I am currently trying to figure out just what size of an arena to set up, I’m not putting in anything fancy just trying to set up something simple in the grass. I’ve tried to search for it and I am having difficulty finding it.
Karen
A driving areana should be 100 metres by 40 metres and marked with the same dressage letters as for riding
Thomas, Thanks for that information, I am not sure I have 100 meteres length, I should have the 40 wide, but I’m not sure about the length. I also thought there was a smaller size stated for the vse/minis but I think thats a US thing.
Karen
[QUOTE=Jetiki;3478569]
Thomas, Thanks for that information, I am not sure I have 100 meteres length, I should have the 40 wide, but I’m not sure about the length. I also thought there was a smaller size stated for the vse/minis but I think thats a US thing.
Karen[/QUOTE]
I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case. Heck the USA have redefined and renamed a pony so why not. :winkgrin:
Yea we’re good about mucking up the original into something else. Sometimes its better, some times its not all depends on who’s looking at whatever it might be.
Would it be ok for a practice arena to be on a slight slope? I know its not ideal but for the actual 100m I’d have to use the slight slope of my pasture area. Its not a steep slope but its not flat either.
Karen
It depends:
What do you mean by slight?
What are you trying to do???
If you’re wanting to train for good dressage tests then it won’t be any good for that.
Since you aren’t in England, the ADS rules might fit your situation better.
Driven dressage section only talks about 40x80 for singles and pairs and 40x100 for 4inhands.
Under Combined driving, in the back it offers 4 other options for VSE, 20x50 and 20x40 and 30x75 and 30x60.
So you could make it what ever you wanted and be somewhere close to the options. All of these are in meters.
Price,
I have a good 30x50 area I think, but I have no way to practice the big arena unless I haul out and then I’m not sure where I’d go, or use the sloped area.
Thomas, my “pony” is 35" at the withers maintaining a bend on a 40m circle barely happens, I’m merely at training level this point.
I would use your 30x50 area, then when you get to a show, walk your arena, whatever size it is. Figure out where your turns are, look for markers, a tree, post, etc, to see where you are when you do each movement.
I have the same/similar problem. My “arena” was made for my daughter when she was eventing using a small ridden arena, 20x40. I almost never have a full size arena to practice in unless we are doing lessons at the 2 farms that have them. But you can practice your turns, transistions, halt, etc anywhere, thank goodness.
ADS rules for VSE dressage
ADS CDE rules for VSE dressage allow for arena size adjustments:
40m x 80m may be reduced to 20m x 40m or 30m x 60m
40m x 100m may be reduced to 20m x 50m or 30m x 75m
[COMBINED DRIVING APPENDIX H]
[QUOTE=pricestory;3479503]
I would use your 30x50 area, then when you get to a show, walk your arena, whatever size it is. Figure out where your turns are, look for markers, a tree, post, etc, to see where you are when you do each movement.
I have the same/similar problem. My “arena” was made for my daughter when she was eventing using a small ridden arena, 20x40. I almost never have a full size arena to practice in unless we are doing lessons at the 2 farms that have them. But you can practice your turns, transistions, halt, etc anywhere, thank goodness.[/QUOTE]
Definitely! My arena at home is too short and too wide, my trainer’s indoor arena too long and too narrow. We simply practice all of the elements over and over and then I walk the test religiously once I get to the show and figure all the angles and bends for the proper-sized arena.
20x40 was the original VSE arena size and then a year or two ago they added the option for a 30x60. 30x60 is considerably easier to drive in, especially for larger B minis, but many organizers are still using the 20x40 as it requires fewer extra fence sections and can be made by simply cutting down the larger arena and rearranging the markers. Both sizes are allowed under ADS rules to make it easy for organizers to offer the division. They can do whatever works for them and their venue!
I’d say make the biggest arena you can in order to practice free forward movement but occasionally mark out a 20x40 area so your horse gets used to practicing in that smaller, tighter space and doesn’t get antsy when she encounters it in competition. It’s no fun to have them rushing through their corners and or losing all impulsion because they (and you) feel squished!
Leia
Thanks
Thanks everyone, for the information. I’m going to lay it out this weekend and figure it out. I’ll post pics when I get it done.
Karen
I have a ‘regular’ arena–one with a full perimeter fence, as is common for pursuits other than dressage, esp. Western ones—that is 125 X 250 FEET.
I have used surveyors’ tape tied onto the lower part of the perimeter fence(which has HD steel posts w/ a welded top and bottom pipe, and 1/4" steel ‘rod’ cattle panels then welded onto this ‘top and bottom framework’) to mark off a ‘ROUGHLY’ 20 M x 40 M area in which to work dressage–‘crossways’ of one end of the arena—which works pretty well.
I have tried setting up a ‘roughly’ 40 x 80 M area(essentially, the entire arena), and that is AWFULLY big for VSEs. I have also tried a roughly 30 x 60 M area, and think that WOULD be about ‘just right’ for VSEs. Can see how it would be much easier for event organizers to want to just ‘go with’ a 20 x 40 M one, but it IS somewhat restrictive in size.
Margo in lovely fall-ish NM
You might also want to occasionally drive the mini in a sand arena, to keep up the fitness. It is miserable, but some folks think Dressage should be done in dirt. Riding rings are made with deep footing, really hard to drive in, but that is what you face.
Dirt and deep dirt especially are hard on driving animals, but really hard on the minis. He would need to do dirt now and again, to know how to manage his load, help in fitness, if done for short periods.
I do have hills to condition on, but I don’t have sand or access to sand. We did go to a show last year and the footing was horrible and she handled it well being conditioned on the hills.
Karen
Good advice, goodhors!
I went to the Ram Tap CDE in California last year after conditioning my mini for four months in the only indoor arena available to me (January through April is NOT good driving weather here in WA) and ran into real trouble with the footing. The grounds had been groomed for eventing (read: deep, loose, nasty sand) and my horse tired out far too early from the unaccustomed strain. This year I am going to stop avoiding the water-soaked hogsfuel outdoor arena and each of our lessons will include a little time spent muscling through the incredibly deep footing out there. Obviously I will warm him up thoroughly first and not ask him to do anything beyond his strength so as to avoid injury, but I think one walking lap won’t kill an already-tough horse and WILL condition him.
Believe it or not, I just bought one of the little metal coil-spring easy entry training carts most people start out with; this is despite the fact I already have a Bellcrown Minicrown, Graber show cart and a Hyperbike that’s great for cross-country. I wanted something that was both heavier than the Hyperbike for conditioning purposes and that I didn’t have to feel guilty about driving through deep mud and other winter nastiness! :lol: This is my “trashable cart.” 
Leia
She’s been in deep sand before, her training for the most part was done in Fl. She’s handled horrible footing before, but I really don’t think the dressage area of the show we are planning on is going to be that bad, it looked fairly well packed last year the cones arena well thats a whole nother ball of wax that was deep last year but she handled it well.
Karen
