brightlights
Well-Known Member
Hi everyone,
preemptive tl;dr: Wondering if anyone might be able to recommend a good outdoor lunge surface.
Full story: We have one from one of the bigger name surface companies here, and it's unfortunately not working out for us. We're also not able to make any headway explaining why it's not working or how we want it different as the surface provider basically just gaslights us. He "puts in lunge rings all over Ireland," so clearly it's our problem. He has suggested I don't know how to lunge properly, though I have never had this issue elsewhere in Ireland or in either of the other two countries I've kept and lunged horses. This is apparently a standard response whenever anyone takes issue with his surface. Super insulting, but there ya go. Maybe I've just been lucky the last twenty years
To his credit, he has first added more fiber, and later added a layer of fine sand (which we paid for), but the issue is that it's just so deep regardless. It could rain for two weeks straight (and if it doesn't, we have a hose reel, so the thing gets water) and the second a horse throws a buck or takes a wild canter step, she's in over her hooves. Initially the footing was so soft that when this happened, the horse would go too deep and stumble through, creating trenches. With the new layer of sand, the surface is overall extremely hard, but with the right amount of force, the hoof still goes too deep and the rest of the sand around it stays firm, which is just as concerning as it's creating a lot of torque on the leg.
Is there anyone here who gets it right? I only ask because no one I've spoken with in person has had any positive recommendations. At my wit's end with this as we spent as much/more as we could afford to try to get the safest footing possible. Considering buying surface from Germany but would love to hear if anyone here is happy with their lunge ring or has used a good one. Thank you
preemptive tl;dr: Wondering if anyone might be able to recommend a good outdoor lunge surface.
Full story: We have one from one of the bigger name surface companies here, and it's unfortunately not working out for us. We're also not able to make any headway explaining why it's not working or how we want it different as the surface provider basically just gaslights us. He "puts in lunge rings all over Ireland," so clearly it's our problem. He has suggested I don't know how to lunge properly, though I have never had this issue elsewhere in Ireland or in either of the other two countries I've kept and lunged horses. This is apparently a standard response whenever anyone takes issue with his surface. Super insulting, but there ya go. Maybe I've just been lucky the last twenty years
To his credit, he has first added more fiber, and later added a layer of fine sand (which we paid for), but the issue is that it's just so deep regardless. It could rain for two weeks straight (and if it doesn't, we have a hose reel, so the thing gets water) and the second a horse throws a buck or takes a wild canter step, she's in over her hooves. Initially the footing was so soft that when this happened, the horse would go too deep and stumble through, creating trenches. With the new layer of sand, the surface is overall extremely hard, but with the right amount of force, the hoof still goes too deep and the rest of the sand around it stays firm, which is just as concerning as it's creating a lot of torque on the leg. Is there anyone here who gets it right? I only ask because no one I've spoken with in person has had any positive recommendations. At my wit's end with this as we spent as much/more as we could afford to try to get the safest footing possible. Considering buying surface from Germany but would love to hear if anyone here is happy with their lunge ring or has used a good one. Thank you