Wood chip arena

[carthorse]

I loved my woodchip arena when it was first put down and to be fair most of it is still fine but some areas have gone boggy.I have had it down for 4 years.

My question is has anyone had a top up on one, does it work well and for how long. Or has anyone tried a top up with anythig else eg rubber

 

[vicijp]

I know that woodchip gallops are meant to be replaced every 4 years.
TBH, if its boggy and not just thin, it probably needs redoing - membrane and everything.
Ive known people try to top up gallops when they get like this, it just makes the problem worse.

 

[JustKickOn]

the riding stables has just had a wood chipping arena put down. they left some of the old sand in (about 1 inch layer) and then have about 3 inches of wood cips put on top. they're being very careful about skipping out poo and stuff as this can clog up the drainage.

with yours you could always take it up, then put it back down and have a new layer put on top??

 

[Gentle_Warrior]

had one at old yard was indoors !! used to have to dig it out and then top it up as it get tramblled down and rots underneath - cause it was an indoor we used to have to spray hose it once a week as it used to get soooo dry and dusty could not see if more than 2 in there

 

[orton]

We had ours down for just over 12mnths. The biggest waste of money EVER it was useless to jump off, turned into a bog in the winter. We now have sand and rubber, best thing we ever did. The jumping horses were loosing confidence coming off the corners on woodchip surface, they were nearly going A**e over T*t each time off the corners as surface kept moving from under them and that was with the proper so called velcro feel membrane.

Putting it bluntly a woodchip surface is absolute CRAP, dig it up and put sand in. If you get stuck for a price the chap I did it through was £12.50 per ton inc delivery and I tell you that is really good price.

 

[aimeerose]

we have 3 wood chip surfaces at my yard and they are all fab!!
plus the indoor and lunge arena.

they do need topping up as when they get low they do start to get boggy.
i think its a great surface if managed correctly.
good drainage is the most important thing.

Ed to say that ours get reasonably hard use and are topped up every 6 months or so. with privaye smaller yards i would think topping up every 2-3 years is about right.

 

[Forget_Me_Not]

Wood chip manages have a 3ft jumping limit because its not solid enough to take a horse higher.