Faqs :

Q. How much will it cost to build a arena?

A. Cost can vary depending on the riding surface chosen but an average 40m BY 20m arena construction costs from a greenfield site inc fencing and gates costs approximately €26.00 plus vat per SQM, You then have a choice of Riding surface depending on your discipline these start from around €14.00 per sqm plus vat.

Q. How long will it take to build?

A. On average a 40*20 should take around 8 days from start to finish on a level site.

Q. Do I need drains? I am right at the side of a ditch and my ground has really good draining, it has never stood water.

A. Even if you are on top of a hillside, placing your arena on 2 foot of broken stone, drains should always be put in. It is a lot of work to find out afterwards that you were wrong!

Q. Can I add a wax coating to the top of my dry riding surface to help keep the dust down and help the binding of the material?

A. Our Hot Wax is applied to our range of waxed premixed surfaces at over 90 degrees in a controlled blending process that coats all the ingredients before being discharged and allowed to cool; this ensures that the entire surface is coated evenly this is a true waxed surface.

Q. Why do I need to put a lower membrane down? I am on hard ground.

A. The sandwich of stone between the two membranes guarantees a good drainage bed for the life of your arena.

The lower membrane stops the ingress of mud into the clean stone layer.

Q. Can I use longer kicker (Retaining) boards?

A. If you use a longer Kicker board than 3.6 meter the weight of the surface against the kicker board can distort the fencing over time.

Q. Should I blind the stone base with a smaller stone to stop it damaging the membrane?

A. No! Do not lay a smaller stone over the stone base, this will fall into the voids in the bigger stone and will result in the volume of water it can handle being greatly reduced, at its worst even block your bed of stone. As the stone base is rolled to finish there are no sharp edges to tear your membrane.

Q. Can I blind the stone base with the same clean drainage stone I used on the drains?

A. No! This will have the same effect and because drainage gravel is round it is likely to move under your surface. The same goes for your stone base only sub angular stone should be used.

Q. Will the standard Geotextile membrane come up, I have seen my friends and it is a disaster it has torn and come up everywhere.

A. This is normally down to lack of maintenance, if the surface level had been kept correct the horse will not penetrate through the riding surface and tear the membrane. This can also be down to the wrong sand and it riding to deep again the horse tears the membrane.

Q. Will I need to water my riding surface and if so how regularly?

A. It depends on the surface you have purchased, a dry surface is unwaxed and will need watering in dry periods a waxed surface does not need watering. A premixed surface contains fibre and other ingredients to give you a good secure footing, this is held together by the moisture content in the surface, if it is left to go too dry, the fibre separates from the sand and you lose your footing and as all our arenas are built to drain water efficiently, watering should be included in the maintenance of your arena.Our riding surface can be found here. https://equestriansurfaces.ie/premixed-surfaces/

Q Do I need to pick up droppings from the arena?

A Yes! it is good practice to remove droppings as and when you can. It does not matter what riding surface you have. The droppings will break down causing dust in the drier periods and turning to mulch and slop when wet, in time you will eventually just end up riding on dung.

Q Is it necessary to maintain my arena?

A Regular maintenance is the key to having a good arena for years to come. Concentrate on the hard discipline areas such as the track way and front and back of jumps. we recommend to vary the way you maintain it i.e. it is better to roll the areas front and back of jumps before you level the arena, as the material that would be disturbed from jumping would get picked up by the leveler causing undulation of the riding surface. Track ways should be pulled in with the leveler before rolling into place. Take a spike and mark it at your surface depth then test certain areas weekly in your arena to make sure you are not pulling material around and making some spots deep and others shallow. Take a look here for our maintenance equipment https://equestriansurfaces.ie/maintenance/