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  Discussion on Help with NEW arena
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Member:
36541

Posted on Monday, Jan 17, 2005 - 8:28 am:

Hello all! I have spent a happy weekend watching bulldozers and dumptrucks form the base for my new outdoor riding arena, 100x200ft. I have been riding on grass at home for many years so this is a dream come true. I had them scape out the topsoil and then bring in the clay(35 loads) so that the now-packed base is four inches above the surrounding ground and crowned in the center. We live on the lowest 50 acres in the county, actually below sea level, and we get a lot of rain. I have been researching a lot, but as always will likely get my best info from this group of horse folks. I would appreciate answers to any or all questions....
How long do you need to "season" the base before adding the final arena surface?
Do you let weather season it, run sprinklers on it, let the stock run on it, keep the stock off it, or other opinions?
The arena will be for flatwork, and a lunge pen, and for a gymnastics jump line - what would be your favorite footing for all-purpose use?
Do you like some kind of containment for the final surface - railroad ties or blocks or vertical boards or others?
Has anyone used crumb rubber mixed with sand, and if so how does it do when you get a lot of rain? Where have you gotten the crumb rubber?
How many inches is a minimum for the footing - do you start with four and go up?
Thanks in advance for any info and experiences, Stacy
Member:
Dres

Posted on Monday, Jan 17, 2005 - 10:38 am:

Stacy, what kind of clay is it that you have as a base..? I ask this because the clay here is not suitable for an arena base, once saturated it becomes a sucking machine.. we put 3/4 crushed road base 6 inches deep over our clay,,, unfortunately one area did not get the full 6 inches.. and I have to avoid that area in the winter as it becomes deep...

I used railroad ties to keep the sand in.. worked perfectly...


On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with SPOTS..



Member:
36541

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 18, 2005 - 5:36 am:

Hi Ann. The clay has a name I can't recall at this hour but it is used for housing foundations and packs well. I have used it as stall base for many years. Did you let the road base sit for a while, or go ahead with the sand? Is the sand washed, or refuse sand perphaps? Overall, is there anything you would do differently if doing the arena again(besides the wet spot), Thanks, Stacy
Member:
Dres

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 18, 2005 - 10:35 am:

Stacy, we put the arena in early summer....graded the arena with a slight slop to one end.. on second thought I might have crowned it instead.. because the first winter my husband had to put in a drain mid end to keep all the sand from washing out in one location.. this helped greatly.. we also ended up putting in few french drains along the slopping side to disperse the run off better too.. ( this was all after thoughts).. and would have put in 8'' + inches of base on tooo.. We put the base down.. used a water truck to wet it down several times, packed it, and only let it set a week or two.. I used washed arena sand and put 2 1/2 inches down first.. the next summer we added another inch.. i would go light at first, its easier to add sand to take if off...

I DO NOT USE THE ARENA EVER FOR TURN OUTS.. the cost of a private arena is too much to have a horse mess up the base slide stopping into the fence..

Enjoy...

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with SPOTS..

Ann
New Member:
Manureop

Posted on Saturday, Feb 26, 2005 - 11:52 am:

Hope this gets to all of you that have built successful arenas or are thinking about building a world class arena. We live in Florida and it's humid. We really don't have access to many clays unless you go up into Georgia and have it shipped. We built a 150X250 and a 150X100 last year, this month. Our base has finally cured. The 6-8 inch base was made of lime dust/pond screenings. Rolling and watering over and over for a year. In Minnesota, where we came from, we also used a crushed lime rock base and let it cure for one year. When we sold that farm in 2002, the Hunter people who bought our farm, bought it for the arena!! Best footing they had ever seen. Now we are getting ready to finish our arenas and I have called Footings Unlimited for help. After reading all of these posts, yes, you are right, it is much easier to add sand than to remove it as it cost as much to take it out as it does to put it in. If there are any MEMBERS FROM FLORIDA ON THIS SITE, please, tell me where to purchase appropriate arena sand in Central Florida. You would be helping an old horse that needs some new tricks!!! I can answer any questions you might have about arena building in any area of the country. My father did it as a side business in his Architecture practice. Thanks
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