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. That being said, it is very helpful to understand why there is much more to good footing than what meets the eye.

The ideal arena provides a firm foundation of support in addition to a riding surface 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 part science and part art. There are as many ideas about what constitutes the best footing as there are people out there selling and installing footing materials. Most are made up of course sand augmented with specified percentages of other additives to give the end result (the footing) good stability, not too loose, no compaction, no soft spots, good traction, low dust, long lifespan, and maintainability. Good footing blends can be quite expensive. Typically theses 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 our typical sized arena example the footing material totals about 120 cubic yards. Special washed sand blended with stone dust to add traction and minimize "looseness" with some form of fiber like crumb rubber, polymer fiber / granules, or ground up leather could approach pricing in the range of $70 - $90 per yard. Even a very basic footing material blend can easily exceed $30/cubic yard. You can see why 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 this wearing out of the footing is slowed measurably and even once breakdown has taken place the ArenaKleen still continues to control the dust and continues to maintain consistency of the "feel" of the footing. Footing consistency and proper "feel" is very important when horses are being used and trained professionally.

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 riding surface is the footing layer that you can see. The riding surface is the top layer and should be deep enough to minimize the 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 material. This basic blend is often augmented with fiber such as finely shredded leather, finely ground rubber, or polymer sand products. Blends and a variety of combinations 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. As identified by Robert Malmgren, soil scientist, 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.