Ménage made from manure??

I have no opinion either way but wanted to point out that equine faeces is about 50% bacteria, that bacteria require damp to do stuff and that if you've ever used animal dung (ie cow/horse) dried as a fuel, it doesn't smell like cow/horse poop does when fresh. In fact, it hardly smells at all. SO I could see that it could work indoors when dry.

I've done the muck ring thing myself outside and worked on yards where they've done it. depending on the ground and weather, it can last as long as the cold snap IME. Its not for hard/fast work though, mostly a leg stretch.
 
It is NOT called a 'menage'!
A 'menage', according to the OED, is "A domestic establishment, or its members collectively; a household, a home. In later use also: the parties involved in a romantic or sexual relationship regarded as forming a domestic establishment; the relationship itself. Also fig."

Call it a school, an arena, or - if you want to sound fancy - a manege.
 
cptrayes said:
Sigh.

Mine rides like a good waxed surface. Neither hard nor soft, no tripping.

It has saved me from having to manage a muck heap and removal of the muck heap for many years and costs only half a dozen bales of shavings a year to maintain a small barn in which my boys are 'stabled' together and which I ride in only when the weather is too severe to be outdoors, like this morning. I would not pay for a good surface in there to ride on because it would be ruined by them also living in there at night in winter and during the day in summer. For others in the same situation, a muck surface will work well if properly managed.
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I think that is the difference.
You use your only when the weather us very bad.
People are asking how is work as a "proper" arena, used every day for all activities.
 
I tried this once on a small scale for a lunging ring. It was a disaster after the first few days as the ground became boggier and boggier. This was with shavings manure. Unusable after a week, real shoe sucking off type muck. We were on clay though. Not one of my best ideas!
 
Dig out soil from the area you wanted about 1ft deep, fill with large stone/gravel for drainage and sand mixture, place muck on top, this should stop the boggyness, we have 3 lunge rings albeit covered using shavings muck and they have broken down to fine dust, needs to be watered in summer, but grand to ride on
 
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