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Discussion on What to mix with clay soil in dry lot
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Member:
Cowgrl
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Posted on Monday, Mar 29, 2004 - 11:55 am:
Gypsum works great for breaking up clay soil or peat moss too. Mix it in real well and it'll be workable in no time.
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Member:
Tatonka
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Posted on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - 12:31 am:
I have the same issue...live in AZ and have clay soil. I used cinder sand to help with footing in my arena. It is a course material rather than fine. The only problem is the dust it seems to generate. I am told that watering it will help keep the dust down...thank heavens I am on a well...but I now think that I should mix something else with it as well. Might try the suggestion of organic matter and shavings.?
Also any thoughts on the risks I run with my horses and the dust it kicks up? They also have use of the "arena" during no riding times and like to nibble any grass that might appear....making me now worry about sand colic.
Just thoughts for you if you think of adding some sort of sand to your mix.
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - 9:19 am:
Unless you live in a similar area you can't appreciate the sticky adobe clay soil in the SouthWest! I'm in SW Utah. My experience with the clay is that whatever you try to mix in just seems to disappear into the clay - including tons and tons of gravel we had put on our driveway. We tried mixing in the used shavings but we get such strong winds in this area that they would blow the shavings away before they could be throughly mixed into the soil. We finally got a combination of reject sand and small fine pebbles(like a course beach sand) on the arena. We rolled and compacted the arena first, and also built it up just a little in the middle for drainage. It took a lot of the sand mix, but it has been holding up good. It's at a depth of several inches. We only water it when it's a really dry spell and the dust isn't too bad. This is the first winter I've had an arena I was able to use all winter. The only thing we have to do is drag it to smooth it out once in a while. Also, I seldom use the arena for turnouts as I'm lucky enough to have large fields for that.
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Member:
Tatonka
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Posted on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - 12:34 pm:
Thanks for the tip. I think that I might add some reject sand and fine pebbles to the cinder sand I already have. Like you I live on a windy mesa so shavings might not work that well.
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