I live in a small town and we have a local arena which houses several different disciplines of riding. I put on a few little jackpot races and some fun little gymkhanas for the kids here. We have a few club members here who are wanting to put shavings in our arena footing. The footing is pretty good as it is as long as it's worked up and watered properly. I have been fighting tooth and nail to keep them from putting the shavings in there for fear of horses falling. I have threatened to stop organizing events if they put them in. My events generally get about 30 kids, which is a pretty good number considering the size of our town and they generate quite a bit of income for the club. Does anyone have some good solid research or evidence that I can present to convince them that it's not a good idea? I have tried to research barrel racing associations footing requirements... and can't seem to find anything.
Posted 2015-05-12 9:25 AM Subject: RE: Help... arena footing
Good Grief!
Posts: 6343 Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta
That wont be good for the ground for sure...shavings will suck the moisture out and you need a bit of moisture to hold the ground together...hope that makes sense..lol......ground that is really dry is kind of like marbles under your feet....especially if it has a higher sand ratio......m
Posted 2015-05-12 10:22 AM Subject: RE: Help... arena footing
Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
First of all, do you realize how much that would cost? You would need a LOT of bags of shavings. Why not spend that money on year end awards or something that would benefit everyone. Shavings are for stalls to soften them, and absorb water. Shavings are wood and eventually rot so you would have to replace them every year. I have no evidence that wood rots but common sense tells us it does.
Posted 2015-05-12 10:56 AM Subject: RE: Help... arena footing
Elite Veteran
Posts: 725
The quickest way to ruin the ground would be to add shavings. Shavings will keep the ground from sticking together and it will become shifty. Any type of speed event will not be happy with the situation.
Help... arena footing
