FR2546927A1 - Ground surfaces intended for sports which involve moving around and particularly for equestrian sports - Google Patents

Abstract

In these ground surfaces, consisting of discontinuous particles and intended for sports which involve moving around and particularly for equestrian sports, at least a fraction of the discontinuous particles consist of granulates or particles of preferably cellular thermoplastic or elastomeric substances.

Description

SOILS FOR THE PRACTICE OF EPLBITIIQN SPORTS
AND IN PARTICULAR IN THE PRACTICE OF EQUESTRIAN SPORTS.

 The present invention relates to floors intended for the practice of evolution sports and in particular for the practice of equestrian sports.

 Numerous biomechanical studies have made it possible to determine the fundamental requirements which must be satisfied by a soil intended for the practice of evolution sports, whether it be recreational sports or competitive sports.

 It is first of all important to avoid injuries to the musculoskeletal system and in particular bone defects: the ground must therefore be cushioning; it should not, however, be heavy, which would be detrimental to the muscular and tendon apparatus.

 It must also be elastic enough to be able to restore the maximum energy received, thereby reducing fatigue and improving performance.

 The particular morphology of the horse further aggravates the requirements imposed on a soil intended for the practice of equestrian sports; indeed, his musculoskeletal system is particularly fragile because of the relationship between the constraints to which he is subjected and the cm2 of working surface and veterinary medicine is frequently called upon to repair disorders: tendinitis, exostosis, etc.

 Finally, it should be noted that due to the very high mechanical stresses imposed on the ground by equines, the ground must not be "leaky" and retain its characteristics over time.

 All the requirements mentioned above practically exclude the use, both for competitive sports: racing, obstacle or dressage events, as for leisure riding and instruction, of soils consisting of a uniform surface. continuous and in most of the cases we use soils made up of a multitude of discontinuous particles.

 The soils currently used for the practice of evolution sports and in particular equestrian sports consist of sands of different origins, possibly added with natural additives such as sawdust or wood shavings.

 The use of leather or hard wood fibers has also been recommended, but it has been found that these materials, in addition to the fact that they have random damping and elastic characteristics, deteriorate rapidly.

 The discontinuous layer currently constituting the major part of soils for evolutionary sports poses, however, many maintenance problems, in particular due to the packing phenomena which do not fail to occur after a relatively short period of use: it is then necessary to remedy this state of affairs by carrying out treatments such as harrowing.

 On the other hand, and because of the abundant dust released, it is also necessary to carry out regular watering and all the more frequent that the humidity is not retained by the discontinuous particles currently used.

 The present invention aims to overcome these drawbacks by proposing new soils made up of discontinuous particles making it possible to meet the biomechanical requirements mentioned above, while providing advantages not previously encountered as regards resistance and ease of maintenance.

 According to the invention, the discontinuous particles consist at least in part of granules or particles of plastic or elastomeric thermal substances.

 According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the particles or granules are cellular substances and are chosen from PVC, polyurethanes, polyethylenes or compact substances, chosen from elastomers such as SBR, EPDM.

 According to a first embodiment of the invention, the layer of discontinuous particles comprises, in substantially equal parts, a mixture of sand and thermoplastic or elastomeric granules.

The sands are either natural sands or quarry sands. The presence of these granules improves quarry sand of very poor quality by providing damping and elastic properties to the surface layer. They also prevent the sand from settling under the repeated action of horses' hooves, which is easy to demonstrate experimentally by following the evolution of the Bearing Index
Californian (CBR); one can thus make the best dosage according to the characteristics of the materials used. In addition, these alveolar granules constitute an obstacle to the early drying of the layer after watering by retaining by their very structure part of the water supplied.

 According to another embodiment of the invention, the whole of the discontinuous layer comprises a first layer of compact granules intended to be distributed on the base to be covered and to subsequently facilitate drainage, this layer being covered with a mixture of sand and thermoplastic or elastomeric particles or granules. Thus, for example, the base layer 20 cm thick consists of compact PVC granules with a particle size 0-5, and the surface layer 10 cm thick with a mixture of 50% these compact granules and cellular polyurethane granules with a density of 0.5.

 Numerous soil tests according to the invention have been carried out in a riding school, compared to a conventional soil consisting of quarry sand which, despite frequent watering accompanied by harrowing, agglomerated by compacting, especially on the periphery of the riding school.

 A portion of this sand with a particle size 0-2 (approximately 50%) was replaced by granules of polyurethane foam with a particle size 5-10, density 0.5, and this to a thickness of approximately 10 cm.

 The results observed are as follows - the discontinuous layer no longer agglomerates, even at places of repeated passages; there is no longer any compaction phenomenon - a light watering is enough to maintain sufficient humidity to eliminate practically any dust.

 In the case of using natural sand with a grain size 0-5, this last quality will become important, these sands being immediately crossed by the water and not retaining the desired humidity.

 The lightness of the surface is also beneficial for horses, whose fatigue decreases, for the same job.

 Show jumping takes place in an improved manner, and this in the first strides of the obstacle as in the reception strides, due to the elasticity and damping properties communicated on the ground.

 We can also see that horses are more willing to deliver and develop their gaits better in dressage.

 Similar results have been seen by replacing the polyurethane foam granules with PVC granules.

Claims (6)

 1. Soils made up of discontinuous particles and intended for the practice of evolution sports and in particular for the practice of equestrian sports, characterized in that at least a part of the discontinuous particles consists of granules or particles of thermoplastic or elastomeric substances .  2. Soils according to claim 1, characterized in that the granules or particles are cellular substances.  3. Soils according to claim 2, characterized in that the cellular substances are chosen from PVC foams, polyethylene foams, polyurethane foams and elastomeric foams.  4. Soils according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the granules or particles constitute approximately half of its composition, the remainder consisting of conventional particles, such as sand.  5 Soils according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the layer of granules or cellular particles rests on a layer of compact granules.  6. Soils according to claim 5, characterized in that the base layer consists of compact PVC granules and the surface layer consists of a mixture of these compact granules and cellular granules.