The Cat and the Horse: Bobcat in Action on the Riding Arenas
With over 3000 tournament events a year and almost four million people who, according to the Allensbach study, call themselves riders, horse riding is extremely popular in Germany. The quality of the riding surface is an important part of horse and rider health. A special sand/fleece mixture has established itself as an international standard and, in addition to long life, ensures sufficient grip when jumping, landing and turning.
A pioneer in the use of this mixture is fair ground GmbH, which relies on a Bobcat T870 compact track loader and various Bobcat attachments when laying and maintaining surfaces for riding arenas, tournaments and outdoor installations. The company used all of this Bobcat equipment to lay materials for the 9000 m² of riding areas used in the Hanover exhibition halls for the 2019 Horse and Hunting Fair.
“We chose the Bobcat T870 compact track loader and are very satisfied with the performance. Above all, our operator is very enthusiastic about what they can do with the machine, after getting used to handling the new track loader in the shortest possible time. The tracks and the very wide range of possible applications means the Bobcat T870 is the perfect machine for us,” says Ekhard Dettmeier, fair ground Managing Director, who was an active show jumper until the end of the 1980s. To complete the 9000 m² of riding area at the Horse and Hunting Fair in Hanover in just two days, the T870 was combined with a Bobcat laser grader.
A Machine for Day-to-Day Business
As well as the spectacular one-offs such as the Horse and Hunting Fair, the T870 has also proved itself in fair ground’s day-to-day business. “The tracks on the T870 offer great advantages, especially in the outdoor spaces that we are creating,” Ekhard Dettmeier adds. The ground pressure plays an important role. Thanks to the tracks, this is very low. Due to its compact size, the powerful T870 is also ideal for smaller riding arenas and halls.
The many attachments compatible with the T870 also make work easier. In the compact loader segment, Bobcat has around 75 different families of attachments that cover a very wide range of tasks. “You can tell that the attachments are also from Bobcat when you use them. It is much better when the attachments are matched to the carrier machine. And thanks to the compact size of the equipment, we can put plenty of attachments on the same flatbed trailer as the T870,” explains Ekhard Dettmeier. This saves time and transportation costs. More time is saved as it is easy to change between attachments on site thanks to Bobcat’s Bob-Tach quick-change system.
Bobcat T870 in Continuous Use
“The T870 compact track loader is a real workhorse for us. The machine is in use for seven to eight hours a day. We have received excellent support from Bobcat dealer, Müller Maschinen GmbH in Hildesheim,” says Dettmeier.
“It is always nice for us to see the reaction when we supply our customers with the right tool for their requirements. With its wide range of products and wide variety of attachments, the Bobcat range repeatedly proves its versatility. If we can also help the customer with a tailor-made service, we are of course delighted,” said Ulf Ahrens from Müller Maschinen GmbH.
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