How do people stop their menage's freezing in the winter?

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Elliegazzellie

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I was just thinking about winter today:( and I was wondering how people stopped their outdoor arenas from freezing. I work at a riding school that doesn't have an indoor arena, and a lot of lessons had to be cancelled last year due to the arena being frozen. Anyone got any ideas on how to beat mother nature!?:confused:
 
Is it a sand school? If so, if it's wet and then freezing temperatures come, it will freeze, so it needs to drain well. If the surface is not wet, you need to harrow it before frost and it will be frosty but not frozen, so ridable.
 
I cover mine in hot water bottles...







Nah, I don't. I do what martlin says, but mine does sometimes freeze solid - so I go to the beach instead. The few days it does become unrideable due to frost are more than compensated for by the brilliant going the rest of the year.
 
Harrow it and mixing salt does help a bit but other than that there's not much you can do. I've heard of people covering their arena with tarporlin (SP) to prevent freezing but this seems a bit to much hassle for me :)
 
In Canada they mix calcium chloride/urea (a fertiliser and de-icer) to help with both dust control and freezing. But I looked in vain for it last year to help out someone with a frozen school - no one seemed to know what I was talking about. That said, if it gets below freezing and stays there, any moisture in the school surface will freeze. As above, a good poly/rubber top layer that won't hold moisture and protects the lower levels is the only viable option.

If you're dependent on the school for income and it's not a very large area, I think it would be worth looking at the sorts of covers they put on sports fields to protect them from snow and freezing. Yes, it would be a pain to roll up and out every day but it would do the trick.
 
We have just bought a light weight sports cover from a company in Warrington who specialises in these frost covers for other sports. You just roll it out, we have it in two halves so it is easy to manage and it's slightly porous so most of the excess water will either freeze on top or run off, but some will drain through so as not to be too heavy to pull off, or being left with mountains of snow on top.
You can get them on an inflatable roller if you are on your own, but we are ok man handling this between the two of us. We have been sold on the premise that it should be good to -4 to -5 which should keep us going for most days through the winter but they said there are no guarantee's as wind chill factors and plummeting temperatures overnight make it a hard one to judge. They mentioned a more expensive option which you inflate which will be good for -10 but if its that cold i'm not keen to go outside..... We shall see how successful it is when the cold arrives but for a 15 year lifespan we are hoping it will be a good investment for the future winters.
 
You work, very hard:(

I don't care, we just ride on the snow on top of ours. I roll it so we have a good flat surface before the snow comes and then we go on as normal. If it gets too rough we harrow the snow :D

My neighbour trains standardbreds, they use their half mile track all year round. They have a grader which loosens and harrows the top few inches, they are out there grading at 11pm before they work their horses at 7am and usually they do it sometime in the afternoon too when the sun has been on it a bit. They also spray it with some solution at times too (no idea what) Knowing the owner though probably the same stuff they do the roads with.
 
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salt works but plays havoc with horses skin and any cuts they may have. Not worth it in my opinion. We kept ours (sand) going last year by horrowing, horrowing and harrowing.
Wood chip/fibre is a lot easier to keep going thn sand.
 
tiggs said:
yorkshire said:
We have just bought a light weight sports cover from a company in Warrington who specialises in these frost covers for other sports.


Yorkshire do you mind me asking how much it was and do you have a link to their website
Click to expand...

It was about £2k but i figured that these winters are going to be common place and if it keeps us going for the 6-7years they say the sheets longevity will last and if we can get 15years out of them like they say some of the racecourses have had then it will be money well spent. Hopefully this doen't fall foul of the regulators but the link is http://www.stuartcanvas.co.uk/frost-covers/ .

Hope this helps
Click to expand...
 
It was about £2k but i figured that these winters are going to be common place and if it keeps us going for the 6-7years they say the sheets longevity will last and if we can get 15years out of them like they say some of the racecourses have had then it will be money well spent. Hopefully this doen't fall foul of the regulators but the link is http://www.stuartcanvas.co.uk/frost-covers/ .

Hope this helps[/QUOTE]

Out of interest how did it hold up to last winter? The thing I am worried about is when you take the covers off in -18 to ride on it the surface will freeze and then putting a cover back on it will only keep the frost in the surface. Just wondered how you worked it? Thanks
 
put this:

http://www.galebreaker.com/siteenglish/products_uk/farmflex_uk.html

round the fencing surrounding the menage, will keep the wind chill factor off it and it makes a HUGE difference.....my surface is silica sand topped with rubber and has NEVER frozen to the point of being un-useable, ive been able to walk,trot,canter and jump in it every day of the 11 years its been down :)

i teach at a yard which has a plain builders sand arena (so the worst kind to freeze as holds ALL water), and they piled earth round the edge to a height of approx 3'9 and it had the same effect-theres froze a bit but they were able to break it up with the harrow easily each morning and ride on it all day.
 
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