Having a sports field or athletic riding surface with or without textile amendments…requires proper maintenance and now there are ways to test your own arena!
Some of the most frequent questions that we are asked by prospects are:
How much water does the footing need?
How do I know if the surface is compacted properly?
Due to environmental conditions, this answer varies throughout the world.
Why not invest in a group of testing instruments that will answer all these questions?
All for under $10,000!
The racing industry has been under scrutiny over the last few years to increase the safety of the surfaces around the world…. this same testing is beneficial to jumping, dressage, eventing surfaces as well.
Turf-Tec international is working with Joe Carr from Equine Risk Management Group and Michael DePew Agronomist/Soil Scientist from Environmental Technical Services to introduce a line of existing testing equipment to the horse racing industry. This test equipment allows Track Superintendents to test their own facilities for safety and surface consistency right in the field.
The new Horse Integrity Safety Act (HISA) became law on July 1st, 2022, and this testing will allow the Track Superintendent to remain compliant with the new HISA guidelines by testing gMax readings for hardness, Shear Strength readings as well as soil moisture readings. By keeping these track surface readings consistent on all types of racing surfaces that include grass tracks, dirt tracks and synthetic tracks, lessens the likelihood of injury on the track.
These tools are simple to use and give instant, meaningful results that can be viewed in a GPS enabled map, showing the test areas and the readings. These readings can also be exported to a spreadsheet for sharing or reporting the results. The gMax tests are ASTM compliant under ASTM D5874 and ASTM F1702.
Now horse show managers are researching and implementing testing as a standard practice.
The FEI utilizes testing units that FEI footing consultants can use to test the surfaces at world class show facilities…. now the smaller shows and professional horse facilities can afford to test shear, moisture and surface compaction regularly with the investment of three tools that are simple to learn.
If you are interested in learning more…please reach out directly to:
Joe Carr
EQUINE RISK MANAGEMENT GROUP LLC
1612 Clayton Ave
Lexington, Ky 40505 USA
859-608-2047
joe@equineriskmanagementllc.com
Cynthia Keating
Director of National Sales
cynthia.keating@polysols.com