What is a ‘bad’ arena?

[holeymoley]

As per title, what is a bad or unsuitable arena in terms of surface?

I’m trying to hire out a local arena as I feel my Yard’s arena is unsuitable for most but interested to hear thoughts here to see whether I’m being unreasonable.

It is roughly around 15-20years old so i appreciate its at the end of its life span (I left a yard where the arena was brand new and fabulous but unfortunately the rest of it wasn’t in terms of turnout so not sure if I’m being picky). It’s a chopped rubber surface. It’s incredibly deep in 80% of it which is my main problem. Anything going through it struggles to maintain balance (at a trot) so you then struggle with getting the horse to bend, stretch and generally work correctly. There’s also a very short area of one side which is the only place you could place a jump, and if it rains the shallower side holds surface water. My husband insists it’s subsiding which has crossed my mind but that would explain why it’s deep where it is.

Writing that down I realise it sounds terrible but it’s unfortunately the way it is. What risks are there riding on such a surface? Owner insists it’s fine but I feel there’s an element of not wanting to spend money on it which is fine but she can’t expect others to use it and then be challenged for trying to hire elsewhere. I’ve used it probably a handful of times in the summer as I can school in a field thankfully (It gets very dusty in the summer) We’re now at the horrible stage where everything is becoming too wet to use fields

 

[holeymoley]

Eta- not only is it frustrating but I’m concerned of the potential damage it could do.

 

[milliepops]

Yeah I won't ride in a deep surface nor one that is inconsistent (deep in places and then shallow and hard in others). the risk of soft tissue injury is increased and it's hard enough keeping horses sound when they work regularly on a surface.

If i was backed into a corner I wouldn't actually mind if it holds water if the surface underneath is firm and consistent - i was on a yard like that for quite a while, you could move a sleeper and the water would drain out but the surface stayed the same. but it did make everything filthy and you couldn't use boots. most surfaces get boggy when waterlogged.

a good footing is key on an arena IMO. i don't think you're being unreasonable in not wanting to use that one.

 

[holeymoley]

Thanks. Yes it’s the inconsistency of it. It is hard work to walk in it for me on foot so I can only imagine what it’s doing to the horse.

 

[SEL]

Thanks. Yes it’s the inconsistency of it. It is hard work to walk in it for me on foot so I can only imagine what it’s doing to the horse.

A deep arena stuffed my mare's suspensory and likely her DDFT (but that's taken a while to show up). I was being really careful and sticking to the firm bit but she had a silly moment, bucked and galloped into the deep stuff.

I moved yards ?

 

[Auslander]

I won't go near a deep arena, or one with an inconsistent surface.
On paper, my arena looks bad. It's ancient, and the surface hasn't been refreshed in living memory (sand and pvc - the chopped electric cable sort) and it is laid on concrete with no membrane/hard core etc. Bizarrely, it is a fantastic stable surface, not deep, doesn't move, even with big horses charging around on it, and despite having standing water on it whenever it rains, it stays decent underfoot, even in the puddles!

 

[sport horse]

Avoid waxed surfaces - they do not allow the horse to have any 'slip' to the movement and is now thought to be the cause of many soft tissue injuries

 

[PapaverFollis]

I've been wondering this as the livery yard we left re-did their school and we are welcome back any time to use it... but it's sand and it looks deep to me so I don't know if I want to.

 

[milliepops]

i think unless you're really lucky plain sand on its own is prone to being deep when it's dry and rock hard when its wet, there's a sweet spot that lasts about 20 mins in between

the most consistent surface i've ever used is flexiride with plenty of sand which is the same all year round IME and also copes with freezing pretty well.

 

[atropa]

Owning a horse with navicular and past PSD issues I'm very fussy with arena surfaces and would not use one like the one you described. As MP says, absolutely not worth the deep pull on soft tissues or the uneven landing.

 

[catembi]

This is a bad arena: www.cheapmanege.weebly.com. (My old one.)

 

[Muddywellies]

I've just left a yard after struggling with bad surfaces. Both really weren't fit for purpose yet the yard owner thinks they are the best in the area. They 'look' smart when the owner can be bothered levelling them, but this happened very infrequently tho even if they were looked after properly, they really were verging on dangerous. My horse struggled terribly with them. I ended up have to box up and hire arenas (£££).

 

[TPO]

The last yard I was on had the worst arena ever. It was a sloping sand arena which went from hard to soft and deep, flooded and had weeds growing through it.

Then they put the cheap carpet surface directly on top of it completely with metal shards. It was only laid after it had sat out in the rain for months until it went foosty and stank.

The other liveries happily rode and jumped on it. I mean those horses weren't sound but apparently nothing to do with the surface ? so obviously it was just me that was paranoid and talking rubbish ?

That's what I think is the hard part; while there are so many muppets happy to use the arena a YO is never going to invest.

 

[bubblensqueak]

i just left a yard with a brand new, but incredibly deep school. i never rode in it, only lunged once, but it was incredibly hard to walk in! we were only there a month! i refuse to ride my horse in a surface which could potentially hurt him

 

[holeymoley]

what is PSSM please? i have heard a few people speak about it?

unfortunately I can’t see anything

 

[holeymoley]

Thanks I’m glad I don’t seem to be being fussy. I’ve contacted a friend that let me use hers before so hopefully she’ll be happy to again. Blooming’ Covid will probably have a negativity on it though if I can’t get use of hers, I’m not sure if there’s a lot hiring out just now.

I’m going to stick a stick in the deepest parts to see actually how deep it is... husband says I’m mad and is taking nothing to do with it

I’ve mentioned it to others and they’re not happy with it either but if they don’t say anything what can you do. Like another poster, yo thinks it’s the best Arena ever, and it really isn’t!

 

[holeymoley]

Apologies above no idea why it quoted something totally different. I’ve not been on here for a few weeks as I’ve had issue with this forum ??‍ who knows what’s happening.

This is a bad arena: www.cheapmanege.weebly.com. (My old one.)

I can’t see anything ?