EQUINE AIR

Equine Air offers a patented system horse racing substructure providing an engineered base with intrinsic elastic and stability properties with excellent drainage. Easy to install and cost effective providing increased track utilisation whilst ensuring the safest surface for the horses to race on.

Benefits

WHY EQUINE AIR?

The racing industry at present is struggling with current sand tracks due to the nature of unstable sands. Typically, the sand tracks are built over the top of an unbound road base which can cause stone particles to migrate up through the sand causing damage to the horses’ hooves and fetlocks. In contrast, the Flexiroc product will not cause injury to horses even if it did separate from the stabilised surface. The road bases are also very hard and tracks tend to be built with a shallow sand layer to allow purchase. This can add to longer term horse injuries through shock up the legs. Equine Air provides a cushioning effect for the horses and potentially reduced injuries

Equine Air compared to Sand & Synthetic Tracks

Sand Tracks

- Typically built over the top of an unbound road base which can cause stone particles to migrate up through the sand causing damage to the horses’ hooves and fetlocks.

- The road bases are also very hard and tracks tend to be built with a shallow sand layer to allow purchase. This can add to longer term horse injuries through shock up the legs.

- The crushed rock road base is also not free-draining making track work problematic during regular rainfall events.

Synthetic Tracks

- Fibre-amended synthetic tracks require the placement of a 7mm drainage aggregate under the sand. This layer is extremely difficult to lay flat due to the displacement of particles during placement. It is also displaced during the placement of the synthetic material or asphalt layer resulting in massive over-use costs.

Equine Air

- In contrast Equine Air will not cause injury to horses even if it did separate from the stabilised surface

- Equine Air will provide for a cushioning effect for the horses and potentially reduce injuries

- Equine Air will allow for a vertically draining profile making the tracks more usable during winter periods. Laboratory trial work undertaken to determine the perching effect of a sand over Equine Air.

Equine Air

- Equine Air would alleviate this issue during construction and serve as a replacement of both the gravel and asphalt layer as it completes both functions of synthetic tracks (drainage and stability).

Performance trial of equine air at Pakenham

Summing up the results of the equine air Track Performance Trial

Rider feedback on ride quality and the cushioning effect of Equine Air showed two key facts:

The Equine Air track with its well compacted topping of crusher dust felt the same as much softer approach track laid only days ago.
The Equine Air track was also more cushioned with much better shock absorption for the horses than experienced on the normal tracks used.

Light weight deflectometer test result on the Equine Air track bore out the rider feedback where the stiffness modulus value was around half that of the test results from a normal track at Pakenham.

These better shock characteristics mean that the horse experiences decreased forces from the track to better protect it from injury.

Proof rolling

Proof rolling using a water truck with 16,000 litres of water showed no observable deflection of the track under the full wheel load.

Permeability

Equine Air’s high permeability was demonstrated with applied water readily draining through the topping and profile.