# roundpen footing material?



## booner (Aug 17, 2008)

We have a roundpen and need to fill the bottom w/ something....I've seen sand,hogfuel and some small rock mixture.What is the best, we get real wet in the winter months so would like something to w/stand the water well. Thanks


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## morganshow11 (Dec 19, 2008)

what is hog fuel? ( def. dont fill your pen with wood chips or mulch becuase it hold the water in. )


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## QHChik (Jun 26, 2009)

sand makes for good arena footing and roundpen footing...


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I like nice deep sand. Most of the time, ours here has some regular dirt mixed in as well. It never gets slick and drains well unless you let too much poop get mixed in too. Plus, when riding a young horse, deep sand makes them tired faster and I don't have to trot as many circles before asking for concentration.


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## Scoutrider (Jun 4, 2009)

In my area, Anti-Skid is pretty popular for roundpen and arena footing. It's actually the stuff that the DOT sprinkles on the road in the winter. It looks like a really fine gravel, maybe one step up from sand in fineness, if that makes sense. Anti-Skid is pretty cheap, the cost comes from the delivery. It drains well, but a lot of drainage depends on the location of your roundpen.

Whatever you settle on, I would caution you on getting it too thick. There's a fine line between helpful support and swimming horses. I've seen several arenas/roundpens with different kinds of footing applied so thickly that horses refused to canter because their feet got "sucked under." It can improve over time (One arena is several years old and the horses still swim, better than it was, but still not quite right), but I'd say get a layer in and test it for a couple of weeks. You can always add more later. :wink:


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

I know not everyone can have this, but I built mine on top of a garden plot that I had been amending the soil to for several years for good drainage. 
The base underneath would be lots of peat moss a small portion of manure and just plain dirt. 
We put about 12" of sand on top of that and it has held up well for quite a few years. I think the trick is to make sure it drains well and is on level ground. 
Our first year we discovered there was a slight slope and a bunch of the sand ran off :evil:
I run a harrow over mine once in awhile to keep it fluffy and level.


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## booner (Aug 17, 2008)

thanks so much guys!
scoutrider-I think Ive seen an arena that has the same antiskid stuff, I really liked it.
My hubby has connections and knows what materials are and we have friends w/ dumptrucks so the cost will be minimal.yeah for that.
Vida- I wish we had good soil, we dont have much topsoil before it hits hardpan so drainage is always a plus w/ our rainy season.(and no its not all year long hehehe).
I've just got to get out there and rake up rocks(another breeder here)and twigs and get it ready for filling.Thanks again for the input!


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