| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| cammarch |
Posted - 27 Feb 2010 : 8:53:59 PM
Have just taken delivery of 120 tonnes of rubber granules (9mm) as it was free, I was looking to put a menage in next year but the opportunity came up for this lot and all i had to pay was the haulage.
Would it be best to mix with sand or to leave as it is, also what type of membrane would be required.
Help please as have not had time to look into it before it arrived, looks like gigantic mole hills at the mo!! |
| 11 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| alpacastoo |
Posted - 02 Mar 2010 : 11:55:56 AM
Hi, on a similar vein, what if you want an area outside to turn your horses in during the winter. Somewhere where you may offer hay (if they didn't have instant access to a shelter). The main purpose of it being to let the horses exercise without (a) getting mud fever (b) churning up the fields. Is it possible to have a dual purpose area?? |
| Roseanne |
Posted - 01 Mar 2010 : 8:14:52 PM
If you only have Arabs you shouldn't have to have very high kick boards around your arena; however I have larger horses using my arena, one regularly, and their big hooves really fling out the rubber chips. I find large quantities yards from the school and I'm saving up for another tier of kick boards to try to ensure we don't lose too much rubber! |
| Hazel Cornes |
Posted - 01 Mar 2010 : 6:15:39 PM
The dos & don'ts that the Charles Britton team gave us on completion of our arena were really extensive. The build was held up due to rain and then when it was finished it couldn't be ridden on until it was flooded and the sand had settled and become firm. No muck is left in, we don't feed in there, any tracks or lunge marks are harrowed out and the only thing we do "wrong" is let the leaves lie on it in the Autumn but they get blown away by the beginning of the new year.
The addition I would make, if the family were still competing, would be to have a rubber walkway from the stables as the yard gets icy and although the arena is rideable I can't get to it! |
| flosskins |
Posted - 01 Mar 2010 : 2:29:00 PM
thats out then :( no chance of getting planning as its a rented field. in bedfordshire - silica sand going for free to somebody that will collect it, PM for details! |
| Roseanne |
Posted - 01 Mar 2010 : 12:50:46 PM
What a gift! Lucky you, it's SO expensive!
Yes you will need planning permission.
Don't just put it down. Read above about the drainage (and lack of it!). Without the drainage you won't have a surface, you'll have sand and water when it rains heavily.
Perhaps we should take pictures and post them here? I may be able to find a link to a website showing a good cross-section of what's needed.
NB, don't forget to poo-pick your arena scrupulously. A Horse and Hound article said you cut the life of your school from 20 years down to even just two years if you leave poo to be trampled in... |
| flosskins |
Posted - 01 Mar 2010 : 10:50:56 AM
I have been offered 80 tonnes of silica sand free apart from the haulage and would love to put down a school but have no idea whats involved - do I need planning permission firstly or can i just put it in my field? |
| Valentine Arabians |
Posted - 01 Mar 2010 : 10:38:39 AM
We had our menage re-done when we moved in and had silica sand put down (builder's sand removed), however the Lincs gales started blowing the sand away, so we ordered and put down 7 tonnes of 'chopped rubber' and spread it ourselves!! What a nightmare  .
I am not thrilled, as it is very difficult, with the chopped rubber, to level even with our machine and the 'supposed' new drainage is non-existent, so with all the rain we have been having, the menage is now a lake with quick sand in places  ! |
| Roseanne |
Posted - 28 Feb 2010 : 7:29:26 PM
Agree about the drainage totally; without it you'll be slopping around after a good winter storm!
My arena builder wasn't the only one to tell me they don't use membranes much these days as they are liable too rise to the surface with use.
My arena is several inches each of three grades of ironstone (the local stone) from big fist-sized ones to small three-quarter inch ones with drainage trenches build in, in a herringbone pattern taking the water through the materil and downhill, away.
Then it has about 5 - 6 inches of silica sand, with a couple of inches of rubber chop on top.
The silica sand is great - after some rain it settles and gets like the firm part of the beach where you play tennis(!). It can get a bit deep in heatwaves and at that point I stop all but necessary lungeing and jumping (i.e. I do my youngsters but don't let people who are using the arena) to save too much disturbance. With the rubber above it makes a good surface for everything. |
| Hazel Cornes |
Posted - 28 Feb 2010 : 4:35:08 PM
we've had a rubber arena down for approx 10 yrs. It is 20 x 40, with a fall from short end to short end of 12". Earth drains, membrane, graded stone (all the same size), membrane (different type, heat sealed & fixed to sides), sand (Cheshire) and then rubber (Aruba). However our rubber is really large pieces and after rain it sits on top of the sand and it isn't meant to mix in. The rubber insulates the sand in the winter so it doesn't freeze; in the summer again insulates the sand so that it doesn't dry out and then ride deep. Horses ride on our surface and not in it.
As Alistair says drainage is the key and here's a pic to show how much water we can get and still the arena didn't flood or ride deep.
Good luck and it's well worth getting it right at the beginning. |
| alistair leslie |
Posted - 28 Feb 2010 : 10:05:29 AM
Draiage is the key .
Stone/clinker base
Membrane/6 inchs sand/membrane then dress with rubber 2 inchs |
| LIV |
Posted - 28 Feb 2010 : 08:32:50 AM
Hi
I have just had a new arena built and the surface is Combi-Ride. It is a combination of rubber, sand, and a stabiliser to stop it riding so deep. I would ask some arena building companies for some samples of different surfaces so you can work out what you eventually want.
Liv |
