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Dressage arena savvy
by Theresa Odendaal

Have you ever looked at a dressage arena and wondered at the seemingly haphazard sequence of the letters, where the exact size comes from and what prompted the dressage fathers to adopt this formula as standard? Well, you are probably not the only one.

There are two kinds of dressage arenas: Firstly there is the small or children-sized arena, which is 40 x 20 m in size. The letters around the outside are clockwise from the entrance: A. K, E, H, C, M, B and F – which has given rise to that little poem, " All King Edward's Horses Carry Many Big Fools". Along the centre line we have the letters D, X and G.

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The second arena is the full-size or standard arena and the letters, clockwise along the outside from the entrance, are: A, K, V, E, S, H, C, M, R, B, P, F, and along the centre line, D, L, X, I and G. In both arenas, X marks the centre of the arena. The letters closest to the corners along the long side, are 6 m from the corner and the other letters are 12 m apart.

But why? Did those who designed the arena not know their alphabets, or is there some other reason behind this seemingly random selection of letters? Why the size and exact measurements?

It is commonly believed that the German cavalry had a space of 20 x 60 m in between the barracks in which to practice and exercise their horses, and that the letters were the letters posted above the barrack doors. The measurements between the letters were the exact distances between the barracks (Wikipedia). At least according to this belief, one is assured that there is some method behind the madness!

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