In feet instead of meters?
We now have real dressage arena ( letters, rails, large) yay!
It’s been awhile so I am reviewing letters etc.
I am currently reviewing how to ride a correct 20 meter circle.
Figuring out the 4 meter points is fun!
Anyway, would it easier or more difficult if it was in feet?
20 meters = 65.616 ft.
10 meters = 32.808 ft
6 meters = 19.606 ft.
4 meters = 13.123ft.
Imagine having to set that up!
I dont understand the question. Makes no difference either way.
. Just use the two sided measuring tapes which have both.
Don’t understand the question.
It is the same size, whether you measure it in feet or meters.
Other than being harder to memorize the dimensions in feet (use a cheat sheet), it is no harder to set up.
[QUOTE=AnastasiaBeaverhousen;8560147]
In feet instead of meters?
We now have real dressage arena ( letters, rails, large) yay!
It’s been awhile so I am reviewing letters etc.
I am currently reviewing how to ride a correct 20 meter circle.
Figuring out the 4 meter points is fun!
Anyway, would it easier or more difficult if it was in feet?
20 meters = 65.616 ft.
10 meters = 32.808 ft
6 meters = 19.606 ft.
4 meters = 13.123ft.
Imagine having to set that up![/QUOTE]
Some of us have when the metric tape “walks”. It’s easier if you convert straight to feet and inches, rater than just feet and a % of feet.
6m=19’ 8.22"
12m=39’ 4.44’.
10m=32’ 9.7’
Do you mean: Would it be OK to set up an arena that is 60 x 120 feet, or 60 x 180 feet instead of the exact measurments?
It is fine for general riding. Many arenas with solid walls or fencing are build 60 feet wide becuase that works out to an even number of 10 or 12 foot long sections for boards. For riding dressage tests, the difference is enough that you can just barely tell that it is a bit tighter. I actually like it, because if you get used to riding figures in a 60 foot wide arna, it seems a bit easier when you move to the 20 meter (66 foot) competition arena.
You will see 60 x 180 foot arenas are sometimes used for schooling shows, and on rare occasions for “level 1” shows, but they are not legal for most recognized shows.
A 60 x 180 foot arena is not good for practicing a freestyle. Even though the difference in size is slight, it is enough to throw your timing off for the music.
If you are just asking it if is OK to round off to the nearest foot – i.e. 66 feet wide rather than 65.616 – yes, that is fine. No one is ever going to notice if the arena size or placement of the letters is off by less than 6". That would be fine, even for practicing freestyles.
Is this question about trying to see the 4m/circle points? I don’t try to see in meters. I do the math ahead of time and then tell myself, ok that magic 4m point (or any other point) is whatever fraction of the distance between those 2 letters, 1/3 for example. One third and halfway are much easier to see than blocks of meters. The exception would be where the distance is just a meter or 2 aka 3ish or 6ish feet. Those are easy enough to picture in my head and imagine I am drawing them on the ground in front of where I will ride.
If you still can’t find the circle points with the fraction method, mark them with something until you get comfortable and are able to visualize them.
Or are you just heaving a sigh of relief that we get to do this sport in meters instead of feet? !
When I started riding lessons as a re-rider, I realized that I didn’t have a good visual estimate sense of distances. Doesn’t matter if they are in metres or feet 
it’s hard for me to look at a distance and say what it measures. I didn’t grow up with any kind of standard sized arenas, or jump lessons counting poles. And we kept our horses in odd little backyard padoocks, so I didn’t get an eye for the size of acreage.
Same issue with home decorating. I can’t look at my living room, go to the store, and pick up the right sized carpet or sofa. Can anyone? I need to measure the room, measure the furniture. I can’t look at a room, a stall, a field, and reliably say how big it is. Though I am trying to stock pile some visual “measurement memories” in my mind, and that helps. That’s what an 11 by 11 foot stall looks like, that’s what a 20 acre property looks like, etc.
Interesting, I think 20 metre circle, but just know it’s the full circle in the arena, and 10 metres is half that.
When I think about rooms, stalls, acreage, I’m using imperial not metric.
I’m actually always amazed when I realize that a 20 metre circle is 65 feet across, because it doesn’t look that big IRL. A 65 foot wide indoor arena always feels a bit tight and enclosed to me, but when I had a 17 foot wide living room (old-style Baltimore row house) it seemed enormous! Horse dimensions and human dimensions are just so different.
I guess it is perspective. Like having 4 quarters instead of a hundred pennies. Same amount but it makes a difference carrying it around.
I walked it out this afternoon and I have a better idea of hitting the correct spots.
It is much easier to count to 4 than it is to count out 13 and something inches.
4meter?
[QUOTE=alibi_18;8560723]
4meter?[/QUOTE]
From the corner to the first letter is 6m. Another 4 meters is required to find the point where a 20m circle touches the arena wall. In the large arena that is 1/3 of the way to the next letter. Does that answer the question?
[QUOTE=sascha;8560731]
From the corner to the first letter is 6m. Another 4 meters is required to find the point where a 20m circle touches the arena wall. In the large arena that is 1/3 of the way to the next letter. Does that answer the question?[/QUOTE]
Oh. Yes, of course. I thought is was about setting up the ring itself!
I always rode to the 1/3rds but really, I never really had problems with my geometry.
Walking your figures in the ring is the best way to learn/feel your distances.
OP, you could use smaller cones to the outside of the ring to help you out visualize the right distances.
Exclamation Would it make a significant difference if dressage arenas were measured
In feet instead of meters?
Yes. Because I’m an american and can’t figure out meters like the rest of the world…
I don’t understand the question(s). Feet can be converted to meters, meters can be converted to feet. Riding a 20 meter circle is the same as riding any other circle. 4 meters?? 6 meters?? There is no 4 meter point on a 20 meter circle. The four points of the 20m circle in a 20m wide arena would be:
centerline (10m)
wall
centerline (10m)
wall
Total width of circle = 20 meters
I have two 20 x 60 dressage arenas. When setting up the arenas, I calculate arena lay out and letter layout converting meters to feet. When riding, I ride in meters.
Arena 1: Indoor
Riding space: 20 x 60 meters, or 65.6 x 196.8 feet
Arena 2: Outdoor
20 x 60 arena set up inside large fenced area. To set up my dressage court, I calculate from fence corner (in feet) where each corner of the 20 x 60 court goes, and set it up from there.
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