chapter 5
Arena Grid
1.
Grid Patterns
Whenever you enter the Riding Arena for dressage practice, always click on the rake by the entrance, as this will turn on the additional sand line patterns!
Arena Grid
The arena floor has three distinct patterns that can be seen repeating across the arena:
pebble, track, and dots and spacings.
Pebble
A pattern of "pebble lines" can be seen throughout the entire arena from all orientations.
Track
A pattern of faded "dirt paths"(aka; tracks) can be seen along the center, mid, wall, and diagonal lines.
Dots & Spacings
A pattern of "bright dots" and "spacings" can be seen evenly spaced throughout the arena.
The 3 patterns within the arena floor (pebble, track, and dot) make up the arena grid. The arena grid is used to create named markers and sand lines. These patterns help riders and commanders with accuracy and precision during dressage.
When SSO was updating the arena for the second time, the game designer that was working on the new floor used PQL's original sandline dictionary as reference!
Why is it important to understand the arena grid? The arena grid is what makes up all of the sand lines and markers that are used in dressage. Without sand lines and markers, dressage would not have accurate timing and riders would have to guess when to do specific moves. Straightness is also greatly affected, due to looking at your computer screen instead of actually being in the arena - you do not have spatial awareness, which means you will not be able to sense your surroundings; this is why using sand lines and markers are so important as they can guide riders while also being a useful tool for commanders.
2.
Dot Pattern
Dots & Spacings
Throughout the arena, there are lines of evenly placed and repeating bright sand dots and spacings. Bright dots and spacings work together as patterns, think of them as partners. The bright dot pattern is the easiest to see within the arena grid.
The bright dot and spacing pattern are used to create markers, crosshair markers, common sand lines, metered circle markers, as well as metered sand lines.
Bright dot refers to the lighter colored circles of sand in the arena floor.
Spacing refers to the middle point between two bright dots.
Spacings and spacing lines do not have a definitive visual marker, unlike bright dots and bright dot sand lines. Depending on where you are in the arena, the spacing line could be a pebble line or other times a line of faded dots, or it may not have any visual markers.
Spacing & Spacing Line
What is the difference between spacing and spacing lines? It is the same concept of "dot" and "dotted line"; dot refers to one singular bright dot while dotted line means an entire row of dots that create a line.
Spacing refers to one marker that is directly between two bright dots.
Spacing lines refer to an entire sand line that falls directly between two dotted sand lines. Spacing lines stretch the entire length/width of the arena.
A & C Wall Pattern
From A to C wall, there are 9 bright dot lines that are 15 dots long.
From A to C wall, there are 8 spacing lines.
E & B Wall Pattern
From E to B wall, there are 15 bright dot lines that are 9 dots long.
From E to B wall, there are 14 spacing lines.
Understanding Distance
The bright dots and spacings within the arena floor are not randomly placed; they are evenly spaced apart with a clear pattern.
Sand lines and markers, such as the bright dots and spacings, can be used by riders to track their "move size/distance". Every dressage move has a certain "size" or "distance" that it covers. Being aware of the move size or distance can help with accuracy and precision, while also ensuring that the move is being performed correctly and that arena timing is not negatively affected.
Every bright dot or bright dot line is 5 meters apart.
Every spacing or spacing line is 5 meters apart.
From a spacing to a bright dot, or vice versa, is 2.5 meters.
A walk curl-over is equivalent to a character spacing. If a rider is on a sand line and does a walk curl-over, they will end up a character distance away from their original sand line. A character spacing is equivalent to the distance from one pebble line to the next.
A trot curl-over is equivalent to 2.5 meters. If a rider is on a bright dotted sand line and does a trot curl-over they will end up directly between 2 dotted lines on a spacing line (or vice versa).
A canter curl-over is equivalent to 5 meters. If a rider is on a bright dotted sand line and does a canter curl-over they will end up on the next dotted line over. Or, if a rider is on a spacing line and does a canter curl-over they will end up on the next spacing line over.
3.
Track Pattern
Tracks
Within the arena there are dark paths of sand bordering the walls, center and mid, and along the diagonal lines. These dark paths are known as the "track pattern".
The tracks are not typically used as actual sand lines (unlike bright dot lines and spacing lines), and instead, the track pattern is mostly an additional visual guide to help with seeing other sand lines.
4.
Pebble Pattern
Pebble Lines
The pebble pattern consists of sand lines created by rows of different-sized pebbles. This pattern can be seen with or without the additional dot patterns.
The pebble lines can be seen as an evenly spaced pattern throughout the arena from all directions. The pebble pattern has different-looking pebbles and lines, some of these may be difficult to see right away.
There are two distinctive pebble patterns, a pattern when facing E or B wall and a pattern when facing A or C wall. The E and B wall pebble lines look slightly different than the A and C wall pebble lines.
Pebble lines are used by riders to help with accuracy, precision, and straightness in dressage. Pebble lines offer additional guidance, especially when the rider is not on a highly visible sand line, like the bright dotted lines. This is especially helpful considering the bright dot lines are fairly far apart.
Each individual pebble line is roughly the width of a character and every pebble line is less than a horse length apart.
Between every bright dot sand line are roughly 3-4 pebble lines.
