Sorry guys - ANOTHER post from me re school surfaces...

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kittykatcat

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Right..so story is im resurfacing my old sand school - it needs a face lift and rides really deep when dry. As i'm on a budget i have decided perhaps the best way to improve the surface is to add something to it to give more structure...looked into Clopf and one from Andrew's Bowen (although found them strangley unhelpful and uninterested??) and now have found wood fibres from Cushionride.... You can add these to existing sand and it will help with riding 'on top' of the surface rather than through it...

So...any experience with doing this? I know woodCHIP has bad press by being slippery but i'm assured that these aren't wood chips but treated wood fibres......

Cheers all!
 
I've tried woodFIBRE with sand (although not from Cushionride) and the result was lethal. The horse would create small pockets in the sand which would fill in with woodfibre to create a really inconsistent surface. Next time his hoof hit the same spot it would really sink in the pocket of woodfibre.

After a horse nearly fell over with me just doing a 20m circle in canter (he was nicely balanced, collected, etc), I gave up using it. Waste of money and potentially dangerous.
 
God this is difficult!!! There doesnt seem to be any surfaces that people like or aren't potentially going to kill you and your horse!!!

Any other ideas people??? I dont really like the thought of rubber as i'm concerned about toxins leaching into my grazing when it rains....plus i think sand and rubber rides quite deep anyway.....
 
A deep sand surface is a nightmare to sort out.

Is it possible to get water to your arena? I have sprinklers that reach about 1/3 of the arena (20x40) so I can water all of it in one day.

Alternatively it may be cheaper to replace the sand for a more suitable sand (although any sand other than waxed surfaces will need watering after a few weeks with no rain). It might be worth calling up all your local quarries and trying to source something suitable locally direct.

I've heard of Clopf working well indoors, but it was used to make the sand less dead. One friend tried it outdoors and she did not like it at all (she had it removed and sold it on).

One of our local centres used added this to both outdoor and indoor a couple of years ago:
http://www.combi-ride.com/
It rides really well.
 
not wood fibre, wood + sand is lethal in my experience... had a horse slip over with me on that combination while cantering a 20m circle (slowly and in balance!), nightmare.
what kind of sand do you have? if it's not good equestrian sand (needs to have sub-angular particles that knit together) then it's going to need quite a lot spending on it.
you can get vaseline/oil sprays that can be applied over the entire arena, no idea how well they work though.
i really rate Springride rubber shred, have had it on my last 2 arenas. as long as you have enough of it, it stays on top and makes for a great secure surface.
 
I dont know what sort of sand it is unfortunately...it is quite fine, golder in colour....i think half the problem is that there is just SO much of it - literally in places its way over a foot!

The whole thing needs relevelling as well....

Like the look of that combi ride link, thanks for that, i'll give them a ring
smile.gif
 
I am sure someone has posted on HHO before about a sand analysis service. Basically you send a sample and they tell you whether your sand is suitable. Maybe a search on here or on Google would reveal something.

It might be worth checking your sand is suitable before you add anything to it.
 
Just another thought, if the sand level is really inconsistent and you can't level it with a leveler/upside-down harrow/old gate, is it possible that the surface underneath is also unlevel?

If that is the case, there is nothing you can do to the sand to get it level. When the arena was put in they should have taken off the top soil, leveled the ground, then put the hardcore leveled this off, and it is only when the lower levels are level that the sand is level on top. Any inconsistencies, bumps, holes, etc in the lower levels are simply reflected in the sand (the whole arena should have a drop in one direction for drainage purposes, but this should not be visible to the naked eye and it should be consistent through-out).

I am not saying this to panic you, but maybe it''s something you need to look into before spending more money on the surface otherwise you could be throwing money away.
 
We bought our sand from Martin Collins who guarantee that is the correct sand for schools. Its brilliant and we have a thick rubber chunks on top and have had no problems. Martin Collins sand funnily enough was also the cheapest.
 
Firstly decide which surface is best suited to you by riding on other surfaces with your horse. Each company will be able to give you details of someone near to you that has their surface.

Having decided what surface you want the only way to do it is to do the job properly so that it is sorted out once and for all. You need to remove all the old surfacing and possibly the membrane if it is damaged and replace the whole lot. Otherwise you are just spending good money on bad.
 
I am not sure how deep your sand is however our arena is silica sand around 4" deep with Equestrian Direct Flexiride on top approx 3-4" - it is small pieces of recycled car carpets and sponges from seats etc. Sounds weird but I have to say was cheaper than everythign we looked at - my 45 x 25 sand and flexiride came in at £8.5k delivered not installed - given the sand was £5.5k we have foudn the flexiride very good value, only shows up the sand if we have not maintained by using an upside down harrow and then roller for over 3 weeks (slack I know) however a quick blitz and it is back as new. Even after a really hot summer month if we pull back the flexiride the sand is still wet/damp - like when the tide goes out. Not had any injuries and it never freezes - we have used our school during this whole period of snow and cold. Drainiage is important though we have a herringbone design with a drain every canter stride. Locals have been so impressed that everyone who has viewed it has gone a head and bought it including working hunter arena for Liincs showground!!
 
2 years. Are you local to Sleaford Lincs if so your welcome to swing by and check it out! Martlin has posted that they got a quote from manufacturer for flexiride 30 % cheaper than Equestrian Direct so if you are considering it - lets see who the manufacturer is you may be abl to save aome pennies!
 
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