Dressage arena info needed

[Sonya]

Hi
I live in South-East Queensland, Australia and we are about to put in a dressage arena. Does anyone have information on construction / surfaces / drainage type things. Something that has worked well for you or problems to avoid. The soil here has a fairly high clay content so it gets muddy and boggy when wet and then hard as concrete and dusty when dry (really nice to train young horses on, NOT!). We have levelled the area which has a wall of about 1 metre at one side and a drop of about 1 metre on the other side. Thanks for any opinions.

[Medalia]

Well, don't make it too deep, and put a cement floor in. Mix the dirt in with shavings, oil and woodchips to prevent dust. Water regularly.

[Sarah]

Hello!

I'd put down a concrete screed on a slight slope so that there is drainage the put down some large pebbles (again for drainage) before then putting down the mix of stuff suggested by Medalia. I would also add in some rubber chips to add spring to the surface and to lighten it. Adding some sand would also stop the clayey layer getting too concretey and should help drainage. make sure the the water that will form on the concrete base can run somewhere - perhaps make the side with the drop on it the lowest point and put some drainage holes in this wall so that the water can run out.

Good luck!