2019 Barn & Arena Guide

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TEST YOUR FOOTING KNOWLEDGE

GO GREEN

TIPS FOR AN ECO-FRIENDLY FACILITY

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2019

Barn & Arena Guide With each new year comes a new set of goals and motivations. in this year’s annual Barn and arena Guide, we bring you features to help motivate you to achieve more in 2019. in order to help you live a greener lifestyle, Kathleen labonville spoke with experts on how to make your equine facilities more eco-friendly. From solar pannels to composting your manure, even the smallest of modifications can make a difference to the environment. Take a look at what you can do to reduce your barn’s carbon footprint on page 12. ready to build your new arena but unsure what exactly to do for footing? Kathryn Selinga has you covered in her quiz that will help you figure out which type of footing is best for your facilities. You’d be surprised by what you can learn by testing your knowledge! Turn to page 20 to take the quiz!

Finally, we take a look at the bedding in the horses’ stalls. a thorough look at your options from Kristin Pitzer’s feature will get you thinking there may be cheaper or smarter option for your facilities. Check out the selection on page 16.

Though we may not be through our entire list of 2019 goals, we hope that these features help motivate you to do more! Whether you plan on making a big change and redesign your arena, or even hope to install new energy-efficient light bulbs in the barn, we’ve got you covered for how to get the job done right.

Contents: 9 Points of interest 12 The Eco-Friendly

Horse Farm Tips for making your facilities green.

BY KaTHleen laBonVille

16 Bedding Matters

a look at the different types of bedding used in horse stalls.

BY KriSTin PiTZer

20 Riding on Friendly Footing Test your arena surface iq.

BY KaTHrYn SelinGa

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2019

Barn & Arena Guide executive editor/GenerAl mAnAGer

Elisabeth Prouty-Gilbride Senior editor

Terisé Cole ASSociAte editor

Kelley Roche Art director

Candice D. Madrid Senior AdvertiSinG/mArKetinG conSultAnt

Karen Desroches, 603-525-3601 AdvertiSinG/mArKetinG conSultAnt

Laurel Foster Senior diGitAl StrAteGiSt

Sonny Williams

director of Production

Production mAnAGer

Karen Fralick Sherry R. Brown

PuBlicAtion Service mAnAGer

Cher Wheeler

Production ASSiStAnt

Emily Trupiano

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BARNS

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HOMES

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ACCESSORIES

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Barn & Arena Guide 2019

points of interest

Photo of the Month Who doesn’t love a peaceful barn on a summer day?

PHOTO: TERISÉ COLE

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POINTS OF INTEREST

LET IT RAIN Tired of having your arena become a dust bowl during your ride? Install a sprinkler to break down the dust factor. A revolving lawn sprinkler can do just the trick! Just be sure to move the sprinkler regularly, as you don’t want puddles to form—then you’ll have a whole other problem!

Organic Option

Snow Stuck?

» IF YOUR HORSE TENDS TO BE MESSY IN HIS STALL, banking the sides with extra shavings might save you money in the long run, depending on the horse.

Not only does the bank protect the walls of the stalls from manure and urine, it also creates more of a cushion for the horse. If the stall is on an outside wall, the shavings can also act as an insulator and keep the heat in.

To prevent your favorite winter shovel from getting snow stuck to it after a Nor’easter, spray it down with your favorite horse shine product (or some cooking spray!). It’ll help the snow slide right off!

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PHOTO: AK DRAGOO PHOTOGRAPHY

Back to the Bank

PHOTO: ISTOCK.COM/RELOAD_STUDIO

In the winter months, the last thing you want to be worried about is not being able to get the horses in and out easily. By using zeolites outside the barn, you create more traction over ice for both human and horse barn patrons. Often found in cat litter and in laundry detergent, the organic material can also be used for ammonia control in your horses’ stalls.

Cut the Chew

If you have a horse that chews wood in the barn or in the pasture, take a bar of soap and rub it against the chew site, making sure to leave behind a film or a few chunks stuck to the spot. The smell and texture of the soap will deter the horse from continued chewing.

PHOTO: AK DRAGOO PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO: ISTOCK.COM/RELOAD_STUDIO

POINTS OF INTEREST

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the

By Kathleen Labonville

ECO-FRIENDLY HORSE

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PHOTO: CLIX PHOTOGRAPHY

Effective ways to use sustainable energy and lessen your equine facility’s impact on the environment.

PHOTO: CLIX PHOTOGRAPHY

farm

HORSE FACILITIES LOOK ECO-FRIENDLY, DON’T THEY? Few scenes are more pastoral than horses peacefully grazing in the paddock, their stable framing the backdrop. There’s no evident pollution like the black smoke, smog, and litter of the city. Everything looks green, clean, and earth-friendly. What we don’t readily see in that bucolic scene, however, is the load of toxins put into the air via chemical fly sprays, fertilizers, and dewormers. We don’t notice the soil erosion and poor drainage, except perhaps when we go to bring the horses in and have to wade through the mud and muck by the gate. And, as observers, we don’t know the amount of electricity needed to power the electric fence, indoor lights, outdoor lights, mini fridge, clippers, barn radio, stall fans, and so forth.

The farm owner knows, though—every time the electric bill arrives it is an unfriendly reminder that horse facilities require their share of resources.

Gone are the days when eco-friendly designs were just for progressive thinkers or those with money to spare and a social agenda. Now, efforts to limit one’s carbon footprint are common in our own homes, in businesses, and in agriculture.

“Everyone is aware of it,” says John Blackburn of Blackburn Architects, P.C. in Washington, DC. “The numbers have been growing every year for the past 20 years. In fact, virtually everyone is asking for it now but not everyone is necessarily doing all they can. It comes down to location, construction of barn (new and existing), etc. Luckily there are incentives (tax, zoning, permitting, etc.) in some areas that encourage owners to incorporate it into their project.”

Matthew Johnson, owner of Equine Facility Design in Portland, OR, has also seen an upward trend in customers embracing sustainable design.

“We have seen a shift in clients to them being more open to evaluating their options. They’re more receptive to gaining the knowledge on becoming more eco-friendly, and to us explaining how it will affect their facility, their herd, the end users, the environment,” he says. “Excitingly, every project incorporates some sustainable element(s).”

Let’s take a look at some ways to make your facility more eco-friendly.

ENERGY EFFICIENT LIGHTING One of the simplest ways to make your barn more eco-friendly is to start using energy efficient lighting. Replace your incandescent lightbulbs with energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights or Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL). In the early years of CFLs, people didn’t like that the magnetic ballasts caused the bulbs to take some time to become fully illuminated. Now, with the addition of electronic ballasts, CFLs become fully illuminated immediately. They put forth more lumens per watt than incandescent lighting, and they last longer overall.

LED lights last the longest, with the predicted lifespan of over nine years. That represents quite a savings over the long term, despite the fact that the bulbs cost more at the outset. Matthew notes that LED lighting has become very popular. “Every client, regardless of budget, is very receptive to LED lights. These have come a long way and there are great bulb and fixture products available,” he says.

Both Matthew and John emphasize the positive impact of good natural lighting through prudent use of doors and windows.

“I feel natural light and ventilation has the most immediate impact that relates strongly to energy use on the farm and in the barn,” John explains. Even if you have an older barn, installing a couple extra windows can help cut down on energy consumption. A design consultant or architect can help you weigh the pros and cons of modifying your existing barn to maximize natural light.

PHOTO: CLIX PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO: CLIX PHOTOGRAPHY

SOLAR ENERGY

An experienced designer will be able to read the grade of your land and its positioning as it pertains to sun and wind to help mitigate soil erosion (and mud) as best as possible.

Solar panels are very popular among homeowners, and now among horse farm owners.

Solar offers a great financial savings in the long run and has a big impact on one’s carbon footprint. It is one of the cleanest and most reliable sources of renewable energy.

Just as it sounds, solar energy captures the photons in the sun’s rays via solar panels and converts them into electricity. To be a good candidate for solar panel installation, your barn should face south and should get lots of sunlight. The electricity produced is free. Solar equipment and installation require a sizeable up-front investment, but rebates and tax incentives can reduce this cost. Talk with your local solar company or equine facility designer to learn more.

COMPOSTING MANURE For years, horse owners have contended with what to do with the manure pile.

Spreading it on the fields is a popular option, unless of course you don’t have fields, which many horse facilities don’t, as open Barn & Arena Guide 2019

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land is dwindling. In these cases, composting is a great way to responsibly manage waste. A well-designed compost system can recycle the manure into valuable fertilizer while keeping waste and toxins from leaching into groundwater (your neighbors say thank you very much). In addition, composted manure is far easier to sell since it packs more nutrients per bucket load than fresh manure and should be cleaner (meaning free of weed seeds and parasites). Whether you are building a new facility or looking to update an existing one, with two horses or 50, adding a manure composting system is a great way to turn a former “problem” into an asset.

MITIGATE SOIL EROSION Managing soil erosion is a priority for horse facilities, not only for eco-friendly benefits but also for horse and human health and aesthetics. Nobody likes a muddy paddock. They are slippery, dirty, and can cause wound infections, pulled shoes, and injuries. While some mud may be unavoidable, there are steps horse owners can take to mitigate soil erosion and runoff.

First, with new construction, work with an equine facility designer/architect to choose the best site for the barn and pastures or paddocks. An experienced designer will be able to read the grade of your land and its positioning as it pertains to sun and wind.

For existing facilities, consider if new drainage trenches need to be installed and if landscaping can alleviate soil erosion. You’d be surprised how much grass and plants can help make a facility both beautiful and

eco-friendly. Allowing pastures to rest via pasture rotation can also help with erosion as you give grasses a chance to re-establish their root system and become strong.

HARVEST RAINWATER Harvesting rainwater can be as simple as placing a few five-gallon buckets under your barn roof’s drip-edge to as complex as installing a rainwater harvesting system which can store water for use in irrigation or running water. Using rainwater is very eco-friendly, and while it is utilized in some European countries, here in the U.S. it is slower to catch on. Matthew helps explain why. “At a very high level, capturing water [to] use to irrigate your pastures, riding arena, or landscape seems like an easy decision, but in reality, you need to capture hundreds or thousands of gallons of water in a storage tank for a single application.

Not all climates can support this, nor replenish it regularly. Above-ground tanks are inexpensive, but unsightly. Possible underground systems, filtration, and water treatment increase costs,” he says. In addition, Matthew points out that states encourage some level of rainwater collection, but there are varying regulations and restrictions, so be sure to check them before installing.

BUILD FOR SUSTAINABILITY When building a new barn, or renovating an older barn, you can opt to use renewable resources. Bamboo is a readily renewable resource that can replace pine or other woods in building, and high density polyethylene (i.e., recycled water bottles) can also replace

traditional lumber while being very easy to clean and maintain. Talk with your builder about whether these alternate materials are a good option for your facility, and consider using low VOC stains and finishes, plus recycled materials, when possible.

KEEP IT CLEAN Lastly, consider your carbon footprint in your day-to-day farm operations. Do you need to use the most toxic fly repellant all the time, or could you swap it out for an eco-friendly version some or all of the time?

Dispose of dewormer tubes and supplement buckets responsibly. The same goes for unused medications; ask your veterinarian about returning outdated or unused meds, never just throw them in the trash.

When working to make your facility more eco-friendly, bear in mind that you can take small, meaningful steps. Going all in is rewarding, but it can also be overwhelming. Talk with your designer or consultant about a three- or five-year plan to lower your facility’s carbon footprint and increase its efficiency over time. “A lot of the eco-friendly improvements do not add much to the cost, if any,” John notes, “but that depends on the extent of eco-friendly improvements [a facility owner] wants to include. When done properly, eco-friendly design benefits the owner as well as the community.”

For more information on Blackburn Architects, visit blackburnarch.com or call 202-337-1755. To reach Equine Facility Design, visit equinefacilitydesign.com or call 503-650-1663.

PHOTO: ISTOCK.COM/MANFREDXY

To be a good candidate for solar panel installation, your barn should face south and should get lots of sunlight.

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bedding MATTERS

BY KRISTIN PITZER

Like many things in the performance industry, the type of bedding you choose for your horse’s stall is likely based on tradition—maybe your parents or a favorite trainer used it. If you keep your horse elsewhere, you may not have much say in the matter, but it’s good to know what he is laying his head on at night should issues such as allergies arise.

Straw and pine shavings are commonly used, and for good reason—both have proven over time to make good bedding material. There are, however, other types out there beyond those two, and sometimes circumstances necessitate a switch to something different.

PHOTO: ISTOCK.COM/TONY_KWAN

The Usual Suspects Used commonly all over the country, straw and pine shavings are readily found in most feed stores. Pine shavings are easy to grab and go, whether the destination is home or a show, and the economical cost makes them simple to throw down and leave behind after an event is over.

Straw, on the other hand, is a good option when bedding down horses in cold weather, and it provides foals a safe, soft place to doze.

“A lot of it comes down to personal preference,” says Nick Fitzpatrick, president of Aden Brook, which sources hay and straw around the U.S. and Canada. “People choose shavings or straw depending on different needs they might have. A lot of it also comes down to how they manage the waste. Some people have a way to get rid of the straw easily; some people prefer

the shavings. From a cleaning standpoint, shavings are probably cleaner and smell better in a barn than straw.”

Figuring out what to do with barn waste is a large part of farm management, and there are whole industries built on composting used straw from horse farms. Nick says mushroom and gardening composts are places straw can be disposed and reused. On the other hand, shavings—particularly large flake shavings— can alter the soil in a negative way when spread on a field. The smaller a shaving flake is, the easier it is to pick from a stall and the faster it will break down in a pasture. Shavings are more absorbent and easier to pick through than straw, which tends to have to be completely replaced after being soiled.

Shavings come in different-sized flakes to help meet the different needs of horse owners.

According to Kyle Gustafson, sales representative for Guardian Horse Bedding, people who clean their own stalls at home tend to want a smaller flake that will sift through a fork more easily, helping them save time and not waste bedding. People traveling to shows, however, might want something that expands a little more so they can take fewer bags of bedding with them.

“When you’re at a show for the weekend, you’re going to be leaving it [used bedding] behind,” Kyle says. “You’re not going to be taking it home, so you want to do something that’s as easy as possible. Depending on if it’s a concrete

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Straw is a good option when bedding down horses in cold weather and provides foals a safe place to doze.

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you’ve got to pay to have the dumpster removed more frequently. The pellet can be a cost savings for those people that have to have it removed via dumpster.”

Think Smarter, Not Harder As technology has progressed over the years, some people have successfully taken old products and revamped them into something new and useful. Such is the case with Green Shavings, a company owned by Carey Nowacek that sells “medicated” shavings. These shavings help prevent diseases by making the stall environment more acidic, and prohibiting bacterial and fungal growth.

“We came up with green shavings because we had a horse that was continuously getting white line disease,” Carey says. “The shavings are actually sprayed with potassium sorbate, which is a fungal inhibitor. It’s in anything you eat or drink that has a shelf life. We spray those on the shavings and then we color them green just so you can tell the difference between our shavings and something else. They’re really not killing any bacteria, [but they’re] going to keep any bacteria from growing.” The product, which functions exactly like regular shavings, also helps prevent issues like thrush and scratches from getting a foothold in a stall.

They are popular with veterinarians, who often see sick horses coming and going through their clinics.

For those looking for options besides traditional straw or pine shavings, there are several others out there to meet their needs. Some, such as peat moss bedding, are dependent on locality, but others are making their way into the mainstream with increasing availability.

PHOTO: AK DRAGOO PHOTOGRAPHY

Beyond Straw and Pine

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floor where you’re going, you want something fluffy to get them up off the ground. A lot of times for show situations, the larger-flake product is preferred.”

Pine bedding has some odor-binding capability, which helps keep stalls smelling fresh. Some companies, like Guardian, use high heat to dry their shavings, which bakes out most of the allergens caused by pine and eliminates many allergy problems. Pine shavings are also readily available in most parts of the country.

“Straw, depending on what part of the country you’re in, may or may not be available at all,” Kyle says. “Small bales of straw are even harder to find because the farmers are putting those into very large square bales, which make it mandatory to have equipment to move those around. A lot of the large farms that create a lot of straw are selling those corporately to companies that make other things.

“And, straw, of course, is a seasonal item, so it’s harvested basically once a year,” he continues. “That has to get you through to the whole following year. It isn’t always as available as pine is because pine can be harvested year-round, not just once a year.”

Another option is pelleted bedding, which has smaller fibers and is even more absorbent than shavings. The pellets are laid out in the stall and then watered down, and the resulting bedding is soft and easy to pick. The contaminated pellets even bind loosely together to help facilitate their removal.

“A pretty good-sized advantage to pellets for some locations is if you’ve got a facility that uses a dumpster when they clean stalls, the contaminated product goes into the dumpster. If you’ve got large flake shavings, you’re going to fill your dumpster faster because of the extra volume you’ve got there, and that means

PHOTO: AK DRAGOO PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO: CLIX PHOTOGRAPHY

Paper bedding is commonly found in pet stores as a substrate material for small animals and reptiles, but it can also be used for equines. One of the big advantages is paper has carbon in it naturally, so it immediately removes the smell of ammonia from waste, according to Ron Burrough, owner of R&R Animal Bedding. “It’s about 10 times more absorbent [than pine shavings],” Ron says. “You never have to strip a stall when you use paper shavings because the paper, when they urinate on it, actually clumps together, so there’s no urine laying on the stall mat. It doesn’t travel through the stall, so it doesn’t soil any more than the spot that they go in.”

R&R sources its paper from its own printing business, so it controls all of the supply. Everything in the business uses soy-based inks, so there are no harmful side effects. “Basically, you can eat it,” Ron says with a laugh.

“We’ve never had an issue with that, and we’ve got colts on it. Especially for people that foal earlier in the year, it’s warmer for the foal, and the paper actually makes it easier for the foal to get up than straw or pine shavings.

It’s a little grippier for them when they’re stumbling around trying to get up to nurse. It’s perfectly safe for the mare, as well.”

He adds that many people switch to paper shavings if they have horses with allergies to pine or if they themselves have problems with dust from shavings.

The paper shavings are vacuumed as they are made, eliminating most of the dust.

Another option for horse bedding may come as a surprise. Hemp, grown in China for thousands of years and commonly used in Europe as livestock bedding, is starting to take hold in the U.S. Hemp has bark fibers that surround a woody core, and through a process called decortication, those fibers are separated from the core. That’s where the bedding comes from.

“Its function as it’s being cultivated is to help transport water through the plant structure, so the porosity and the way that the material is structured actually helps make it a good bedding because it has that absorbent structure to it already,” says Patrique Veille, market strategist for American Hemp in Winston-Salem, NC. “It’s an annually cultivated, rapidly renewable row crop that comes from the cannabis genus, but it has low amounts of Tetrahydrocannabinol [the principal psychoactive

constituent of cannabis]—0.3% or less.”

Since Section 7606 of the U.S. Agricultural Act of 2014 passed, more states have been able to legally cultivate hemp to process and market it. Thus, the popularity of hemp bedding is on the rise due to the more stable supply.

“When we’ve done tests, it’s about twice as absorbent as [pine] shavings and definitely more than the straw,” Patrique says. “It doesn’t have a hollow core like the straw. It also has low dust, and that’s attributed to the way it’s processed. People have also mentioned they felt like it was good at odor control.

And, it’s lightweight. Some of our older clients like the lightweight factor of it; they feel like it’s easier to muck out. When people have put it on their pastures, it is higher in Nitrogen than the wood shavings, so they felt like it was better for their pastures.”

The main disadvantage to hemp bedding is the initial cost, although once a stall is set up with hemp shavings, it can require less replacement bedding than pine shavings because of its longevity and absorbency.

Thanks to today’s technology and continuous new research, there are many options on the market for horse bedding. Picking the one that’s best for your horses often comes down to initial startup costs, disposal alternatives, and personal preference. As globalization progresses, if one doesn’t work, there are many others waiting in the wings until you find the one that keeps you and your horse happy.

From a cleaning standpoint, shavings can be cleaner and smell better in a barn than straw.

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Riding on Friendly Footing

What’s Your Arena Surface IQ?

By Kathryn SeLinga; Photography by Terisé Cole Footing can make or break your ride and have long-term impacts on both horse and rider.

However, choosing that footing is not straightforward—in fact, it can be likened to more an artform. Whether resurfacing your arena or building new, test your knowledge with the following quiz to ensure you can make informed decisions.

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1. True or False: What’s considered good arena footing for one discipline is appropriate for all disciplines.

2. Poor quality footing can cause: A. Respiratory issues

B. Injury C. Poor performance

D. All of the above

3. What is the most important ingredient in a footing mixture?

A. Naturally occurring sand

B. Wood products

C. Synthetic fibers

D. Pieces of rubber

4. How often should arenas under heavy use be dragged?

A. At least once daily

B. Every other day C. Once a week

D. None of the above

5. True or False: It does not matter what sort of base is underneath, so long as the footing is high quality.

6. What is the most important aspect of maintaining successful footing?

A. Dragging

B. Watering C. Level of use

D. The base

7. How often should footing be replaced?

A. 1-2 years

B. 3-5 years C. 5-10 years

D. None of the above

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1. The Answer is: False!

The best arena footing provides the perfect balance of surface elasticity and stability. The amount of flexibility and stability needed differs between disciplines, and that is typically addressed with depth of footing and the balance of the sand to additive mixture. “For dressage, three inches is sufficient when it is a geotextile footing, but if you’re going to jump 1.5 to 1.6 meters, you’re going to need more depth—four to five inches of a specified sand and geotextile footing,” explains Hilo Nick, owner of Footing Solutions USA. However, if you have multiple disciplines riding in one barn, it is possible to ride on the same footing. The amount of water can make your arena footing adjustable to varying circumstances and uses. “It comes back to fine tuning the moisture content,” says Hilo. “To make jumping footing softer with more spring, use less water—to make it firmer, use more water. Water is your binder—if you use less, your footing becomes loose again.”

2. The Answer is: D!

Studies have shown that footing that is high in dust can cause respiratory issues for horses, riders, and instructors. Additionally, a surface that is too firm can not only be hard on the horse’s bones and joints, it can also cause the need to adjust his movement to avoid excessive shock. The horse may have decent gaits on that footing, “but put that same horse on good footing that is stable and springy, and he will have excellent gaits,” says Hilo.

On the contrary, if the footing is too soft or too loose, he will have to use extra energy to push off from the surface, which can also put a strain on tendons and ligaments. Note that the training arena where your horse spends the most amount of time should be a little bit softer than the show arena, which tends to be firm. This will help prevent lameness and the horse will be fresher.

3. The Answer is: A!

“The main ingredient of successful footing is selecting the correct sand with a certain gradation,” says Hilo. “The sand selection is going to make or break the type of footing you’re trying to achieve.” She recommends contacting an experienced arena builder about the best type of sand to use in your geographic location. Then, based on the sand available, you can research or work with a professional to determine the best additive and how much of it is necessary to achieve an arena to best fit your needs.

However, it is also important to note that what you add to the sand, if anything, is also key. In the past five years there has been a large increase of various textile additives offered, and all do not perform equally. “When going with a synthetic footing, choose your geotextile additive carefully and look for a thick, felt fabric with a 20-30% fiber content,” says Hilo. “The thick felt will give you the cushion, whereas the fiber content will enhance stability in the sand.”

4. The Answer is: A!

How frequently an arena needs to be dragged depends primar-

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ily on how many horses work on it—and an arena that is under heavy use should be dragged once or twice a day. Dragging is an important part of arena maintenance, intended to even out areas of heavy use and underutilized spaces, as well as mix the contents of the footing. But, Hilo warns, if the watering is uneven, no amount of dragging will truly make it sustainable. “You will lose sand in the dry spots and it will build up more in the areas with too much water,” she explains. “Soon, you will have very uneven arena footing.”

5. The Answer is: False!

The base is important, explains Hilo, and you want to make sure you have a real, solid base before spending a lot of money on high quality footing. Skimping on the base layer can create issues with longevity. If it does not compact uniformly, undesirable material from the base can surface and blend with the footing.

Consider, if it is in your budget, building a permeable base with a grid drainage system underneath.

6. The Answer is: B!

“To maintain the footing, it always comes down to even watering,” says Hilo. “You have to make sure that you have even moisture.” That is hard to achieve with overhead sprinklers and water trucks, she warns, because some places overlap and some places have dry spots or evaporation, which also leads to uneven dragging. “There are underground watering systems that you can ride on while water is coming from below. You don’t see it, you don’t feel it, and it’s also 50% more water-conserving,” explains Hilo. “The next best option would be a water wagon.”

7. The Answer is: D!

This is a trick question because there is no one right answer. The life-expectancy of footing is dependent upon a number of factors. “The lifespan of the footing depends on the type of sand,” explains Hilo. “If you have a high percentage of quartz sand, it never breaks down and the structure of your footing would be the same 10 years from now with the right maintenance. But, if you use a sand that is unwashed and contains a lot of fines, that will break down and decompose over time.” Meaning, after a year or two, you will have to add more sand and the stabilizer or cushion additive.

Again, it is also imperative that you have even moisture in your footing. Inconsistent watering can lead to a loss of materials and the need for adding to or redoing your arena more often. “With the right sand, maintenance, and even moisture, we have arenas that we haven’t touched in 10 years. However, at arenas where they water from above, the footing will get uneven, so we have to go in almost yearly and add sand and geotextiles,” Hilo states.

The fact of the matter is, footing is an investment in your horse’s success. And, it is important to maintain that investment.

By working with professionals to select appropriate materials, watering evenly and thoroughly, and sustaining an appropriate dragging schedule, you will be helping to ensure your footing stays put for the long haul.

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