What would be a suitable material for an arena?

Question

Cheapest option please.

Arena is for horses

Answer 1

I'm not sure whether you are talking about footing or what material you want to use to build your arena so I'll give you both-

I love my vinyl fencing- love it so much that I even redid two of my arena's with vinyl. It is not to costly but by no means the cheapest. It's easy for the upkeep and most models come with warranties.
However if price is the factor- the cheapest I've known is T-Post's and wire- not barbed wire. Most people will line their arena built like this with some type of timber.

For footing- I recommended just plowing up your arena and removing rocks and sticks and roots. For most people sand is not practical or financially possible. Plow up the arena a few times and make sure that it is level. And there you have it- an arena made for competing.

Answer 2

It depends on what part of the country you live in, your native soil type, and how much of a drainage issue you already have.

You need to prepare the sub-surface so that it doesn't hold water and slope or crown it so water readily drains off.

Then bring in loads of top footing. In the South sand is commonly used but there are different types of sand and you don't want the stuff that is round in shape and therefore very slippery, as you risk injuries.

John Lyons recently published an article on building an arena on the cheap. Definitely worth reading. If you are lucky your land doesn't need a lot of machine prep.

USDF has a great booklet on arenas. $9 or $10 called UNDERFOOT, considered the bible of arena design. You can always just use some of the info since you're on a budget.

Answer 3

Sand works well for outdoor arena because it drains well. If you have an indoor arena make sure you have a watering system to cut down on dust. I great footing that I like is a sand mixed with ground tire particles. Go around to local barns and ask borders there what they think of the arena footing. What ever you use, make sure to clean out your horse's hoofs as soon as you are done riding to prevent buildup.

Answer 4

Sand is the cheapest option but isn't a brilliant surface. If you can get your local scrapyard to shred or chip some old tires, this can be mixed in with sand to gice it better 'bounce' and also drainage.

Answer 5

Astro Turf

Answer 6

Sand or wood chip or if you are feeling really flush an all weather surface (Not cheap though)

Answer 7

Probably sand

Answer 8

metal