Going Dust Free

The ranch owner where I keep my boys is awesome. It's a quiet place with no other boarders. She doesn't advertise her place and since it's her home, she prefers it pretty quiet without a bunch of activity. Over the years, she has allowed occasional outside horses in, especially if she already has a relationship with the owner. That's how I got in.

All of that means that the arena doesn't get used very often. The ranch owner is primarily a trail rider and only uses the arena for tuning a horse up. It's a lovely arena though with footing that she had hauled in. It's decomposed granite spread deeply over a well-packed base. It doesn't get deep, and the footing is surprisingly bouncy when compared to the sand found in most arenas my area. 

When I moved in, the ranch owner realized that I ride daily. While the DG doesn't generate nearly as much dust as does sand, it's still there. She quickly placed an order for a product that eliminates dust. You can see it in the plastic bins above.

Just for some scale. The containers are pretty big.

I don't exactly know what the stuff is, but it gets sprayed onto the surface where it adheres to the footing particles, encapsulating them. Once it cures, the finer particles become too heavy to become air born. As a bonus, the material provides a shock absorbing element to the footing, giving it more bounce.

The product is fairly "easy" to apply. Reggie, the ranch's handyman, simply hooked a pump to the containers, and with the help of his son, sprayed it out onto the arena with long garden hoses. The ranch owner purchased enough of it that it saturated the footing down several inches.

It should last a solid 18 months, even with dragging and smoothing the arena. To prolong the efficacy of the product, the manufacturer recommends reapplying one container every year or so. Eventually, the product does wear away with use and exposure to the sun and weather, but it should remain dust free for nearly two years.

​I haven't been able to ride on it yet, but I am hoping it's ready this afternoon. How lucky am I?