What is your arena surface?

Crumb rubber is my favorite. It's practically dust-free, absorbs impact very well, and easy to clean too (just use a manure fork and the rubber shreds fall through like shavings.) You need to rake it about as often as you would any other surface, but I don't think there's any way of getting away from that no matter what your surface is. And no, it doesn't smell like tires! :)

Here's an example of the product:

http://www.rubbermulch.com/

It's expensive but it lasts pretty much forever, so in the long run I think it's well worth it.

EDIT: It doesn't blow away or absorb water, nor does it freeze or get slippery. A zillion times better than dirt!

We use stone dust. Stone dust has been rumored to suck the moisture out of hooves if left dry, but I have never seen a problem and I ride my mare in it almost every day. The stone dust has no 'base'. Meaning it was just put down over the existing dirt. The ring is graded very slightly so one side gets standing water more than others. There are a few places where more stone dust could be added, but overall it is a very nice surface.

It is a harder surface, but it drains water very well and does not get very muddy after rain. It can get a bit muddy, but even going through a puddle is not slippery like going through a puddle in the dirt would be.

It is fairly inexpensive and you can have someone drop it off and spread it out yourself to save money. My friend also has it, but no in her entire ring. She has a trail along the rail and two 20M circles in a form of a figure eight. These are the places she usually rides, so she did this so that on muddy days it wouldn't be so bad.

There is also stonedust in the run in sheds and they help keep the sheds dry if a horse pees in there or the wind draws the rain into the shed.

Weeds can grow through stonedust, but there are not many in the ring where I ride, so I don't see it as a huge problem.

Overall, I like stonedust as a riding surface and would recommend it.

The absolute best is recycled rubber over stonedust, but that is VERY pricey.

I know you don't want sand but we use sand and have no problem with it. It doesn't blow away (and trust me, boy do we have some wind), we don't need to top it up, the drainage is good and within a day it's dry again, doesn't get icy, it's soft to land on, I know from alot of experience, even when it's wet and more compacted and it's easy to rake, we just tow an old metal gate behind the truck, it flattens it out (esp. the hoof prints) and collects the poo.

I have been to many arenas with many different kinds of surfaces. There are different surfaces for different activities - jumping, reining, pleasure. The arena I ride in has reining ground because it is predominantly a reining stable. I find this ground highly versatile, it allows the horse lots of movement with his legs without being too packed down. I find sand too dusty and difficult to move around in - its too heavy. Jumping ground can be quite hard and packed down. But it depends on what you plan to do in your arena. I would suggest something similiar to reining ground, it allows a lot of movement. At my barn the ground is watered down and then raked every other day. Putting salt in arena dirt can help keep the dust away as well. Good luck on your arena!

I just have my plain backyard. It has a ring around it that is just dirt that is pretty soft on the horse/ponies hooves. In the middle is a great big grassy area so when my horse wants to eat we usually let him just graze in the arena. It works pretty well for us. You don't need to rake it or anything like that. You could take a tractor and one of those things that drag behind it if you want a nice fine dirt that would be good for your horse. Our trainer has the same thing only they have sand. Obviously you don't want that so I would just go with the paddock/arena. When you're students are done for the day they can let their horse graze and watch other people.

well right now mind is mud because i don't have a roof over mine. my trainer's arena is sand/ crushed rock and her trainer's arena is crushed rock only.

i personally prefer the sand and crushed rock mix. it needs to be raked whenever it gets too loose and deep, which is about every 1-1.5 weeks. i would recommend it. if it gets watered in the summer, it will stay dust- free. my trainer never poo picks it- she just rakes it down with the rest of everything else.

i've also heard of hogs' fuel being used for an arena. i've never used it for an arena, and i don't think i'd want to, but that is just an option for you.

I would have to say shredded rubber. Very absorbale. You want to spend moeny, then you can buy rubber brick like Keeneland race track uses. All you have to do is spray them down and your done. But for more convient uses, mix the shredded rubber with a clay. You can spread it, and then lay down a top rubble. The rubber gives a soft padding for the horses.

my stable has sand stone in the big ring. it only needs to be raked after it rains a lot, but will dry out on it's own pretty quickly. the other ring is just dirt

My arena (!) surface is a nightmare. One day it might get better.

The local riding school uses shredded rubber in the outdoor, it's expensive, feels strange to walk on but is weatherproof and very low maintenance and good for kiddies to fall on. I think they harrow it every week and it gets poo picked every lesson.

At my barn we use Rubber pieces with shaving. It works really well and is good for the horses but I don't know how often it is changed.

good luck