 |
| This tractor has done a lot of arena work |
My arena footing is concrete sand and I've had it in there for a long time now. It's the footing that Rico and I were riding on when we were competing and generally I've liked it.
When we first put the footing in, it was about 3.5 to 4 inches, but over the years it has compacted. You drag at around 1 inch, so with enough watering, dragging, and riding on it, the bottom layers of sand compact and then you're left with less loose sand. This has meant that over the years, we need to bring in transfers of sand to add to it.
I used up the last of the sand pile a little while ago and when TC started rehab this fall, I decided that I wanted a little deeper footing, so I ended up dropping my drag a bit so that it would fluff up the arena a bit more. I wanted to avoid bringing in more sand before the winter hit. That worked and it's been much softer for his sad little feets ever since.
 |
| Formerly a sand pile, now storage for my jumps and my roller! |
One major issue with concrete sand is that it lacks the stability that a lot of arena sands have. It's not nearly as bad as beach sand, which has round grains and feels terrible to ride on. But it's not as stable as silica sand or a footing with additives like fabric. However, silica and fabric can then be too stable where they feel hard. Honestly, my sand feels great to me when it's properly watered, but I have considered replacing it. That'll be a conversation for another day though.
In order to keep the footing as stable as possible for TC during his rehab, I've started to obsess over the arena watering situation.
 |
| I circled roughly where the sprinklers are located |
I have five sprinklers in my arena, and they do a decent job at watering it... as long as there is no wind. And also as they've aged, they don't quite get to the middle of the arena comfortably anymore. I've ordered a couple of new sprinkler heads to see if I can help them out, but I also stopped to pick up a lawn sprinkler and a hose at my local hardware store.
It works well! I can just drag it into the middle of the arena when I get to the ranch and then I can shut it off when I get TC into the arena. I'm still working out exactly how to set it up so that it actually waters where I want it to, but for the most part it does what I want it to (keep the middle of the arena saturated).
 |
| TC appreciates the sprinklers |
Another issue I've had is that even when the arena gets saturated, when it's warm, the water evaporates really quickly. So for example, my watering takes 1 hour 15 minutes, with each sprinkler running for 15 minutes. By the time that the last sprinkler goes off, the first sprinkler area has already had 45 minutes of the sun beating down on it.
I'm considering in the spring using an arena additive that will help retain the moisture. I haven't done a huge amount of research yet, but I do like the idea and will look into it as it gets hotter and dryer.
 |
| Lots of tractor work this year! |
Next post on the arena I'll share some of the ideas I've had to make more permanent improvements to it. Such as expanding it, squaring it off, re-grating it, getting new footing, dropping my sprinkler system into the ground, or all of the above. Not sure when that post will come out since I haven't written it yet and I'm still surprising myself by how consistent I've managed to be posting again after literal years off.
You may have already found it but there's an Equestrian Footing Design And Planning private Facebook group created by Dickie Osborne (https://precisionequestrianarenas.com/) where there's lots of great information shared.
ReplyDeleteTC standing in the sprinkler is adorable! We had to add a sprinkler to Thunder's field this summer because his sister accidentally broke the water pipe, which led to him discovering that if he bites the water pipe, it sprays him with nice cold water. An inconvenient discovery
ReplyDeleteRe: moisture retention, my former trainer and good friend owns Trutex, and she says (and my experiences backs up) any additives won't help with that as much as you want it to. It does help a little, but it still requires regular/deep watering and dragging both, because if you don't, it separates out and the additive will float to the surface and sit there. Depending on humidity, my indoor makes it 7-10 days with 1-2 rides per day before it starts to separate out.
ReplyDeleteShe does also have a fully waterless footing which is like the holy grail but ya know, money...
What a beautiful arena you have. We also deal with sand compacting in our arena and use a combination of our parma groomer and a TR3 drag to manage it for now (although we likely will need to add new sand in the long term). We use the parma groomer for regular maintenance, but every once in a while we use the heavy duty teeth of the TR3 to fluff up the compacted sand. It's a bit touchy and has to be adjusted just so, but it has helped us increase the longevity of our footing.
ReplyDelete