| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| elgar polish prince |
Posted - 20 Aug 2010 : 10:04:54 AM
Opinions wanted on school depth
how deep should a school be? our surface is a really fine sand and rubber, since i have been at the yard we have had some taken out due to complaints but i have recently noticed that it is quite deep (possible due to lots of use and very little harrowing!!!), i only use the school for lunging but would say the surface covers my boys entire foot and a little bit more |
| 5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Jingo |
Posted - 20 Aug 2010 : 1:03:16 PM
We had combi ride add a stabiliser to our deep sand and man plastic surface earlier in the year - its fabulous and rides so well, we hardly have to level it now. Its held up so well this long dry summer and still feels so springy!!! |
| Roseanne |
Posted - 20 Aug 2010 : 12:00:48 PM
To make a good surface the sand should be silica sand, then when it is wet by rain it goes very firm like the sand on the seashore.
My arena is silica sand and rubber chips and it's been riding deep this summer as there was no rain for months. Now it's had a few really good soakings, it's a lovely surface. The rubber does help to stop the moisture evaporating but soft sand and dust can be a problem in long, dry summers. During very dry times I'm careful about the amount of lungeing and jumping in the school because it can play havoc with the surface.
Best of all is to grade the arena and then have a total cloudburst to bed it down! |
| elgar polish prince |
Posted - 20 Aug 2010 : 11:24:27 AM
i think part of our problem is that the school is not being harrowed enough, once harrowed you see a lot more rubber on top and some of the girls that use it a lot for jumping have said its better in the winter, i only lunge in it but sometime when im walking around i dissapear down a a big hole from where is so churned up, if i was to put my finger into the school i think it would go to my wrist! is it because the school is to deep or because its dry and not harrowed enough
and what damage is likely to cause to legs? |
| Hazel Cornes |
Posted - 20 Aug 2010 : 11:17:41 AM
Our sand & rubber (large bits) surface rides on top and not in it. The test we were given for our arena, was to put a forefinger into the sand (under the rubber) and your finger should go no deeper than half way between the 1st joint and the 2nd joint (approx 3cms) before its firm. If it is deeper we were told the surface needs wetting. Have to say it never needed any more water after the initial flooding & leaving to drain to compact the sand. Our surface is totally black and the sand doesn't show through so there is no evaporation in dry and hot weather. I do know of one arena where the surface was ridden on before the sand had compacted after flooding and they did have problems with it riding deep.
Edited to say that I think it depends on the type of sand the arena has and how quickly it drains and how much water it retains. Perhaps the arena builders could advise you. |
| Pasha |
Posted - 20 Aug 2010 : 10:16:44 AM
I think it depends how heavy the surface is although I am no expert... I used to be at a yard with Pasada that got very deep, but was very light and I never had any problems.
Current school is sand and rides lovely after rain - so you ride 'on it' but was horrible and deep during June/July and the horses did struggle with it! |
