Help - choosing the right arena surface

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Dean

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Can anyone offer some advice regarding suitable surfaces to place on top of silica sand. I have a 40 x 20 outdoor arena which is presently covered with silica sand. Our location is fairly windy and therefore we end up with sand drifting. Just had to have the JCB back in to level it all out and I am still unable to use it as its dry and rides really deep. My horse is understandably very unsure on it and I dont want him to lose his confidence.

I have looked into some alternatives like a sprinkler system to wet the sand but this seems very impractical. I have looked at other surfaces and spoke to a company called Equestrian Direct about their Flexiride surface which sounds really good.

Has anyone used this surface and how have you found it?
Is Flexiride the same as Spring-Tek's surface as someone told me they supply Equestrian Direct who then sell it as flexiride?
Does anyone have any other suggestions that I could explore.

Thanks for your help guys
 
Our livery yard has a silica sand arena that has flexi-ride added. It has worked out really well and holds up to heavy use. It gets jumped on and used by approx 15+ horses most days. It stands up to cold weather really well, and through all the awful weather we had I cant remember a day when we could not use it and some point.

As with most surfaces that move about a bit, with so many on it we do get a track round the outside but this is easily levelled/rolled, although I would imagine that a school with less use this probably would not be a problem.

The horses seem to like it and most go well on it.
 
Thanks for that Dreckly, appreciated. Have been looking on the internet for 2 hours and you can't beat geting first hand experience. Thanks again
 
Just an idea: I've popped a sprinkler on top of a plastic fence post and fixed the whole thing to a wooden base and that waters half my 20x40 in a couple of hours - might be a lot cheaper than anything else.
 
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I suspect you have not got the correct sand. the correct arena sand will not ride deep even when it is really dry, or really wet. it also does not track deeply. my current arena is sand only and rides perfectly, it never needs watering, if it gets too dry yes it gets a bit dusty but it doesnt ever need more than a quick go over with the leveller. If you add rubber to the wrong sand you will still get sand dunes and it will shift all over and will still track badly. I had my last arena made of the correct sand and then rubber, the rubber just sat on top, again no tracking and very little maintenance. So many companies sell 'arena sand - silica sand' but actually all sand is silica sand, and what most companies sell is rounded sand grains, but what you need is angular sand, so it compacts and beds down to form a good stable base for the top surface to go on.
 
Thanks Booboos and Bosworth. Like the idea of the homemade sprinkler and will get a sample of the sand tested. We were very specific with the suppliers and were told that it was the grade needed for equestrian use, I dont think it has helped that we have had to have it leveled with a digger a couple of times as this won't help it bed down.
 
I have a Charles Britton sand/rubber and they told me from the beginning that during periods of extremely dry weather, it would need watering. It is a really, really good surface, but after about 5 weeks of no rain it does need the extra water.

Was your surface put down relatively recently? If yes, this might be the problem. It takes an enormous amount of water to bed them down the first time. Mine took 6 weeks of winter weather (loads of rain and even snow) before it was ready the first time.

The other option is to go for a super-duper waxed surface but these are very expensive.
 
Thanks Booboos. Its been down 2 years, I have been using a chain harrow to level it and apparently its the worst thing to do as it keeps disturbing it. I went out to see the place that supplies flexi-ride yesterday and was really impressed with their products so will most probably go for that on top of my existing surface (after I wet, roll and compact it). I took a sample of our sand for them to compare and it is not as fine as the best quality version which looks more like very pale flour, but they said it should be fine.

Thanks for your help and suggestions
 
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