Circle detail question...how big is a 10 meter circle.

[theresak]

@Silverbridge

It’s clear that has to be the case because only the outside of the horse can touch the outside of the circle on the rail side (or rail touch-point) of whatever circle we are describing. On the inside of the area, however, the line is imaginary and we can center our horses and ourselves right over the touch point or line. Many posters have noticed, and noted, that the rail’s stationary presence forces the circle to be entirely inside of it. Poltroon in particular articulated the incongruity very well.

Yet, several posters have made clear that their trainers ALWAYS prescribed putting the CENTER of the horse over the centerline or quarterline. The consensus there seems to be that anyone who notices that putting the CENTER of the horse over the line is possible at the imaginary touchpoint but physically impossible at the rail touchpoint is overthinking. “Just do it.” “Tradition.” “Cavalry.”

I agree that it’s interesting and noteworthy that some living judges now expect it in one place and others in another.

I noted this exact thing early in this thread - I was clinicing with a 5* judge and asked for help with the 10m circles in 4th/PSG because it seemed like a dumb place to lose points. She said the most common error is the circle is too big and to always aim for the inside of the center line. Also, a lot of people go into the circles with too much gait and end up with lopsided circles; the trot should have small but high/active steps, otherwise you end up pulling the neck around the second half of the circle and losing the outside of the body.

[CHT]

Yes, my questioning has also led to the conclusion that the circle should be inside the size (so a 10 meter circle should fit into a 10 meter box), unless otherwise specified for geometry sake, BUT, it is not defined anywhere in the rules, and as there seemed to be different opinions, (some quite aggressively so!), I feel it should be defined in the rules. I mean, they define the correct footfalls of the different gaits, so why not define with precision the method one should ride/size a circle?

It is nice to see that others also were told the same thing by advanced judges.

[Manni01]

glad to see that I was right I really got confused by the discussion…

[Velvet]

@atlatl

Just had this conversation at a clinic and was told that the outside of the horse defines the outside of a circle. That makes sense to me since that’s pretty much what’s on the rail.

Either way 10m is 10m

This has always been the rule. I didn’t realize there was any debate about that in anyone’s mind. Interesting.