Another dressage question - sorry!

[DITZ]

Am sat here at work with a copy of the test in diagram form in front of me trying to memorise it and now I have another question. On the test you do a 20m circle from B but I was just wondering if there was any top tips for measuring a 20m circle? It seems to fall short of any markers.

[DITZ]

and how does a halt immobility salute vary from a halt salute - how long are you supposed to halt for?

[martini55]

Hello! I would ride the circle from B, just short of G, to E and then just short of D and back to B again. If you can make sense of that!!If you go here http://www.profitfromideas.co.uk/hor.../mainstart.asp and click on view sample test and scroll down there is an example of a circle at B. And with the halt, immobility salute. Halt wait till your horse is standing nice and still then salute.

[DITZ]

cheers martini, i have got the test I am doing off that website, its really good and in diagram form which makes it really easy as I havent got a clue about the letters but I can see where I am supposed to be which is fine for now. On the diagram it shows the 20m circle as falling short of G and D but seemingly going right up to E - is that right?

Also, (sorry a million questions here!) are letters G, X and D actually marked in the arena?

[Lovecat]

I can answer a bit of that one!

X is the dead centre of the arena, an imaginary spot between B and E. When you do a 20m circle at A or C, that's the opposite end of the circle from A, if that makes sense!

- I would presume that D and G are midway between M & F and K and the other one (sorry can't remember the pairs or the order! )

[martini55]

Hi, yes that is right, you should go right across to E. D G and X are not marked in the arena so you just have to imagine where they are. They are all down the centre line, D is directly between K and F, X between E and B and G between M and H

[DITZ]

Right I got it. Think I need to practice. Luckily have indoor arena booked for Thurs.

[galadriel]

A dressage arena is 20m wide, 60m long. When performing a 20m circle you should touch both sides. If you're doing a 20m circle from E or B, you should touch both E and B as you are going around. A circle from C or A should touch the long side 10 down from C or A.
http://www.galadriel.shaftnet.org/ho...20mcircles.gif
(large-sized image)

If you don't have a handy dressage arena marked out, you can usually estimate a 20m circle (66') with 20 to 22 strides. You might want to measure your stride first, though, and see if your stride is much longer/shorter than 1m. I'm 5'10" and my normal walking stride is approx 3', so for me it's a good approximation.