Surface causing strain on horse's legs

madhector

madhector

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www.darlingdressage.co.uk
The surface here is just plain old woodchips, put down incredibly cheaply as just something to school on over the winter.

It is quite slippy still and deep in places and I am worried about the strain on my horse's legs if I continually school on it. He has quite a big trot and doesnt find it easy in there tbh, but it is all I've got.

What do you think? Is it risky? or is it no worse than taking him hunting?


Thanks
 
I hate woodchip. Had it at the yard I kept Moon at last winter and tried not to go in it more than twice a week and then it was for as short a time as possible. But In was lucky that we had acres and acres of farmland to amuse ourselves in-stone walls and all!!
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I know of a riding school that mixed sand and then some sort of fibre in with their woodchips and it helped immensely.

You only have to think how slippery decking gets when it's wet to understand why woodchip surfaces are going to be unstable, especially when cornering.

I was going to have a woodchip surface put down, because of cost, but was advised not to, unless I was putting it in an indoor, by a local contractor.

As for strain on their legs, there is good and bad with every surface. I love sand when it's wet and compacted, but hate it when it's dry, dusty and deep.
 
I have a 40 by 60 m school which was woodchip when we boughtthe property. I bought 30 tonne of rubber crumb and mixed itin. I have never looked back!
 
The sand keeps it drier and helps to stop the bits of wood slipping against each other. They added some sort of fibre (might even be rubber shred - been a while since I was there) to it to give it a bit more spring for jumping.
 
I promise after this winter it WILL get better. The constant wet will bed it in and all of a sudden it will rot down and develop a base and become much more stable.
In the mean time grit your teeth and level it as often as possible
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umm, i wouldn't add sand to woodchip, they did that with one of the very first surfaces at Hartpury (in '91 i think!), or maybe it was woodchip to sand - either way, it made for a VERY unstable surface which would suddenly move. my nice balanced horse fell over with me while cantering a 20m circle warming up for a test... not nice at all, his feet just suddenly went sideways from under him.
tbh i think you'd be better digging out the old, rotten woodchip and putting cushionride or something fresher down. sorry!
 
They are brand new woodchips!
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It is only a very cheap surface, nothing special, just somewhere to trot circles in the winter really, I would have loved to have spent more on it and put a better surface in but wasnt possible. So I just want to get it as usable as possible really, without harming my horse
 
Ours was awful to begin with, but once it's weathered a bit it will be completely different. Our is five/six years old now (been topped up obviously!) and although it will never compare to the gorgeous fibresand type surfaces it is perfectly usable.
 
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