# Riding on cinders? Opinions?



## BeauReba (Jul 2, 2008)

I've never ridden in it, or even heard of it (then again, there are no volcanoes anywhere near me.) My main concern would be dust. Anything that's fine has the potential to be dusty.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Cinder sand is commonly used as a footing where I am at (northeaster AZ). My friend even put a load of it into her round pen, and I know of someone else who coated their roping arena with it. We also use the bigger cinders in our driveway. :lol: 

The big ones can hurt their footsies a bit, and least my horses are careful crossing the driveway. The cinder sand seems to work like any other sandy footing though and I would think nothing of riding in it.

However, I wouldn't want to keep a horse in a pen or stall with cinder sand, as I heard a story about someone who lost their favorite stallion to colic and apparently he was full of cinder sand. :-( You would have the same problem with "regular" sand too though- there is always a chance of sand colic if they are eating it. 

PS. My horses are barefoot too. Cinder sand = no problems. Larger cinders = horse that is careful where it puts it's feet.


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## horseloverd2 (Jan 23, 2009)

I'd think that dusty cinders would be more likely to hurt the lungs than the feet. We have volcanoes, but they give off more dusty vog than actual cinders. I'd probably watch her feet and how she's stepping. She'll let you know if her feet are bothering her.


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