Menage Set Up

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shuz7

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I'm thinking of setting up a menage at the bottom of my field and just wondered what the best thing would be to put down. I was wondering about sand or wood bark. Please help.

Suzanne
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crikey. umm, it's a minefield, tbh. i've done 3 now, the first one wasn't great, the next two very good. depends how big you want, what the soil type is, what the drainage is like, what kind of footing you want, what you want to do on it, and the million dollar question, how much you want to spend.
 
Its not going to be very big, but enough space for a 16h horse.
The soil: London clay
Drainage: well drained
Footing: Doesn't matter: clean running
All i'm going to do is lunge

Thanks

Suzanne
 
okay, first of all, clay is about the worst subsoil you can get. you might possibly be able to go with one of the roll-out-and-ride ecoarenas, i think Equestrian Surfaces do them. it's basically a very good under-membrane layer and then the top surface.
if you need to go the whole hog with full stone drainage underneath, you are looking at a lot more money.
the treated wooden chips are much cheaper than sand + rubber or treated surfaces such as waxed protrack etc.
you need full planning permission unless it's hidden away and you have no neighbours who might report you, and you have no plans at all to sell in the next 10 years!
 
Often cost is the deciding factor on what surface you end up with, bark and sand and rubber are cheaper than geltrack for instance.
I've built three, one ash, one sand, and this one of rubber, silica sand and padstow seasand. This rides the best.
You need to put drainage or a slope on the arena, we used none on this one, just sloped it to one corner a bit, and it drains well, but our soil is granite subsoil , your clay holds water so will likely need proper drainage underneath.
You can't get away without a membrane which needs to overlap and be glued or sewn. The sand has to be retained with sleepers or boards.
The stone layer is very expensive but necessary to form a stable base for the membrane and surface.
I would guess a 20 x 40 will cost you a minimum of ten thousand pounds if you hire a machine and do the work yourselves. Our 60 x 20 cost we think about £13,000..
Don't try chucking a surface down and thinking it will work (I did that with my first ash one) it lasted six months before turning to mud in winter.
Sorry to sound pessimistic but your post sounds a bit like you want the cheapest option, and really there is no cheap option!
 
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