So what surfaces don't freeze!??

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oli_lawrence2

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www.olilawrence.co.uk
As above really. Apart from having an indoor, are there any surfaces that dont freeze?
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i have yet to hear of one that doesnt...lol
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while i have been on my yard we have had sand, sand and rubber mixture, and now just rubber in one arena and a weird kindof foam ontop of sand in the other arena...the foam has been the best for not freezing...but it still freezes...as does the other arena which is just rubber xx
 
Just wondering, why do indoors not freeze?
I always thought it was because our indoor surface was alot less deep than our outdoor, but everything seems to have frozen. It's just as cold in a indoor, is it because of rain?
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Sorry for being thick
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We just got a new surface at my yard and it doesn't freeze. It's a fairly thick layer of shredded rubber, old car tyres etc. It's on top of a layer of sand as well and is doing well at the moment
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sand and rubber if you have a decent layer of rubber over the sand (as opposed to mixed together).

also i have heard v.good reports about the wax/poly tracks etc with the coatings.
 
mine hasnt frozen yet! (holding onto wood) sand and pvc originally ,topped up with rubber 5 years ago! i think its the drainage that is the key..... mine is built up (originally sloping ground) to 3 and a half feet on one side! early in the morning it is a bit crunchy but by 11 /12 ish it is fine! used regulaly, levelled 2 to 3 times a week!
 
We have flexi ride, that as a rule doesnt freeze, however i havent ridden out of walk since 20th December as the snow has frozen on top of the arena and it wont thaw! i am soo sick
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new ones!!

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our new school is terrible! (well new one at the yard)

rubber/sand mix and is dreadful!
i think the drainage is the key - and lots and lots of rubber!
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sand is terrible for freezing...
 
Drains are the key tbh, we have cushion ride which has been great but it's frozen these past 2 weeks due to the snow and -10 temperatures. Normally it drains perfectly but as the snow froze without thawing it's been impossible to use atm.
 
As a rule, the materials used for all weather gallops don't freeze. One place I know has woodchips over an all weather base and it's stayed fine (it's also on steep incline so drains well). The all weather gallops seem to have stayed ridable, although I walked on one the other day and even though the fibre layer was soft it felt pretty hard underneath!

Indoors will freeze if there is too much moisture in the footing, as said. It's also surprising though, in a well built, modern one, how warm it can get on a sunny day, especially as you never have windchill. But then again, some arenas are colder than outside and don't seem to warm up until spring.

The last one I worked in had hockey rink heaters in it . . . I would genuinely kill someone for that set up now.
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I think the very expensive waxed ones don't freeze.

Someone I know worked in switzerland and they had cut up carpet - and that didn't freeze either.
 
i think everything does in this weather!!

but your best bet is good drains, saned with lots of big strips of rubber on top or one of the cushionride type surfaces. we have lots of rubber on top of sane and have been doing well but can still only ride in walk and trot. also keep it as flat as possible then you can treat it as a road when it does freeze, if its rutted you've no chance of riding!
 
sand and rubber built on a slope!!!!! Our school may have a 'gradient' but the water runs off, and it very rarely freezes even in the snow all I had to do was rake the snow in and the surface was fine, I spent 10mins runninng and jumping around on it on foot to check because I couldn't quite believe it wasn't rock hard! yes I looked wierd but thankfully it was only phesants, rats, and pigeons who might have seen me
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firstly drainage is key-ours is on a slight slope and we had the best (and thus most £££) drainage system and membrane, and we then have silica sand and a THICK layer of rubber on top. so far, in 11 years, iv not had a day i couldnt ride on it. iv been able to ride all through this cold spell.

i think a lot of people go wrong by scrimping on the drainage and by not putting down enough rubber.

all the cushionride, sand and waxed surfaces around me are frozen solid. mine is rubber chunks and trainers rubber strips and both are fine, could jump off them.
 
My sand pen is frozen solid and has been for weeks.... beside it my rubber school is fine although its white instead of black!!! The only time it was frozen was one day when it was really wet and the water hadn't drained away and thats what froze..... I;ve certainly learn't that I'll be keeping the rubber well topped up on it!
 
i have sand, with a mixture of felt, rubber, foam and fibre stuff on the top.
have been able to use it all through the freeze.
the sand is frozen,,but the top lay is all squishy still, and we rake it with our thingy everyday at the moment, and it all works gd
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The v. expensive wax surfaces don't and I think you need lots of rubber to stop sand freezing.

Our surface is fab, however, it was frozen solid today, as over the last 12 months the rubber has mixed with the sand (which has made the surface fab to ride on). However, our drainage is 5*, we can have the heaviest of rain and it is never soggy, but unfortunately we had 48 hours of rain last week, followed by frost straight after = freezing surface. I think today has been the only day though that a horse hasn't set foot on it!
 
I have a woodchip arenas on two yards and they are both rideable. One is almost perfect (it has good, new drainage and very fine chips), the other is much worse (but better than the sand and rubber one that is like a concrete).
The only thing with woodchip is that although it seems to stay soft and cushioning it is rather slippery!
I also teach on a builder sand sort of surface and it's rideable in ALL weathers apart from sub zeros when it's a tarmac experience.
 
i haven't been on mine for weeks (due to my injury) but i've got Springride rubber shred on top of sand, and i think it'd be fine to work on even in this weather - i had the same thing at my last place and in a big freeze it was the only arena for miles around that was totally workable. (i was at a dinner party and everyone else was saying their was rock hard and totally unrideable-on.)
enough of a cushioning/insulating layer on top of the sand should do it... but if the sand's very wet it will of course freeze, so i wouldn't do much cantering, or jump on it.
 
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sand and rubber if you have a decent layer of rubber over the sand (as opposed to mixed together).
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Yep, that's what I have and it hasn't frozen despite the cold.
 
My cushionride was installed with all the proper drainage & has NEVER frozen... apart from today! It's just too cold for it. It is bl**dy freezing out there tho, & I can't say I'm sorry to have an excuse to bunk off riding... Brrrrr...
 
i have sand with rubber on top and out of the whole 60 x 30 arena i have a space in the middle about 20 x 20 that i can lunge on - but this is becuase this is where no one lunges during the week !!!! so the top end and bottom have the rubber pushed to the sides !!
 
Ours doesn't freeze (waxed from Softrack) but has been pretty much under snow since middle of December so unless we get a roof anytime soon it's not rideable!
 
We have 3 sand and rubber arenas at Speedgate and they're all fine today.

Only time they've not really been useable is when covered in snow.
 
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