Since we moved here in 2019, redoing the footing in the indoor had been on the list of things to do. It was worn out and very unstable underfoot. But the outdoor was the first priority, and then a number of other projects, and so this got pushed back on the priority list a few times. We’d spent all summer trying to find the PERFECT sand, and when we finally did, it was crunch time to get everything done before winter!

October 6

Mirrors are covered to keep the dust off, and it’s time to start taking all the old footing out!

October 16

We figured in between pulling out the old footing and putting in the new would be an ideal time to touch up the base. There was one spot near a door that George would occasionally trip and Enzo would often spook, so we suspected there was an issue hiding underneath that we wanted to get fixed up.

We could not BELIEVE what we found. At every door and all around the track were HUGE divots, foot prints, tire tracks, and complete washout. The farther we went, the worse it got. As projects tend to do, this was clearly about to snowball into an entire arena re-do….

October 18

A bit panicked about the situation we found ourselves in, we reached out to Chris (who did our outdoor arena) to see if he could help. He said that while technically he was booked until December, since this was a rare indoor project, he might be able to help us out if he had a rainy day.

As it turned out, rain was about all we had. In no time flat, Chris had finished removing every last bit of the old footing, graded ALL of the old clay, laser leveled it all back out, and then compacted it back down.

Just like that, we’re ready for new footing! Many thanks AGAIN to ACTC Services for an outstanding job!

November 21

After a brief pause to let the freshly leveled base settle, it was time to order in our new sand! Despite the holiday, the gravel yard was able to schedule delivery right away. The snowball effect continued however, when the dump truck got stuck in our barnyard. Even after dumping the sand outside the barn to lighten the load, there was no way he could pull off our wet and snowy grass. A shockingly quick call for a tow truck had him out within an hour, and he came with a plan for the remaining two loads – which he promised to still get delivered that afternoon!