Snow on arena - surface damage?

cptrayes

cptrayes

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 March 2008
Messages
14,748
Visit site
I was happily riding around on my snow covered fibre/sand/rubber arena this morning when I remembered a post that someone made about a week ago that it would damage an arena surface to ride on snow on it.

Obviously I don't believe that or I wouldn't have been doing it, but I just wondered if anyone would come up with any reasons why, and HOW, it would damage an arena to ride on snow?
 
I didn't see the post but thinking it through if you ride on a snow covered arena the snow will be forced into the hoof impressions and they will keep increasing with each additional footfall. You are then working on a mixed surface of solid lumps of snow and less sold surface. Harrowing snowy arena works for the first couple of times. Then you just have a solid block of frozen mixed surface and snow.
 
Good theory, perhaps valid with a lot of use like a livery stables. For one-rider arenas I would have thought that levelling it well when it has melted would be fine. It wasn't freezing when I rode and all that happened was the snow in the hoofprints disappeared so it was GREAT for judging circles :)
 
OWLIE185 said:
If the temperature drops below zero then the membrane can become brittle and may split if a force is applied to it.
Click to expand...



My membrane is eight inches down. It would take a freeze so great that there is no way that it could be ridden on to chill the membrane to that extent :o

Has anyone actually had this happen???
 
Santa Paws said:
Good theory, perhaps valid with a lot of use like a livery stables. For one-rider arenas I would have thought that levelling it well when it has melted would be fine. It wasn't freezing when I rode and all that happened was the snow in the hoofprints disappeared so it was GREAT for judging circles :)
Click to expand...


I couldn't comment on livery stables' arenas but what happened to mine last year was that although the drainage is good so is the insulation so once it had snowed, melted, frozen a few times I was trying to harrow a block of mixed ice and surface. Last winter was exceptional though when we had so many days where it just snowed a bit more and then froze again. It's not usually like that this far south!
 
Yes, I wouldn't ride on it or grade it frozen, but probably only through being nesh :)

When your surface finally thawed out completely, was it back to normal?
 
Santa Paws said:
Yes, I wouldn't ride on it or grade it frozen, but probably only through being nesh :)

When your surface finally thawed out completely, was it back to normal?
Click to expand...

Once it had had a damned good harrowing and rolling yes! Even though it is used for turnout:D One of the benefits of it freezing was it stopped the monsters digging nests to roll in.
 
hmmmm, call me a cynic but.....i rode on over a foot of snow on my arena, every day, last winter (silica sand topped with rubber chunks).

it never froze, i was able to ride as normal, and although it looked a churned up horrid mess of snow,rubber and sand, as soon as the snow thawed it washed all the sand back down in to the base again, and the rubber levelled back out.

no damage done as far as i can see, the membrane isnt rising etc and the drainage is fine.

will be doing the same this winter.
 
my manege works just fine with snow on it. once it has all thawed out then i just level as normal and continue ..... i have sand and rubber with good drainage. manege has been down since 97, had the rubber topped up and still rides and jumps really well, and it is well used, but also levelled as req so at least every couple of days!
 
Mine ( rubber, cushion fibre , sand ) returned to normal as soon it thawed out gave it a good going over with the leveller every day and it was fine.
Don't know how waxed surfaces are affected though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top