Almost everyone who rides horses will agree that good
footing is a key component to the successful training, performance, and
health of our equine partners. There is much more to good footing than meets the eye.
The ideal arena provides a firm foundation of support with the appropriate combination of
resiliency, traction, and cushioning ability...without dust. This
combination of factors is the reason most of the best arenas consist of
three layers.
Footing in an equestrian arena is partly science and partly
art. There are as many ideas about what constitutes the best footing as
there are people selling and installing footing materials. Most
footing compositions are coarse sand augmented with specific percentages of other
materials to give the resulting footing good stability, not too
loose and yet without compaction, good traction, low dust, long lifespan,
and maintainability. Good footing blends can be quite expensive. Typically footing blends are installed over a very thoroughly
compacted base material at a depth of about three inches. A typical indoor
ring might be about eighty feet by one hundred sixty feet (about 13000 sq
ft+ -) with footing material at a depth of three inches.
In such an arena the footing material
totals about 120 cubic yards. Special washed sand blended with stone dust
to add traction and minimize "looseness", some form of fiber
such as crumb rubber, polymer fiber / granules, or ground leather could
be priced in the range of $70 - $90 per yard. Even a very basic
footing material blend can easily exceed $30/cubic yard. Obviously a
dust control/stabilizer/preservative for arena footing material that has
the ability to extend the life of the footing material becomes an
important consideration and the cost of product such as ArenaKleen is
relatively small in comparison to the cost of a quality footing blend.
Unfortunately, many people spend huge amounts to build the
indoor riding hall, substantial money goes out for custom footing and the
trucking costs to bring it to the stable. Then there may be the additional
cost of spreading and leveling it. Once completed the new footing has
little dust during initial use. Soon the action of the horses hooves begin
to smash, break, wear, and abrade the individual particles. Dust over time
will be the result. If treated with ArenaKleen when newly installed,
footing breakdown is slowed measurably. Even if breakdown has taken place,
ArenaKleen still controls dust and maintains the quality of the footing.
Footing consistency and proper "feel" is very important in the
professional training and performance of horses.
The bottom layer is often referred to as the sub-base. The
sub-base is created by first removing the top-soil from the existing
ground, then compacting until the ground reaches near maximum density.
After the sub-base has been prepared, the base layer is constructed. The
base layer most often consists of some type of crushed stone screenings,
which are spread atop the sub-base layer anywhere from 4 to 12 inches
deep. Many arenas are constructed with highly compactable AB or road base.
This base layer is also prepared by using compacting equipment.
The grading, leveling, and compacting of both the sub-base
and base is important because a solid, impenetrable, non-slippery
foundation is needed to support the riding surface as well as to allow
excess water to run off.
The
top
layer
of the footing
should be deep enough to minimize concussion to the horse's legs but not be so deep that it causes
muscle and tendon strains. Sand and stone dust typically makes up the
major portion of the footing. This basic blend is often augmented
with fiber such as finely shredded leather, finely ground rubber, or
polymer sand products. A variety of blends are commonly
used as riding surface materials.
In addition to the basics of arena composition, here are a
few more points to consider prior to building a new arena or restoring an
existing one. All dirt is not created equal. According to
soil scientist,
Robert Malmgren, in his book, The Equine Arena Handbook,
there are over 10,000 scientific classifications of soil. In addition to
the scientific names, there are common names for the various types of
soil. The common names may vary depending on geographic location and the
names adopted by soil brokers and construction crews.
During the planning and construction process, it is
helpful to describe the soil materials needed in terms of particle size
and how they will be used. This will help insure that the soil materials
and aggregate that are purchased for the construction of the arena are,
indeed, the base and footing construction materials best suited for the
arena.
