Discussion

Introduction: Horses are increasingly worked on arena surfaces but there has been little research into the health implications of working on these surfaces. Previous studies found that some arena features increased risk of lameness, including increasing the number of horses ridden on a surface between maintenance, highlighting the need for regular arena maintenance (Murray et al. 2010a,b). Aims: To compare the mechanical properties of 2 different arena surface types pre- and post harrowing. Methods: A dual-axis synthetic-hoof drop hammer fitted with accelerometers and a 3- axis load cell was used to test 10 arenas with 2 different surfaces types: waxed sand with rubber overlaid (R) (n = 2) and waxed sand with fibre (F) (n = 8) mixes. Ten different locations, with 3 drops at each location, were tested on each arena. The 3 drops per location were not significantly different so were pooled for analysis. Maximum load (representing firmness), maximum vertical and horizontal accelerations, shear angle (representing friction), and hysteresis (representing elasticity), were compared pre- and post harrowing on the 2 different surfaces using a paired Student's t test. Results: Harrowing significantly increased firmness and elasticity of the top layer of R surface whilst decreasing friction. Harrowing of the F surface decreased firmness and elasticity, but significantly increased friction. Conclusions and practical significance: Results suggest that only the superficial surface is affected by harrowing and that the surface types react differently to harrowing. This could be attributed to different composition and size of the surface material, with rubber being located primarily on the surface in R but the fibre being more uniformly mixed in F. Further work is required to determine the effects of other maintenance techniques, and on other surface types. Acknowledgements: Funding from World Horse Welfare, the Swedish-Norwegian Foundation for Equine Research and UK Sport lottery funding for the British Equestrian Federation World Class Programme.