I am writing a blog post about arena etiquette and have two questions. [LIST=1]
When we had large groups of us (12+ riders) riding in small sized arenas, we had a number of rules: Pass left hand to left hand; walk on an inside track; more advanced movements get right of way; Slower paces give way to faster paces. I can’t remember ever having any crashes and new riders quickly learnt the rules.
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I think the most important thing to remember about arena etiquette is that you should not assume that every arena has the same rules so make sure you ask what the rules are for the arena you are going to ride in.
Some places what the slow people on the outside, some what them on the inside, etc.
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Etiquette or rules? Rules vary depending on the arena.
Etiquette covers the unwritten social niceties. Things like sharing the arena means thinking about how your figure or exercise affects the other riders (that spiral circle is not the best choice when there are ten other people, for example). Walking two abreast so you can chit chat creates a large roadblock for more active riders.
The simplest things are generally not written. Look where you are going. When you meet another rider coming towards you, call your track using inside/outside especially if it’s different from the arena rule (ex. pass left to left).
The one I’ve encountered that is the most difficult to ride with is the person who sees me coming and abruptly changes their track - circles away, cuts across the diagonal, or similar - without a word. They don’t realize they’re cutting off my planned track, or forcing me to do an unplanned transition. They usually say they’re trying to stay out of the way, but the unpredictable movement makes them horribly difficult to ride with. The unwritten etiquette for this might be plan and ride your track, and also includes look up and call your track and listen to the other riders you meet.
While some schooling can be done in. a crowd, the more people there are in the arena the more an individual ride becomes more about exercise than advancing training.
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If you want to longe, please ask permission first from people riding.
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Don’t ride around the outside of longeing horses. Very dangerous. I learned this, ignored it once, and had a big scare.
Don’t bully other riders by trying to run them over and make them leave the ring.
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No I did not know this, thank you so much!!! I will add.
I find that the old pass left to left and slower people stay on an inside track is actually truly annoying to me. I much prefer that if you are walking, you stay on the rail and I will work around you. At a trot and canter I can move much faster and easily plan my track around a walking rider and the last thing I want is for them to try to avoid me and because they are slow, end up getting in my way.
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Yes, stay on the rail. If I want to take the inside I tell the other riders. Call out your intentions if you are overtaking someone. “Inside” and leave plenty of room. “Outside” so the other person doesn’t get in your way. Do the same for left to left, for example, if you are starting a circle or serpentine and moving off the track.
Longing is permitted although I wish it wasn’t. The people who longe usually ask first. The ones who are wearing the horse out before mounting usually don’t. :no: 
I change direction so the horses are face to face when they pass, rather than having one overtake the other.
We can ride during lessons with the instructor’s consent (80x200’ indoor). I check with her so I am deferring to the student rider. It often helps them with their steering skills and they learn the etiquette.
Keep your speed under control and don’t careen all over the place. We have a good rider who is too fast and her direction is unpredictable. She doesn’t respect other riders. She almost slammed us broadside into the kickboards recently. She was about 10-15 feet away cantering straight at us. She scared the sxxx out of my horse before I realized why he was starting to bolt. Me, walk/trot! She knows us! Her trainer had just arrived and was yelling at her to start her turns earlier. I watched her for a few minutes. She looks straight ahead not where she is heading. She doesn’t turn her center at all, just yanks on the rein when it’s almost too late.
Our arena can get quite busy without any problems. It is the few people who are self-centered around their own goals. They don’t adjust their plan and the rest of us have to avoid them.
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I agree with @Hawks Nest , and my instructors always said that those walking should be on the rail. Especially if the faster person is jumping. Trying to cross the path of the person walking TWICE just to get around them on the outside is extremely dangerous.
When going the same direction, passing by the faster rider should always be done on the inside.
Slowest gaits stay on the rail, regardless of who’s going what direction.
If going the same speed in opposite directions, pass left shoulder to left shoulder.
If you want some footage of a busy warm up, try this baby:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehG4L1Xju5A
You’ll want to ask the video poster for permission to use. It’s an old video. In arenas THAT crowded, everyone would do best by going in the same direction.
Other typical etiquette expectations:
Call where you’re going. This doesn’t seem to be a common one for dressage, though. I’m a H/J who’s doing dressage right now, and I’m always the odd-ball out calling my path (“Inside!”) in the warm up at dressage shows. It annoys the heck out of me when people cut me off without saying a word. Just because there’s no jumps, that doesn’t mean you can’t cause problems. I wish dressage people would call their path.
If there’s even just one rider in the ring, ask before you start lunging. And if they say it’s okay, don’t lunge for 30 minutes. That’s so rude. Max it at 10, or wait until the rider is done riding.
Call your arrival when coming through a door/other entrance into the ring.
If you knock jumps/poles down, put them back up when you’re done (assuming they were set up when you went in).
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Thank you!
Some of it depends on the size of the arena too.
Having someone walking on the rail in an already small arena makes things very difficult.
At our barn the indoor is quite small. So anyone walking needs to stay on a small circle on the inside. Those moving faster get the outside track. Pass left to left.
Our outdoor ring is huge. Anyone walking stays to the outside. Left to left.
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:lol::lol::lol:
I ride at a barn where there is a jump team, and a dressage team, it’s coached at times by the same person. I’m always surprised at how quiet the dressage riders are. When I’m schooling and a jumper comes in, even just to flat, they call their intentions, even the kids.
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Very timely for me.
I’ve always learned that you pass left shoulder to left shoulder, and that if you’re not going to do that, you call it out.
This seems to be the Pony Club etiquette:
https://www.ponyclub.org/ContentDocs/Instruction/CertD/Lesson%20D3%20arena%20etiquette.pdf
Today I was riding my horse and had been in the outdoor for about 35 minutes and was almost done. As I finished up cantering to the right, two other riders came into the ring. When I finished that circle, as I was walking and changing direction I said to both of them that I was just going to use the far end of the arena for a couple of canter circles to the left and then I’d be done.
I made one trot circle as rider # 1 came into the far end where I was, but did turn before she crossed my track. But then, as I asked my horse to canter on the left lead, the second rider trotted (going to her right) and remained on the outside track as she rounded the end of the arena, coming right at me. I yelled “left to left” and she said “I thought you were going to circle.” My horse stopped and hers dove towards the inside and we averted a head-on collision by one foot or so.
Adrenaline plus.
On reflection I recognize that there was clearly some ambiguity in the situation: while I assumed left to left–or even that they might just let me have the end of the arena while I finished the ride-- she heard the word circle and thought I would be making a 10 meter circle at the canter (at least this what I infer she must have thought).
This is a pretty small, and not busy barn, so I think that’s one of the issues: we have to share infrequently enough that we’ve never had a discussion of the rules.
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I’ve been riding for about 30 years, since I’ve never been able to afford my own horse, just leasing, I’ve changed barns a lot. My biggest complaint is at the hunter barns were “left to left” is really the only thing that seems to be taught. It’s the most basic, but there are a lot of exceptions.
Faster horse to the outside - this is because it’s harder for horse moving faster to make a tight turn (and worse on their bodies).
Figures stay to the inside - this is so other people don’t cross your track repeatedly, so Posting Trot, when you called circle, I would have done the same as the other rider, I would stay out on the track, while you yield to the inside, no matter what size circle you’re on. While its nice to give one end to someone, sometime your horse needs straight lines (I don’t know if that was issue in your case, but I’ve ridden horses that the first trot has to be a straight line while they limber up).
Don’t walk on the track - if your warming up/cooling out, give the horses that working the rail (they’re probably going faster).
Lessons have the right of way - if you are not part of the lesson, listen to what the trainer says so you have an idea of where the lesson is going and stay out of their way if at all possible.
Ask before lunging if others are already riding, don’t lunge right in the middle of everything.
Pay attention to where you “park”, if your standing around, tightening your girth, chatting with a friend, make sure you aren’t blocking a whole part of the ring.
And when in doubt, call! and listen for other peoples calls.
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Thanks for the Pony Club rules link, I’ve added it to the blog post!
As for circling, it’s customary to do that off the rail, to the inside. No one should get “inside” your circle!
Thanks for reminding me of this, will add too!
Thank you everyone!
Here is the resulting blog post: Arena etiquette: Do’s and don’ts of sharing an arena with others
https://jessicaeblack.org/arena-etiquette/
Let me know if I missed anything!
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A few years ago I moved to a barn with this policy and it was never told to me. All prior barns had given the rail to those moving faster. It was winter and my horse had a lot of coat and so I took frequent walk breaks to allow him to cool off. BO was in the ring teaching one night and took my head off about my walking in the center while her beginners were on the rail. I apologized and kept on the rail for subsequent walk breaks and regretted it when one of the beginners who had minimal steering ability essentially T-Boned me while attempting to “work around” my walking horse. It occurred to me that perhaps I was better at “working around” others than her beginners.
I’ve been at H/J barns from lesson mills through show barns. At any time, there could be between 6 and 10 jumps set up making passing anywhere but on turns impossible. Jumping outside of lessons was extremely rare.
Generally, lessons (if one is going on) have right of way over those hacking and more experienced riders are expected to be alert to the less so. Courtesy demands that while hacking, a rider be generally aware of instructions given to students, so that they know where people are going. If the lesson riders are going to trot the quarter line or make a circle, I need to know that. It’s never fun to jump into a line only to have a clueless rider wander into your track because she didn’t listen to the trainer in the ring explain the course since she isn’t riding it!
My current barn encourages us to open our mouth and tell people where we are going, when riding indoors, especially. The indoor is small so communication is important. How hard is it to say “I’m going to canter some circles up here?”
The footage of the schooling for medal finals in quite amazing but not typical. First, they are all experienced riders and well trained show horses. There are no jumps in the arena, no beginners, no significant differences in levels of training.
Might I add that at lesson type barns if the instructor in the ring says ALL HALT that people hacking do so? If a student is in danger your extended trot can wait.
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Crowded or even semi-crowded warm-up rings just make me want to quit showing. ACK. I hate them.
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I think a lot of it also depends on the discipline.
In a hunter/jumper based group, most people are either going to be “going large” or making a circle.
In a dressage based group, you will have lots of people doing lateral work, serpentines, and other figures, so “left hand to left hand” is not sufficient.
Also, if one person is “going large”, and another is making a circle (large or small) in the opposite direction, I would assume that the person making the circle would stay inside the track. Having the person going large cut through the middle of the other person’s circle is just asking for trouble, regardless whether it is technically “left hand to left hand” or not.
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