The effects of dressage competition on the mechanical properties of a synthetic equestrian arena surface

Properties of equestrian surfaces such as hardness, traction and resistance to penetration may change during competition. A surface itself has a direct impact upon an athlete since it is the primary point of contact, therefore any changes which occur could affect performance or the possibility of injury. Management regimes which are aimed at reducing such risks are based upon anecdotal evidence from site managers and surface construction companies therefore the aim of this work was to investigate the use of a number of standardised testing devices used in sports turf and construction industries, before and after dressage competitions.

Rationale

Properties of equestrian surfaces such as hardness, traction and resistance to penetration may change during a competition. A surface itself has a direct impact upon an athlete since it directly affects biomechanics of the horse (Chateau et al., 2009) and are ther efore likely to influence performance and risk of injury.

Objectives

The mechanical properties of one synthetic equestrian surface were measured before and after dressage competitions over a period of six months.

Methods

Measurements were taken using a 2.25kg Clegg Impact Tester to assess hardness and compactability, a traction device (torque wrench with a 30kg base plate) provided a measure for shear resistance and a Longchamp penetrometer quantified resistance to penetration (penetration depth). Repeatability trials were carried out on a prepared, synthetic equestrian surface to inform decisions for final sampling and measurement techniques. The equipment was used to test a 20m x 40m dressage arena, before and after six preliminary, unaffiliated dressage competitions, held between January and June 2009. Thirty two locations were tested within the arena. Temperature data was recorded at each of the competitions. Data were analysed using ANOVA.

Results

The results showed that the hardness of the surface increased significantly (P<0.05) after a preliminary, unaffiliated dressage competition. The changes in the traction of the surface varied with each competition, all changes were found to be significant (P<0.05). The results regarding the penetrability of the surface were affected by the presence of the fibres in the surface, and therefore were deemed unreliable in this instance. There were significant changes to the surface over the period of six months, hardness decreased from 80±0.9G to 62±0.8G (P<0.001), traction decreased from 21.5±0.1Nm to 16.9±0.1Nm (P<0.001) and total penetration depth increased from 1.9±0.03cm to 3.6±0.06cm (P<0.001). There were significant differences found between the mechanical properties of the track and the central areas (P<0.05).

Conclusion

The findings show that the mechanical properties of the surface changed significantly over a dressage competition. Short term changes could leave late competitors working on a different surface to early competitors, thus the running order of an event could affect the results. This highlights a need for further examination of the interrelationship between performance and surface variability. Significant longterm changes were evident in hardness, traction and penetration, highlighting the need for a management protocol informed by surface testing in order to provide a surface with consistent properties.