoice, quote,etc etc...

Many people are getting ripped off by even very well known companies and manege surface suppliers...by selling sand which is not suitable for equestrian use.

This has happened to many people, me, hollyf, many more have had to remove this sand and start again.....

By law you have up to 6 years to get your all or part of your money back if your sand is not what it should be.....

I have had mine for 5 yrs and managed to get part of my money back by proving my sand is not what it should be...Hollyf got all her money back, from a Midlands supplier.

A very well known offender of this is very close to me in Notts, PM for details, and are still suppling it as fine quality Eq sand when it is not , it is poor quality, but how many of us know what a decent quality sand looks like ??!!

THESE SELLERS SHOULD BE STOPPED !
Pm me for any further details....
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Get it tested if your sand rides very deep and doesn't compact very well and you are forever maintaining it ! It should be angular in shape/ size and not round, it must be well graded and fine, when you get your results compare them to the data sheet , description you were given and if there is a reasonable degree of difference get your money back NOW ! The report will tell you what % of your sand is fine, medium, coarse etc and if it is well graded as required..
 
Although I understand your concern I do wonder though how much leeway there may be in the words "equestrian sand", it must cover a lot of types.
When we built this arena we road tested eight samples from the same quarry by leaving them in trays out in the rain to see which worked best. They were all slightly different despite being from the same area.
I'm not sure someone like Trading Standards could provide an accurate description of what constitutes ES, surely it's merely a description of something a horse could ride on?
 
You need the data sheet which tells you the spec of the sand which the seller is selling, seller usually gives you one.....the testing will tell you the spec of the sand they have sold you and you have recieved..or the description which usually reads something like GOOD QUALITY FINE EQUESTRIAN SAND...if both data are not the same by a reasonable diff then it is not as described..i.e. i was sold a 'very fine quality eq sand' as in their description, which has turned out to be a sand made up of fine, medium and coarse sand particles, not any very fine sand particles in it at all....and good quality equestrian sand should be a large majority of fine or very fine particles..its not tricky to work out !
Basically... the testing results data did not match up with the description data given to me by seller by quite a long way...and the results also show mine was not well graded which eq sand should be...
Yes, Trading standards will get involved as they are in my case. If something is not 'as described' then it is a criminal offence and TS will fine them providing it is within 3 yrs of it being bought by customer.
 
I bought my sand direct from the quarry to avoid the expensive haulage costs the "equestrian" companies charge and luckily for me I have a quarry about 20 miles away. The actual quarry does not sell the sand as "equestrian sand" and that was made perfectly clear to me and there would be no come back. Buying the sand through an equestrian company who would buy the same sand from the same quarry, I would have some guarantees & "come back".

I did a lot of research before I bought the sand, Charles Britton uses this quarry for work in this area so I thought if it's good enough for him......

I also sent my sand off to be examined by another well known "arena builder" just to be double sure.

I think there are a lot of people who can't afford professional installations & use "joe bloggs". Lucky for me my sand is ok, everything else to do with my school is rubbish
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I agree, be very careful when you're buying your sand, most sand has silica in it, so Joe Bloggs telling you it's silica sand is not a complete lie but you need the right percentage of silica and the correct shape of sand for it truely to be "equestrian" sand.
 
We have lough neagh sand..dredged from lough neagh. No idea if it is equestrian or not but we're certainly not the only ones with it
 
Whats the difference between equestrian sand and normal sand?
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I always understood that sand was graded on the size of the grain and you picked accordingly with where you lived in the country or what you were mixing it with? Is non equestrian grain dangerous to a horse then?
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No, non eq sand is not dangerous but it will be coarser and poss round in size, therefore making it useless as a riding surface as it won't compact properly, it is like riding on the beach, deep, unsure footed, totally unsuitable for an arena surface. Like a bed of marbles.
 
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We have lough neagh sand..dredged from lough neagh. No idea if it is equestrian or not but we're certainly not the only ones with it

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Mine's from Lough Derg (very religious sand
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), marketed as "Equisand" and I have had no problems with it.

Some friends used local quarry sand on theirs, and it rides like concrete.
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Horse sand is oval in shape. Being this shape means it is difficult for the wind to blow it up or away. You want a low-dust. less abrasive sand and of oval shape for riding arenas. The only difference really, as far as I understand it, is the filtration system used in separating this type sand from other types, which again, are separated in a different manner.

No, horse sand is not dangerous, at least not any more dangerous than any other sand, it just lies differently on your surface and is easier going for the horses - and it doesn't blow away or kick up a storm when you are riding on it. Sand colic can occur on any type of sand obviously.
 
We had pure beach sand for years - drained really well and rode well in winter. Too deep by far in summer or very dry weather, though, as the grains are round and rolled over each other. Hopeless, but I coped. Had arena re-furb and got proper eq. silica sand whose angular grains knit together and, along with a rubber/fibre and other stuff mixed in rides and drains 10/10 and has done since it was put down in 2003. Guess I got the right sand?

Am a bit confused by this post tbh. Should I send my sand mixture off for analysis?
 
I am afraid I disagree to some extent with your statement that beach sand provides an unstable surface like riding on pebbles, having grown up riding on beaches and seen all the local racehorses trained on it, it is stable enough to gallop on safely!
We had top quality sicilca sand for our surface here to start with, and it rode too deep. We then mixed in padstow sand (sea sand) together with rubber and it is the most super surface imaginable. It is always rideable, and the only fault is in high summer when it can be a little dusty, but never deep.
I think from talking to the quarry owners when I was sourcing sand they class most sand as "silica", and then refine it's description down after that..
Take a look at any of the horses being ridden on my blog pictures www.narramorehorses.blogspot.com and see if you can say the surface looks anything but wonderful, yet it's definitely not what you would class as an equestrian sand!
 
Has anyony had or knows someone that has had a dispute with a company that supplies equestrian surfaces re the performance or the sand or materials added to the sand (fibres, materials). If so, I would be very interested to hear about your experience and if you were successful. We have an on-going dispute with a certain well known company that has supplied us with a surface which is completly useless particulary when dry ie sand is deep, displaces and is slippy!
 
Did anyone happen to attend and video the event at Addington Manor where Emile, Dr J Burn aqnd others did a lecture/demo on equine riding surfaces. If so, PLEASE get in touch - thanks

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