This week the team have been refurbishing the warm up Arena at Sparsholt College, Hampshire.

We were tasked with refurbishing this Arena as the surface simply wasn’t draining,

It was a wash out after heavy rain and even after days of dry weather would still not have cleared.

In order to begin to rectify the issues the surface was first lifted and stockpiled,

Next the stone drainage layer had to be lifted and stockpiled.

The sub base was inspected and we were then finally able to find the cause of the drainage issues and begin the installation of the drainage system.

The drainage system used is our linear system, This drainage lay out is capable of coping with a far greater volume water flow than your standard herringbone system.

Next the lower membrane is to be laid along with the Drainage pipe work and drainage stone layer.

Coming onto the surface,

The existing Equestrian surface was installed by a different company only a few years ago and is still in a good useable condition with little to no contamination.

 Equine surfacing ltd are utilising their on-site premixing service, this involves processing the existing riding surface through one of our specially developed mixers.

At this point Silica sand, Poly-Pro fibre additive along with our wax additive is added to the mix.

On Site Pre-Mixing

This innovative process allows Equine surfacing Ltd to re-use part or all of the lifted Equestrian surface. This saves a small fortune in material and delivery costs.

Here at Equine surfacing ltd we specialise in Equestrian surface / Manège refurbishment,

Whether your surface is simply riding deep up to requiring a Full Ménage rebuild due to failing drainage system or poor initial installation we will have a in budget solution for you.

Everything aside

Utilising our our innovative techniques we will be able to help!!

We will keep you up to date with Progress via our latest news section on our website.

The post Sparsholt College Arena Refurbishment Project first appeared on Equine Surfacing Ltd.

Here at Equine surfacing Ltd we are specialists in all apects of Equestrian surface renovation.

Over many year perfecting the craft we are proud to be able to offer an in budget solution to your Equestrian surface issue.

Through our Equine surfacing ltd office in Gloucestershire and Equine surfacing ltd southeast office we are able to cover all areas of the uk.

Firstly here is a list of surface issues you may have experienced on your own Equestrian surface or other surfaces, we will follow this with the recommended Equine surface renovation options.

Horse Arena Surface riding deep

This issue is an incredibly common problem along with potentially being very damaging to your Horse.

Probable causes of your surface riding deep are lack of the correct surface additives, incorrect sand type/grade, lack of or poor maintence program.

Whatever the cause we can reqtify this for you, we offer a free consultation/quotation service.

Manège surface unstable

This issue is an incredibly common problem experienced by many who may have a poorly surfaced manège with potentially damage caused to your Horse.

Probable causes of your surface riding deep are lack of the correct surface additives, incorrect sand type/grade, lack of or poor maintence program.

Whatever the cause we can reqtify this for you, we offer a free consultation/quotation service.

Equestrian surface too free draining

This can be a real pain to try an live with, its generally caused by a sand which is unsuitable as its far too coarse.

An incorrect equestrian membrane cause be an issue as well as if its too thin or is incorrect it can allow moisture to pass through too quickly and so your surface drys too fast.

More often than not however its due to the incorrect sand being used.

If your equestrian surface is too dry it will mean your surface will ride deep “difference between dry sand beach and wet sand beach”. However this issue can be corrected by our team.

This would usually involve the addition of a high quality Silica sand along with the addition of our Poly-Pro fibre additive.

The addition of the Silica sand fills the large pore spaces between the larger grains of poor quality sand locking the surface together.

The blended in Poly-Pro fibre then binds the surface together and brings in the energy return qualities gained from using a fibre such as ours.

Waxed Equestrian surface fibre separation.

This can be a frustrating problem which generally occurs on older waxed equestrian surfaces.

This occurs when the upper layers of wax may overtime diminish which then leads to the sand and fibre separation.

This can be an issue as this will especially indoors cause your surface to begin riding deep, your surface to become dusty and the tripping hazard caused by the fibre balling on top of the surface.

We have a couple of options in regard to re-waxing your surface, you can utilise our on-site pre mixing service.

We also offer a cold spray wax additive, this product is sprayed on top of your surface whilst your surface remains in situ and the wax is blended in.

Both options will cure this issue, our team can advise on the best possible option for your surface.

Equine surface contamination

Surface contamination thankfully isn’t a common issue, more often than not is caused through poor Arena maintence.

Surface contaminate is generally either caused through leaf drop or droppings left on your riding surface.

Prevention is far easier than cure, this consists of the use of a leaf blower to remove fallen leaves as quickly as possible and the collection of horse droppings as soon as they fall.

If your surface is very heavily contaminated the only real cure is to remove the contaminated surface and replace with new, it is good practice to once the contaminate has been removed blend the old surface with the new sand and fibre.

This can be carried out through our On-site Pre-Mixing service which enables you to generally retain 75% of your surface keeping the potential costs down.

Equestrian surface holding water/Flooding

This is a common issue and is generally caused by one of three factors, this is either the Arena construction failing, the equestrian surface membrane failing and clogging up with silt or comtaminate and not allowing moisture to pass through.

Alternatively and most commonly surface compaction, this is when over a period of time your surface becomes so compact it forms an almost impermeable layer which only allows moisture to pass through very slowly.

Here at Equine surfacing ltd we have several cost affective way to combat this issue, please contact the team to discuss possible options 0333 4561650.

The post Equestrian Surface Renovation first appeared on Equine Surfacing Ltd.

01/08/2019

Our Onsite surface pre-mixing is an incredibly popular process which transforms the performance of your existing surface without the need for replacement.

Call the team today with your requirements.

This service is offered throughout the uk and Ireland.

The post Equestrian surface in Oxfordshire, lifted re-waxed and re-laid. first appeared on Equine Surfacing Ltd.

Here at Equine surfacing headquarters this week we have been looking at the various Equestrian surface fibre additives on the market and running comparison tests along side our own Poly Pro fibre.

We have drawn up a series of things you may want to consider when purchasing your fibre additive and more widely your pre-mixed Equine Surface of which the fibre additive will make up a large percentage.

There are many factors to consider when looking for the correct fibre additives for your Manège surface.

Some considerations when deciding may be:

Cost

Environmental impact, both positive and negative

Asthetics

Consituant parts

Cost

Cost can be a major factor when considering which fibre to purchase as there are many cheap options available on the Market.

Our advice would always be no matter what the implications always purchase a fibre which is 100% fully synthetic such as our Poly Pro fibre.

There are many cheaper alternatives available however these tend to be produced using old shredded carpet.

60% of the carpet produced is made from natural fibres these will rot away during the first 6 months after installation. This will mean 60% of your new fibre will be lost within a very short period of time.

Environmental Impact

Most fibres on the market these days are set into one of three camps

Either

Post production (brand new unused off cuts etc)

Purpose produced Post Consumer (used contaminated product ie old carpet)

Both post production and post consumer materials have great environmental benefits as the material which would other wise have gone to land fill or be incinerated is being repurposed.

The purpose produced fibre is just that and has no real environmental benefits as such though still produces a superb fibre, our Poly Pro fibre falls into the Post production category.

Aesthetics

Here at Equine surfacing ltd we put a big emphasis on aesthetics, though your manège fibre is there to do a job we feel it must also look pleasing. The last thing you want is spend good money on your Manège surface only to have the look spoiled by purchasing a sub standard fibre.

Consituant parts

Your fibre can be some from of shredded textile alone or alternatively it can be mixed with other materials.

We have been producing surface fibre additives for many years now and have found the best all round fibre is a blend of our polypropylene textile along with a pvc granulate and polyester hair fibre as in our Poly Pro fibre additive.

The polypropylene provides flex and stability to sand surfaces, the hair fibre binds the sand particles together providing the surface with a root structure which best emulates turf and finally the pvc granulate provides a small amount of bounce to the surface which stops the surface ‘riding dead’.

In conclusion we have found there are two main types of Equestrian fibre on the market which are available at a sensible price, however their lifespan and appearance differ greatly.

These tend to orientate around post production and post consumer materials.

Our advice would be to steer away from the post consumer fibre which are now widely available, though cheap to purchase are far from ideal.

This is for three main reasons

It more often than not contains rubbish, screws and carpet grippers for obvious reasons non of these things are good news when riding in them.

The shred tends to be coarse, this speeds up the time it takes for the producer to shred the carpet though this also means large chunks of carpet on top of your surface.

As a rule 60% of carpet sold contains wool, this means that 60% of your fibre additive will have rotted away within the first 6 months.

If you would like more information or samples of the fibre that we produce here at Equine surfacing ltd please don’t hesitate to contact the team.

The post Equine surface Fibre additives, which one to choose? first appeared on Equine Surfacing Ltd.

In this how to guide we will provide the benefits and how to knowledge on the installation of manège fibre into your existing Equine surface.

Firstly, why install our Horse Arena fibre additive?

• Give your equestrian surface a new lease of life and prolong its lifespan for another 10 years.
• Provide the sand with a root structure, this stabilises the surface to prevent the surface from riding deep and being unstable.
• The fibres free up pore spaces within the sand allowing water to pass through far more easily which helps prevent puddling.
• The fibres hold a relatively large amount of moisture which helps reduce summer drying.

In addition it will transform sand and rubber chip surfaces, during the installation process it drags the rubber down through with it and holds it there.

No more unstable rubber banking in the corners and no more black legs from degraded rubber chip.

It helps the rubber work where it does best which is buried within the sand giving a good flex to the surface.

Step 1 

Levelling your existing surface 

The first step is to re-grade the surface that you already have, work your way around your arena kickboard and dig-out out any surface that has banked into the corners and around the outer track, throw this surface back into the Arena.

Next you will need your box leveller and preferably a laser level. Now we are looking to drag the existing surface out from the corners and into any low areas to get a nice even depth throughout, take your surface dipper or similar and note pad and every 5m metres take a depth reading from your surface and plot it on your plan, this is to make sure that you have correctly graded it and you haven’t still got any low areas. If you have get your box grader and spend a bit more time re-grading it.

You are looking for between a 4″ to 6″depth 

Step 2 

Spreading your fibre

Now take your fibre bales and place them at equal distances apart throughout your Arena and split down the bales. The amount of bales you will need depends on varying factors           

• Age of surface
• Quality of sand 
• What if any additive you have in place already
• How firm you want your surface to be, we can fine tune this depending on your discipline
• If it’s a top up or for a new surface

As a rule we generally aim for between 12 – 18 bales for a 20m x 40m all depending on the above information.

Our fibre is delivered in large dumpy bags for ease of transport and manoeuvrability.

Now take you rake and harrow and evenly spread your Pro-Ex fibre throughout your Arena making sure to get it into the corners and right up to but not touching the kickboards. It is very important that you achieve a consistent fibre depth of around 2″, make sure that you haven’t got any thin areas.

Step 3 

Installing the fibre

 This is the part of the process where the most care must be taken, set the depth gauge on your stone burier/rotovator at 3.5″.

Now you are ready to begin burying the fibre, take great care, keep the machine at low revs and most importantly take your time.

You have to be very careful not to snag your membrane.

Work the machine up and down your arena making sure to get right into the sides and corners.

Step 4

Compacting and levelling 

Now you can begin re-levelling your freshly mixed surface.

Set your harrow at a shallow depth and begin levelling the surface, when levelling it is a kin to floating concrete, the best way is to harrow firstly in a series of small circles, larger circles then straight up and down repeat this process until the correct levels and compaction is achieved.

It helps to have a harrow with a roller built in, if not your local hire shop will be able to provide you with a vibrating roller for the day.

Installing a fibre additive is a highly beneficial process, it will transform your ageing surface, providing you with an Equestrian surface you can have confidence in. 

The post Equestrian Fibre Installation Guide first appeared on Equine Surfacing Ltd.

09/07/2019

60m x 30m Manege in Gloucestershire awaiting one of our Comp-track pre-mixed Silica sand and fibre Equestrian surfaces.Our Range of Pre-mixed Equestrian surfaces have been developed by the team to be ready to use as soon as they have been laid.Excellent stability and great energy return are guaranteed.

The post Newly Prepped Surface first appeared on Equine Surfacing Ltd.