The first one had footing in it that was from the prior owner. We also do jumping and the depth of the footing is another consideration. Our footing was too deep, aprox. 6" and just terribly dusty. From my research, I learned that most wood, rubber or unnatural products require a base that is quite deep and comprised of levels of a hard base, and could even need an asphalt layer with the rubber or wood footing. It was too costly for me. The benefits, no dust or watering...however, over time, the product would break down requiring replacement or supplementing the footing. The down side, it's not a natural footing for the horse and requires careful dragging.

You will also see people use these footings over their dirt floors or clay based floors. The only problem is that eventually after leveling out the footing, the base will start to mix into the footing and once again...dust! (Needless to say, our first arena had to have all of the dirt and footing removed....and we re-applied the footing below).

Our second arena was built from scratch. We did have clay as a base (the whole farm was clay!), so we tamped it to form a strong base. We learned that mixed masonry sand seemed to hold up the longest. I liked the idea and we put in about a 3" layer. We did incorporate, after about 2 years, our dust-down product which kept the arena in beautiful shape (applications last close to a year and may only need to be 'boosted' after the first application!). We have had several clinics at our farm, one included Lynn Palm and her husband Cyril - and they complemented us on the indoor and the footing.

We also use our Track and Ring Conditioner to level the footing. Its quick and does the job easily. The product is quality built and long lasting. We have sold hundreds of them to horse owners for their indoors.

I'm sure you may find more sophisticated footings, however, I feel it's best to keep it simple and use what horses are most comfortable with. It makes sense to have footing that will cushion, not be too deep for jumping, and will allow the horse to move out freely. I have included 2 articles on indoors and hope that they prove to be helpful to you. I'm more than happy to help you further if you have more questions or would like to discuss any of our products. I'm also very happy for you that you will have an opportunity to work indoors in inclement weather.

What a wonderful thing for your girls to be in pony club! My daughters were in it, too! They were excellent riders and still talk about all that they did because of all of the great schooling! Now I'm looking to see if the 'next generation,' my grands, will take to it! Take care and let me know if we can help you with any other questions!

- Debbie