Arena surface

Well I'm not sure what ours is - probably the bad stuff. I rode in it this morning - after a lot of rain last night and Stumpy seemed fine, no slipping etc. The surface has like fern tree clipppings, a bizarre surface. I'll have to take a picture so you can see.

YO asked around local tree surgeons I guess and she gets excess chippings for free.
 
i find woodchips fine most of the time., they do mulch down and need topping up and digging down, and yes they do freeze in winter and get slippery in the rain. they're definitely not as nice as sand/rubber - but a fraction of the cost, and certainly doable if you don;t have the many thousands needed to have the school done in subber. i was amazed at how expensive it was when we had our sand school redone in rubber.
 
i just have grass ;) school at our old yard was some crappy mix of what i think was peat and wood chips. was far too deep and they hadn't laid a proper base so it never drained properly. arena on previous yard was sand and was great, apart from freezing in the winter. nicest surface i've ridden on was a mix of peat and chopped up tyres. felt very springy and was great for jumping on.
 
We have white silica sand. The arena isn't finished yet but it has stayed rideable apart from when it was covered in 4" of snow and it finally froze when the temps got down to -7, which is pretty good.
 
At my RS it is rubber pieces in both the indoor and outdoor school. It's pretty good, but the outdoor gets flooded really badly in the corners if it has been raining, which is a pain.
At the yard my share pony is stabled at, the sign says it is woodgrain. It just looks like sand to me. It drains well with the rain, but when it gets cold after it has been raining, the whole surface freezes and takes ages to defrost. You can't ride cause it all gets balled up in the horses feet :( .
 
Love woodchip, its so soft to land in! I don't think ours ever froze or was slippy :confused:
I hate sand! Its so dirty and turns to slop in winter, dusty in summer...
 
We have sand as you know minty! its so pooey and annoying! and its still as sinky as it has always been :(
 
>> What arena surface do you have and what do you think of it?

I think it's dirt mixed with sand and wood chips or something.. All I know is it's SUPER cushy soft when you fall. :D The dirt does tend to track all over the barn when we walk out though. :)

The arena is safe, warm and ideal and just the right size for one person and thier horse to run paces. You can do two, maybe up to three but it might feel crowded.
 
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