sandstone dust as arena surface

[crossjock]

hi all, i have been offered 500 tons of sandstone dust for free which is the fines that come of the stonemasons saw. Was wondering if anybody has used this type of product as an outdoor arena surface. Seems to me that it will pack to much. Our local groundwork contractor has seen it and recons that its very similar to silica sand. Any thoughts??

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

My old yard resurfaced their outdoor school with ground glass dust! I suspect it was more to do with cost than experimenting with innovative surfaces. If you picked up a handful you could see that the fine sand appearance was finely ground glass. It was an absolute nightmare. As soon as a horse (much, much worse in a group lesson) started moving round the arena clouds of choking glass dust would swirl around to head height. The RIs had to wrap scarves round their faces to breathe through. God only knows what glass dust does to the inside of both human and equine lungs. If the stonemason dust is as fine, I'd forget it immediately on the same grounds.

 

[amycov]

Might be okay if you used it with shredded rubber. If it still got too dusty you could damp it lightly before use with a hose.

 

[millimoo]

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole - it might be abrasive to their feet and cause lameness in the same way builders sand can.