The Problem:
The US Department of Labor has some staggering statistics about the ill effects of dust and respiratory illnesses caused by it. Nearly every riding arena has sand of some type somewhere in it; either as part of the subsurface or base, or as part of the footing itself.
Sand contains silica, and silicosis is a well-documented INCURABLE disease that is cause by inhalation of airborne silica, or sand. Wood fibers also are a very real health problem. Consider that when the maximum permissible dust levels in the average woodshop are exceeded, OSHA or local health authorities are not only permitted but are required by law to shut down the facility until the dust is mitigated.
Indoor Arena Dust Control
There are an infinite number of blends of footing materials that are used by equestrians in indoor arenas. The common problem in all footings is that they start out great, but over time quickly develop nuisance dust because the footing is pulverized by the hoof action of constant riding and pounding. Footings are a very individual thing. Some may prefer a “Palomino” mix of sand and stone dust, while others want a blend of wood, sand, and stone dust, and still others want only crumb rubber or chip rubber and sand. There is no limit to the formulas of footings for each individual facility. The common denominator is that over time they ALL break down, and dust becomes a problem. Even rubber products will break down and eventually become airborne dust particles.
The Solution:
While there are many types of dust, all dust is the result of the material becoming so finely pulverized that it can become airborne and consequently inhaled. The easiest way to mitigate dust problems is with the addition of water to weigh down the particles and prevent them from floating. Water is a viable solution for dust problems in many areas, but it does not come without costs. You must have the water or purchase it, then dispense it with a sprinkler system, and then that sprinkler system must be maintained, which means pumps, pipes, hoses, and potential plumbing problems. Also, if you live in a frigid environment, water can mean dealing with frozen footing in the winter.
Enter MAG®, a proven humectant or hygroscopic agent that draws in moisture naturally. Harvested from the Dead Sea, MAG® is the only neutral pH dust control agent that comes in food grade purity and is backed with a lifetime warranty when purchased directly from an authorized and trained equine footings dust stabilization distributor.
One pound of MAG® can hold up to four times its weight in water under ideal conditions. MAG® will draw in moisture continuously and indefinitely and suppress dust permanently in any type of footing in any indoor arena.
MAG® must be purchased through an authorized dealer for a lifetime warranty. Dealers are trained to evaluate your footing and make recommendations specifically for you. In addition, they are a resource for questions, application instructions, and maintenance requirements. We will NOT warranty or assist owners who apply other Magnesium Chloride products to their arena!! If you intention is to use our application instructions to apply something other than MAG® to your arena, be aware that it will not work! Do not waste our time or your money providing you with instructions and guidance only to put an inferior product on your arena.
Method:
Applying MAG® to an indoor ring is all art and little science. Recognizing that footings are very individual, the objective in all footings is to maintain a consistent level of loose material to provide the desired amount of give.
The objective of proper dust control using MAG® is to “sneak up” on the correct amount and NOT OVERAPPLY. When applying the product, always apply conservative amounts over a period of weeks, allowing ring use to mix the product into the footing to achieve the desired level of dust control.
DO NOT WATER!!!
The worst thing you can do when using MAG® is to water your ring. Once you commit to using MAG®, it is very important that all watering for dust control is halted. The reason is simple: You are applying a dust control agent
at the surface, and gravity and hoof action will help it to penetrate the footing, coat all the particles of footing and hold them down on the arena floor where you want them. By watering after you have applied MAG®, you are rinsing the product off the top and into the subsurface.
How Much MAG® do I need?
The amount needed varies depending upon your arena, but generally speaking, we find that it takes 1 to 2 pallets of MAG® to achieve complete dust stabilization. Once the ring is completely stabilized you NEVER need to water again. In fact, watering the ring after it is stabilized with MAG® is counterproductive and only rinses the dust control agent into the base where it does you no good. We recommend a maintenance dose of approximately one pallet per year to touch up around doorways where traffic and rain may remove the treated footing, and also to combat dust arising from other materials that are added to the indoor arena such as contaminants from boots, hooves, and manure.
Is it Safe to Use?
MAG® is very safe to use and handle. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) uses a document called a “Material Safety Data Sheet” (MSDS) to standardize information about all materials. On this form OSHA uses an industry standard for toxicity called an “LD50”, which is the amount of material that is required to kill at least 50% of the test subjects. While this is a morbid thought, it is the standard that the government has established and is recognized industry wide. The LD50 for strychnine, a rat poison, is 16 (milligrams per kilogram of body weight). The LD 50 for aspirin and calcium chloride is 1000 mg/kg. The LD50 for table is salt 3,000, and the LD50 for MAG is 8,100! That means that MAG is 2.5 times less toxic than table salt, is about half as toxic as baking soda and is very comparable to vitamin C, ascorbic acid.
There is a side benefit to MAG® stabilization that has not been mentioned: freeze proofing your ring. You will never again be forced to shut down in winter because the water saturated footing in your indoor froze up, and you could not ride in it because it is like a frozen moonscape. MAG will keep the same consistency in your footing throughout the year including those sub-zero days when you were not able to ride because the indoor was hard as a stone.
Is MAG® the same as the liquid stuff being offered?
No! MAG® is not a liquid – it’s dry flake form! Recently, others have begun to try to capitalize on the enormous success of our MAG®. Some companies now offer a modified liquid product which appears to be a blend of unknown waste corn or agricultural chemicals and claimed to be mixed with an unknown source of magnesium. Do not be mislead by others claiming to offer the performance of our MAG magnesium chloride in liquid form. It’s impossible to have the same performance of a dry product in liquid form, even if you were to liquefy MAG® and then mix it with something else. These are not MAG® which is a registered trademark of the Dead Sea Works LTD and ONLY MAG® offers the absolute performance guarantee for dust control in your footing. ONLY MAG® products have the benefit of experience of more than 15 years of use in Europe and New England.
These unknown liquids are new to the market, are unproven, and there is NO TOXICOLOGICAL DATA on them as to long term effects on equine health in legs and hooves over a long period of time. Know what you are buying and be sure to demand a certificate of analysis which certifies the minimum MgCl2 content. Our MAG® is guaranteed to be 100% MgCl2, hexahydrate while liquids chemically cannot contain more than 33% MgCl2,. There are NO agricultural or distiller’s waste products in MAG®; it is a pure natural product that is extracted from the Dead Sea – a source of life giving minerals. The costs of these liquids seem to average $0.15-$0.30/ft2, which is equal to about $2000 per treatment and $3000 per year on the average indoor. That is more than five times as expensive as MAG®! Don’t be fooled by imposters who are claiming to perform the same as our MAG®!
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