Top Reasons Why Dressage Arenas Are Lettered the Way They Are:

[lizathenag]

From the TackoftheDay website. . .

Top Reasons Why Dressage Arenas Are Lettered the Way They Are:

* After riding 500 20m circles in rapid succession, who can remember the alphabet?

* The letters are consecutive and in alphabetical order, in a now extinct language spoken only by early 18th century Hanoverian carriage horses.

* The very first dressage arena was designed by the lowest-bid contractor.

* The letters were originally laid out by beleaguered riding pupils to facilitate pranks on their instructors, in which the pupils would pretend to be schooling various movements and figures while actually spelling out slanderous curses, in German, against their cruel and heartless instructors, their diabolical horses, and whatever silly person invented this dressage thing in the first place.

* The letters are actually advertising billboards paid for by Sesame Street (This piaffe-passage transition was brought to you by the letter G!).

* Well, the letters are supposed to be in alphabetical order, but somebody's Trakehner keeps getting out at night and rearranging them.

* The other letters in the alphabet are there all right, they're just invisible--what do you think your horse has been spooking at all these years?

* What, you mean they're NOT in alphabetical order? Hey, that would explain why nobody else seems to understand how I've organized the office files...

[mcm7780]

:lol: That's funny!

[whicker]

Love it!

I have been threatening to have little garden gnomes with LED lights to hold the letters so I can ride at night. Best after dinner some wine...

[JackSprats Mom]

Thats too funny!

[Dressage Art]

* The letters are actually advertising billboards paid for by Sesame Street (This piaffe-passage transition was brought to you by the letter G!)

* It's the first letters of royal families VIP seating/balconies around the dressage arena.

[Spyromaniac]

Haha, that's great - the German curses one is my favorite.

[merrygoround]

They also chose those particular letters because so many of them end in the double E sound, making it easier to hear directional commands over the sound of hooves in footing!!

:D:D:D

[Beasmom]

Designed by dyslexics.

So we can all chant "All King Edward's Horses Can Manage Big Fences", or any other nonsense you can think of.

Remember, the secondary letters are RSVP. But what do the letters up the center spell?
DLXIG. WTF. See? Dyslexic. Almost.

[Mozart]

Perhaps they are the first initials of some Hanoverian king's mistresses?

[Janet]

To provide passwords that are easy for us to remember, but completely context free for the non-dressage people.

[Mozart]

To provide passwords that are easy for us to remember, but completely context free for the non-dressage people.

As in "Enter at A" (AAAagggrrhhh)
"C" turn left (Could you stop trying to veer right??)

etc.
Halt at X ("X%#@&@##% horse!!!)

[Maya01]

:lol: oh dear - that is funny.

I use "Sam Rides Viscous Ponies" to remember SRVP (Friends and I made it up when I was 11) :D

[Couture TB]

The one I learned for remembering the basic Dressage letters was " A Fat Black Mare Can Hold Eight Kids" :lol:

[Alagirl]

:lol: oh dear - that is funny.

I use "Sam Rides Viscous Ponies" to remember SRVP (Friends and I made it up when I was 11) :D


HAHAHAHAHAHA, matches the fat black mare...I suppose. :lol::lol::lol::lol:


(office files, bwahahahahahaha)

[TBMaggie]

"A Full Barn Makes Feeding Heck"

[TBMaggie]

Ok, what I just said makes no sense. I don't think.
Never mind.

[atlatl]

All Kind Elephants Have Common Mothers Brothers Fathers

[joiedevie99]

All Fine Brood Mares Can Have Extra Kix (the cereal)

[Trixie's mom]

i think they represent the first letter/sound of the words uttered from my mouth when i attempt a movement at that specific location..

A- trying to halt there...a$$ hole
K- kick, kick, kick
E- EEEK FLOWER BOX
H- Holy $hi#
C- crap, missed the halt again
M-Man, i overshot the turn
B- Butthead
F- no explanation needed as i'm unable to half halt my runaway horse at the extended canter back to the collected canter


i really don't think these things...well except for the last one...happened a few times

[Janet]

All Kind Elephants Have Cute Mothers, Bad Fathers

[Ambrey]

So why ARE they lettered that way? Is the Wikipedia answer correct?

Most commonly it is believed because the German cavalry had a 20 x 60 meter area in between the barracks which had the letters posted above the doors

[anchorsaway]

So why ARE they lettered that way? Is the Wikipedia answer correct?

Ohhhhhh....
that makes a lot of sense actually!

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

When I helped set up the rings for my GMO at shows, I ALWAYS did it backwards so the damn pneumonic doesn't work if you're dyslexic! You have to keep looking at the clock to know which is clockwise.

[Maya01]

When I helped set up the rings for my GMO at shows, I ALWAYS did it backwards so the damn pneumonic doesn't work if you're dyslexic! You have to keep looking at the clock to know which is clockwise.

:lol: I always forget which way is clockwise or counter clock wise! Same with my lefts and rights! I ALWAY mess them up :lol:

It would make sense the Wikipedia is right - it usually is. I don't know where the world would be if it wasn't for Wikipedia!

[Evntr4Life]

hahaha!! this is too funny!

[canyonoak]

Another explanation:

<< It appears that in the Old Imperial German Court the walls of the Royal Mews/Stable yard were initially marked with letters indicating where each Courtier and/or riders horse was to be
stood to await its rider.
K Kaiser/King
F Fürst/Prince
P Pferdeknecht / Ostler
V Vassal
E Edeling / Ehrengast / Guest of Honour
B Bannerträger / Standard Bearer
S Schatzkanzler / Chancellor of Exchequer
R Ritter / Knight
M Meier / Steward
H Hofsmarschall / Lord Chancellor >>

[Alagirl]

Perhaps they are the first initials of some Hanoverian king's mistresses?


HAHAHAHA, I do believe the one with the Mistresses would have needed a bigger arena...maybe the other guy with the many kids