Monty Roberts Equus Online University | Monty's Horse Training Post: Training area from scratch, which type of clay?

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Training area from scratch, which type of clay?

By:

Laura Lachhein, Puyehue, Chile

Date:

2020-Jul-14 at 02:47PM

Hello,
We are building the round pen from scratch and are reading page 32 in "From my hands to yours" where Monty recommends a well-drained area covered with a clay-like sub base of approx 6 inches as second layer under the 2-inch coarse sand surface. "Clay" traduced into Spanish is "arcilla" and traduced into German "Lehm, Ton". In both languages it is something which gets hard?!
Is there someone who can help me with a definition of clay? The round pen will be without roof and we live in a very rainy area (like in the UK :))
Thank you very much in advance.
Kind regards,
Laura from Puyehue, Osorno, Chile

conniemacklill 2020-Jul-20 at 05:26PM

Laura
Where I live clay is a natural fine grained earth or soil typically red or gray looking. It can be molded and baked to make bricks. Living in a rainy region is a good thing because the surface needs to be watered often. It is probably the best natural sub surface you can use in the riding area and the most important.
The horses health and type of riding is critical when creating your arena. A properly constructed arena designed for the discipline of your choice is a wonderful addition to your property. But before starting, get lots of quotations, check out arenas built by contractors, look at arenas at other facilities, ask around and seek out the best contractor you can afford. Thoroughly research the top surface, additives, geotextiles, and the current trends toward surface composites that help retain moisture. Investigate grooming equipment, especially any that offer a depth control system. Your tractor will have a three-point hitch which will raise or lower your groomer but you want to ensure it sits level and that you can control the depth of the teeth. You want to gently groom the top layer, not rip up the subsurface or, worse, the base.

I hope this helps some.
Connie Mack

Laura Lachhein, Puyehue, Chile 2020-Jul-20 at 08:49PM

Dear Connie,

Thank you so much for your excellent answer. It helped me a lot. I think that we can find this type of clay here. Another person recommended us Ecoraster as second layer, a material used a lot right now under the sand. We will definitely think very carefully about which is possible here. Thank you again a lot. Kind regards,
Laura

conniemacklill 2020-Jul-23 at 06:28PM

Laura

Sounds like you have done your homework and are building a round pen that will last for years to come. With a good solid base under it, the Ecoraster will eliminate pot holes and mud puddles because it absorbs the water and allows it to drain into the ground. I would love to have it in both my paddocks and round pen. Good luck with your venture and God Bless.
Connie Mack

Laura Lachhein, Puyehue, Chile 2020-Jul-25 at 06:06PM

Hello Connie,

Thank you very much. Great to hear that Ecoraster is good. It is imported from Germany. I hope it will be good for our rainy climate.

Kind regards,

Laura

Debbie Roberts Loucks, USA 2020-Jul-26 at 11:11PM

This is also an excellent footing system https://www.ottosport.com/en/

Laura Lachhein, Puyehue, Chile 2020-Jul-28 at 11:32PM

Thank you very much. Ottosport is located in Germany. The products looks great. We decided for Ecoraster as they have a distributer in Chile. When finished the Round pen I will send fotos. Kind regards, 😊
Laura