Dressage Letters For Your Arena
Setting up your dressage arena can be a tricky task, mainly because it depends on the size of your arena. There are 2 standard sizes for dressage arenas.
What Are The Dimensions of a “Standard” Dressage Ring?
The most common ring size is the standard dressage arena. This will be an area of 20 meters by 60 meters (or about 66 feet by 197 feet). When using these dimensions, you will want to make sure that the placement of your letters fits the measurements announced by the United States Dressage Federation. Here is a great resource that describes the distances between the letters:
What Are The Dimensions of a “Short” Dressage Ring?
Occasionally, you will run into a short dressage arena. This will be an area of 20 meters by 40 meters (or about 66 feet by 132 feet). Please watch the video here for more information about how to set up your letters in a short dressage arena.
How To Place The Letters In The Arena?
For those of you that do not want to watch a video, here are the sparknotes:
- Place A in the middle of one short end and C in the middle of the other.
- Then place E and B in the middle of the long sides, so that going clockwise around the arena, you’ll have A,E,C,B.
- Then, K-H and M-F are your markers for the diagonal lines. Place two of them on the long sides, halfway between the middle mark (E&B) and the corners.
- When you are finished, the letters will be in this order going clockwise: A,K,E,H,C,M,B,F. A&C on the short sides and three letters on each long side (K-E-H on one side and M-B-F on the other long side).
What Are The Letters and Why?
If you forget what the letters are, you are not the only one! Remember this saying to help you remember the order of the letters: “All King Edward’s Horses Can Make Big Fences.” There is no consensus of why and how these letters were picked or what they stand for, but we have used them nationally in our dressage arenas so that we can practice the same dressage tests and we hold a standard.
Where is the Best Place To Buy Letters For My Dressage Arena?
There are many different places that you will find dressage letters being sold. We recommend amazon, as get free shipping and you can easily return through your local Kohl’s store.
Here are a few others we recommend:
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