Can We Use Information on the Mechanical Properties of Waxed Sand/fibre, Sand/fibre and Sand/rubber Arena Surfaces to Help Understand Injury Prevention?

Introduction: Recent research demonstrated that there is a link between arena surfaces and lameness in the dressage horse, that horses alter their gait on different surfaces and that cross-training on different surfaces was protective (Murray et al. 2010a,b; Walkeret al. 2012). However, there are minimal data on arena mechanical properties and how these could relate to injury. 

Aims: To compare the mechanical properties of 3 common arena surface types.

Methods: A dual-axis synthetic-hoof drop hammer fitted with accelerometers and a 3-axis load cell was used to test 49 arenas: waxed sand with fibre (WSF) (n = 16), un-waxed sand with fibre (SF) (n = 19) and un-waxed sand with rubber (SR) (n = 14). Ten different locations were tested on each arena. Maximum load and load rate (representing firmness), maximum vertical and horizontal accelerations (representing friction), shear angle, and hysteresis (representing elasticity), were compared between the 3 surfaces using an independent samples Student’s t test. [...]