Arenas..... What is the best footing????

hi, the place im boarding right now has an indoor arena that is very dusty. If i was to put down different sand/dirt in a new arena what is the best one or combination of both? I would really like to know what is the best type of footing for training western horses in and at the same time is low dust. when i see the trainers on tv like clinton anderson or others like him, their arenas seem really low dust and very good footing. Please answer with what you use and how good it is and info about or something youve heard of. thank you.

Do they water the arena? If not, they need to.

A sand-dirt mix work great and does not hurt to bad when you get bucked off LOL. You have to water it down.

A good course sand is usually the best, inside I would say watering is absolutely neccesary.

Flying B, If you have a sand and dirt mix and you add water doesn't it pack down as they travel over it?? We use concrete sand and then add a little calcium chloride in flakes so when you water it the sand stays wet alot longer so that your not watering everyday. We only really do this in the summer when its really dry because ya kinda have to watch the calcium as it can be corrosive to the metals in your barn (siding, tractors, supports) over a period of time and it can dry out hooves so we dont use much of it. We have also used sodium chloride in the winter when it gets really cold it will keep the watered down sand from freezing. Also any kind of sand footing is going to break down sooner or later and get dusty, you have to replace it or add new like every 5 years or so. I personally think sand is the best footing in an arena. Has anyone ever heard of or used shredded rubber for their arena??? Ive heard that it can make good footing and is fairly forgiving on horses joints but I haven't heard much about it other then that!

down here the best arena i have used was a surface called 'finings'.

Its the wood shavings size between fine bark and saw dust. so not so small that it soaks up all moisture and stays too wet and boggy, but not big so it hurts when you fall off or gets stuck in hooves..

And here its relatively cheap.

No it does not pack as good as you might think, concrete sand packs better. It does not get so cold that the dirt freezes, maybe a week or 2 and that's it. I water it down about once a week, and drag 1 or 2 times a week, but I ride a lot.

About 2 years ago, we had a sand arena and I love it. Was so much better than dusty dirt. Well then one day we were reading about arena footing and found the rubber footing. I will NEVER use any thing else!! We got this stuff called Equi-tread its a crumb rubber, and its just to cool!!
Equi-tread stays in place;
It helps control dust;
It gives a light, cushioning effect to relieve stress on horses' joints, thereby reducing injuries and lameness;
Equi-tread absorbs impact in case of a fall;
Crumb rubber is better than shredded rubber which tends to bind together - Equi-tread will not bind together.
It works well in all seasons: Equi-tread Crumb Rubber stays cooler than sand in the summer and does not freeze in the winter;
It provides optimal drainage for your horse arena;
Equi-tread is very resilient;
It is non-toxic and will not leach into ground water.
Its good for you, your horse and the enviroment. If you go to equi-tread.com it says more about it.
It comes in cool colors to, we got the green color
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