Many a poet, writer and equestrian alike have equated the art of riding to an intricate dance between a horse and rider, yet many dance partners in the U.S. don’t really consider the importance of a good dance floor. They only look at the surface of their dance floor or riding ring.
“Three inches of sand can’t work miracles,” says Joy Koch, President of ComfortStall® Stable Supply Company, Inc. and distributor of EquiBase™ Arenas. When it comes to arenas, Joy’s motto has always been, “the secret is under the sand.” I ask people, “What would you rather dance on—a cement slab or a professional caliber, suspended wood dance floor?”

Comfort and Connections
Debbie and Bob McDonald introduced Joy to the theory of mat based arenas systems at the ComfortStall® booth during the 2005 World Cup in Las Vegas. Joy originally met Bob, an internationally respected hunter/jumper rider and trainer, while promoting her ComfortStall® Therapeutic Flooring System at the Indio HITS show several years ago. The “Brentina Team” had the ComfortStall® installed in Brentina’s trailer and were very impressed with its anti-fatigue properties, which help absorb the concussion and vibration during the 19 hour hauls from Idaho to Los Angeles and back.

Bob & Debbie McDonald with Joy Koch.

The McDonalds offered to be Joy’s corporate endorser and the threesome quickly became friends and partners. They had just invested in OttoSport for their dressage arena and encouraged Joy to be the first to make it commercially available in the U.S. Two years later Joy was delighted to meet, by chance, the actual manufacturer of OttoSport and his international distributor at Equitana. Wolfgang Bacher was handpicked by the manufacturer to represent EquiBase™ internationally, as Bacher manufactures the geotextile and fiber components that are the crucial components to producing world class footing. Paul Schockemohle, Hugo Simon, El Campeon Farms and the Samsung’s headquarters in Seoul, Korea are just a few of his clients.
“Equitana is the world’s largest equine trade show, held only every two years in Germany,” explains Joy. “We launched our European ComfortStall® at Equitana this year alongside 850 vendors, with over 200,000 people in attendance during the course of two weeks. My days were split juggling the needs of my booth with learning as much as I could from Wolfgang and the rest of the team, who brought me up to date regarding world class 21st Century arena construction.”
This fortuitous meeting kindled Joy’s interest in this new arena foundation technology. The EquiBase™ engineers had developed a brand new mat mold, using new technology to update the concept of an energy absorbing base.”
One of the innovations of the EquiBase™ design was that the nubs are integrated as part of the mats so they can’t break off. These nubs are meant to prevent the horse’s feet from slipping if he should make it through the arena’s footing to the mat. They also improved the configuration of the bottom of the mat to allow for maximum drainage. The EquiBase™ mats have drainage holes and a tank tread pattern instead of Otto’s bowl-like holes.
“Imagine a herringbone design,” says Joy. “A main spine, with smaller bones protruding out on both the left and right side. That’s what the bottom of the EquiBase™ mats looks like.” Not only does this design better embed the mats into the foundation gravel layer, it also makes it much easier for water to flow directly from this sub base directly to your ditches, so your outdoor arenas, paddocks and galloping tracks won’t flood.
“What’s really amazing is that not only have we technologically upgraded and re-engineered the design and the molds, but we are utilizing approved, ecologically safe recycled PCV. All of that for 20 percent less cost than the original mats!”

International Installations
Joy knew that EquiBase™ had the potential to be a huge success, not just in Germany, but internationally. And she was right. Last year EquiBase™ delivered 22,000 mats, 340 tons of geotextile and 70 tons of fiber to the Hong Kong Jockey Club for use in constructing all of the arenas for the 2008 Olympics. The Jockey Club hired footing expert, Oliver Hoberg, who supervised the building of 200,000 square feet of riding space. This month the FEI is hosting a trial horse show at the complex to try out the facilities, since the 2008 Olympics will also be held in August. The EquiBase™ team will be onsite to welcome comments and questions.
“It’s been difficult to educate the U.S. public about the benefits of shock absorbing arena foundation technology that provides the ultimate in safe and consistent footing conditions,” says Joy. “This is something the Europeans have already known about and utilized for years. According to many of our Olympic riders, we are 20 years behind and it shows up on the scoreboard. I’ve been listening to what our Olympic and national riders are telling me. The McDonalds and their sponsors, the Thomases, continue to support me in being the catalyst to stimulate our U.S. show venues to install the EquiBase™ foundation matting system. This will also equalize the ‘playing field’ and safeguard the soundness of our highly valued competition horses.”
Just this year the Piazza di Siena in Rome, part of the Samsung Super League’s Nation Cup, made the decision to switch to an EquiBase™ Arena System after 75 years of riding on grass. Spectators may mourn the loss of the eye-appealing grass. FISE President, Cesar Croc told the public, “Both the FISE and the FEI supported the change because they feel the new arena technology will help guarantee the best performances for horses and athletes while preserving their wellness.”
“While we still have a lot of educating to do in the U.S., the good news is that people in the U.S. want to know about what is going on with the Olympic Facility in Hong Kong and the FEI’s trial show,” says Joy. “The Executive Director of the Kentucky Horse Park, John Nicholson, told me that it is his intention to attend this show. It’s clear that he is committed to make sure this important U.S. competition venue provides the best possible conditions for future competitions such as the Alltech FEI 2010 World Equestrian Games.”
Joy is already making the arrangements necessary to attend the Olympics and encourages the rest of us to get tickets as well. After all, the McDonalds have told her that Brentina is recovering well from her injury and Debbie hopes to make an Olympic bid. Perhaps the EquiBase™ Arena System that Bob is putting in will ensure Brentina’s comeback.
For more information on EquiBase™ call 888-307-0855, email joy@comfortstall.com or for now, visit www.comfortstall.com. And keep an eye out for EquiBase™’s website www.EquiBase™arenas.com to be up and running in the next few months.