ArenaKleen Application at Tall Oak Farms

The following report and video details the ArenaKleen experience of Dr. Diane Williams of Tall Oaks Farm in Millis, Massachusetts.

Tall Oaks Farm is a private, 14-stall dressage facility in Millis, MA.  Water for the farm is supplied by a well.  Therefore, watering the outdoor dressage arena for dust control is not possible.  The footing in our arena is concrete sand.  It used to get very “deep” and dusty within 1 day of being completely saturated by rain.  In fact, within a few hours of rain, the top layer of sand would dry quickly and start to generate dust even though the under-layer was still damp.  The quick-drying nature of the sand made any form of watering futile as a means of dust control.  We considered adding other footing materials to our arena to help retain moisture, but we knew that no matter what we added, the dust would still be an issue.
 
During the most beautiful months of summer, we were driven indoors by the choking dust and poor consistency of the footing.  I am a hard contact lens wearer so I am bothered more than most people by the swirling clouds of abrasive dust (even when I’m not the one riding).  I have suffered corneal abrasions from the arena dust.  Tired of hearing “there’s nothing we can do about dust, it’s just a fact of life with outdoor arenas”, I made it my personal mission to find a solution to this enormous problem.  After doing a lot of research, I found references to the ArenaKleen product.  It sounded like a truly unique material that worked regardless of the amount of moisture in the footing.  I knew I would have to convince a lot of skeptics in order to spend any money at all on a dust control product.  Being a Ph.D. scientist, I decided to conduct an unbiased, controlled “experiment” to evaluate the product’s efficacy.

The Experiment
First, I constructed a 4 ft x 4 ft “test frame” adjacent to the dressage arena using 1” x 6” lumber.  I positioned the frame so that it would receive full sunlight and the same rain, snow, wind conditions as the main arena.  I transferred footing from the main arena into the test frame and filled it to the same depth as the arena (4”).  Then, I ordered a 5 gallon sample of ArenaKleen from DirtGlue and followed the application instructions precisely.  Using a garden sprayer, I applied 0.8 gallons of ArenaKleen to the footing in the test frame, allowed it to soak in, and then turned the material over every day with a garden shovel.  The date of application was April 19, 2008.  I invited my riding colleagues to walk around in the treated footing, kick it up, handle it, turn it over, etc.  As expected, during the first couple of months there was very little interest in my experiment.  But, as summer pressed on and the dust began to choke us out of the arena, I noticed people quietly inspecting the test footing.  The ArenaKleen product was beginning to win over the skeptics.  I churned up the test footing with a shovel several times per week to simulate some of the wear and tear imparted by riding and dragging. Even more impressive than the absolute dust control was the much improved consistency of the footing.  It had life and springiness to it when the adjacent footing in the main arena was loose and dead.  “Ahhh…” said the skeptics, “but what will happen to it over the winter?”
 
Fast forward to Spring ’09.  Once the snow and ice from one of the worst winters on record had melted and the footing was completely dry, I churned it up and it was as dust –free and springy as it had been at the end of the summer.  Approximately one year after ArenaKleen was applied to the test frame, the skeptics agreed that the product worked as advertised and they enthusiastically supported making the investment to apply the product to our dressage arena.

The Results
Our outdoor sand arena was treated with ArenaKleen on June 1, 2009.  ArenaKleen has completely transformed the footing in the arena.  The performance of the product has far exceeded our expectations.  The consistency of the footing is much improved and our older, slightly arthritic horses now are working happily in the sand.  As of October, 2009, 4 months post-application, the dust control and footing consistency are much as they were 2 weeks post-application, despite this summer’s torrential rains in July and August.  ArenaKleen is a remarkable product!

Capping Stockpiles with Acrylic Polymer

DirtGlue Polymer-Think of it as shrink wrap for your stockpile!

When I think of stockpile capping I think about the infomercials for shrink wrapping. Wouldn't it be great if we could just stick a stockpile in a bag, suck out the air and not worry about it. No matter how hard the wind blows or the rain falls, the pile would be completely contained.  We wouldn't have to worry about airborne dust, erosion or any other compliance issues.

But in the real world most stockpiles are covered with tarps, held in place with stakes and sandbags.  In windy conditions loose ends flap in the breeze causing the tarps to tear.  In the winter tarps freeze, crack and fail.  Now it's a vicious cycle, new tarps, more sandbags and stakes, more expense.

Now I know the shrink wrap bag idea is not very practical, but there is a capping solution that offers many of the same advantages. Consider spraying your stockpiles with acrylic polymer.  Polymer's unique properties make it the ideal choice for most pile capping applications. Unlike traditional stockpile caps that just cover the pile, polymer soaks right into the pile, bonding with the material to create an
incredibly strong three dimensional matrix cap. And like shrink wrapping its completely seamless.

DirtGlue polymer has unique properties that make it the ideal choice for most pile capping applications. Our polymer is a strong, completely non-hazardous, water-soluble product engineered to bond soil particles together.  Plus, our DirtGlue Polymer product is formulated with built in ultraviolet protection, this means a DirtGlue cap is not only strong but durable.  As a matter of fact many of our DirtGlue treated stockpiles have lasted over a year, even after prolonged sun exposure.

The advantages of using DirtGlue Polymer become apparent right from the start. Forget the time consuming process of installing tarps using stakes and sandbags. With a DirtGlue application you just mix the DirtGlue with the appropriate amount of water and spray the pile. The application goes quickly saving time, materials and labor cost!  The DirtGlue cap meets the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System requirements for erosion control as well as the U.S. EPA requirements for reducing particulate matter.

So if you have a problem with your stockpile contact us, I know we can help.

DirtGlue Polymer Prevents Erosion After Wildfires

Every year wildfires consume many millions of acres of forest in the USA.  This represents a serious loss of valuable natural resources.  Fires affect forest communities in many ways. In the short-term, fire consumes vegetation, downed woody debris, and soil organic matter. Fire-caused changes in soil productivity and forest structure directly  affect future vegetation development, which, in turn, influences soil loss to erosion.  These and other immediate effects of fire continue to shape forests long after any flames have passed (footnote 1).

After wildfires, the understory of the forest is destroyed.  The plants that hold the topsoil in place preventing erosion are gone and a layer of ash covers the ground.   If the ash and topsoil stay in place long enough for new growth then all is well but more often than not thunderstorms wash much valuable topsoil and the ash that covers it down slope into streams and rivers.  The clean water in these mountain streams becomes turbid with ash and soil particles, killing fish and other aquatic life.  The ash and soil eventally settle out as sediment.  This sediment destroys the clean gravel base that typically makes up the mountain streams and rivers preventing or minimizing spawning.  No spawning and the fish populations are further reduced.

This common phenomenon can be controlled through the use of water-based acrylic polymers.  The ultimate goal is regrowth of the small understory plants to prevent erosion naturally.  The application of the water-based acrylic polymer will glue the ash and topsoil in place long enough to permit the desired regrowth.

Typical applications of polymer can be accomplished with tanks, pumps and hoses where terrain is not to difficult.  In extremely difficult terrain aerial applications may be made.  These applications can be made with dilute polymer alone or with native seeds to speed recovery. DirtGlue Enterprises offers an environmentally friendly, water-based, acrylic polymer emulsion with the capabilities important for this type of application.

1. Literature cited, Forest Fire in the US Northern Rockies

ArenaKleen-the end of horse arena dust!

by Brian McNeil, E=MC Equestrian Arenas, Inc.

To paraphrase Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, “Out, out, damn dust!” 
California equestrians see, breathe and endure dust, and our horses continue to pay the price.

Working throughout North America with equestrian owners, trainers and facility managers, I am constantly asked to make sure-fire recommendations for dust control for arenas, showgrounds, barn aisles and round-pens/turn-outs. Until recently, the solutions were short-term and less than environmentally sound and economically practical. Even with high-end sprinkler systems, water wheels, magnesium chloride, misting systems, water tanks or careful manure-removal management, dust would win out in the end.

A few years ago, I got into a heated telephone conversation with a manufacturer who claimed that his product could control all dust present in an arena for up to nine months. I doubted that. He said his product worked without chlorides (salts). Without water. And without any environmental risks or impact on horse and rider.

Having previously installed thousands of gallons of liquid magnesium chloride over the years, with adequate but short-term effectiveness, I finally asked one of my best clients to try this organic witches’ brew, this mysterious non-toxic liquid formula. It worked! And kept working. And it did not alter the feel of the footing, get crusty or, most remarkably, wash out of the footing when it rained.

My irritation with DirtGlue Enterprises, the environmental products manufacturer of this product, ArenaKleen, grew out of my own disbelief that their claims were valid. I was proved wrong. Trainers that had worked in dust-bowl arenas now tell me that it works. Owners in Carmel, in Pleasanton, in Orangevale, tell me that it works. No more dust on arena mirrors, on horizontal surfaces, on cars parked near the arena and, most especially, no more dust entering the respiratory systems of their horses and riders. 

I have never been so pleased to be wrong in my assumptions.

How It Works

Unlike other liquids that suppress dust by coating the sand/dust particles, ArenaKleen is absorbed into the sand/dust particles at a molecular level. Both non-corrosive and non-exothermic (it does not generate heat like calcium chloride does), the material does not wash off of the footing, even with heavy rains or waterings used to maintain footing density. It does not freeze - a plus for our northern riders. Of greatest significance to riders, it does not alter the feel of the existing footing. It just gets rid of the “damn dust!”

As California continues to grow, two realties are emerging: we are running short of water; and equestrian facilities once set in isolated and private locales are now trying, and failing, to co-exist with suburban neighbors who don’t want their air-conditioner’s filters clogged with arena dust.

DirtGlue Enterprises/ArenaKleen now distributes throughout North and Central America, and is available world-wide. The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto has used ArenaKleen for the past two years to control arena dust, while promoting the Fair as a “green” environment for its international  equestrian events. Vendors love it: no dust on the $4,000 saddles. The facility loves it: no water trucks! Lady Macbeth would have loved it, too.

Author Brian McNeil is the owner of E=MC Equestrian Arenas, Inc., which designs, installs and consults for equestrian clients throughout North America. Recently completed installations include arenas in Los Gatos, Pleasanton and Orangevale, CA. With over 150 installations since 1997, E=MC Equestrian Arenas approaches all projects with this single criterion: It’s All About the Horse!