This message is from: "Starfire Farm, LLC" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hi Mark, I have the same problem in the winter re: indoor arena dust. Ours is round pen sized and is in need of new footing. My problem is that I need to fix the leaks in the roof before doing something about the footing, or my (future) footing base will be ruined with the first good rain. I've explored lots of options. Most involve replacing your existing footing with something new. A friend of ours has Fibar in their indoor. Wonderful, dustless, footing but expensive to install correctly (they had to make sure their base was crushed stone pounded to something like 90 psi. - quite expensive- to guarantee the footing for 5 years) Some arenas here have combined washed sand with rubber crumbles. Still needs some watering, and can still get dusty. The rubber crumbles do help keep the footing from freezing and clumping together. Some folks around here add sodium chloride to their footing and water the arena infrequently. This means, however, that you have to wash your horses' feet and legs after working them, as the salt can be hard on them. Others have added linseed or mineral oil. Linseed oil has a stong odor. I don't know about Mineral oil, but do know that it is expensive. Whatever you do, don't apply used motor oil (or any motor oil, for that matter.) The old indoor roping arenas around here had that and they're a toxic waste nightmare! Hope this helps. Beth -- Beth Beymer & Sandy North Starfire Farm, Berthoud CO http://www.starfirefarm.com
