Arena etiquette: what's the right answer.

[Annagain]

I think I'd have said "If you give me 10 minutes, I'll finish up then come and give you a hand. He won't take the jumps going out very well." I would hope the offer of help, as well as the explanation, would make him wait as he'd feel a bit in your debt and realise you're not just being awkward. I'd then take my time untacking so most of the work was done and be all apologetic about not getting back in time . It'll probably only work the once though .

 

[planete]

A big yard with a 20x40 arena should have rules to keep everybody safe or have a much bigger arena. A yard I was at specified no lunging while other people were riding for instance. Putting up jumps while somebody is working a nervous horse in such a small space is a tad inconsiderate. It would be ok with a seasoned well schooled and experienced horse. For the sake of a ten minute wait I would much rather keep a fellow livery safe. I have a pony with very extreme reactions to any slightly unusual situations and I know I will hit the deck in a split second if he flips. Like C.I. I manage as best as I can and spend a lot of our time together habituating him to every possible situation in a controlled manner, schooling him and building up trust but a ten minute delay to avoid boiling point would be much appreciated. Never mind etiquette, just common sense. My yard also had several young horses and we all took it for granted that we would keep an eye on them for any signs of upset when sharing and even stop moving if necessary.

 

[SEL]

I'm not sure it is a question of arena etiquette really, just different types of personality trying to interact and share a space.

Google 'askers vs guessers'. I don't know how scientific it is but there certainly are people who ask for whatever they want, whenever they want it, fully accepting that the answer may be no. And there are other people who never ask for anything unless they are almost certain that the answer will be yes and therefore feel obligated to say yes to any requests that someone else makes of them.

So I guess the question is - did you agree to the guy moving the jumps because he put any pressure on you to, or just because your own brain made you feel obligated to say yes when you really meant no?

Well that's my personality summed up nicely!!

I had to learnt to smile and ask for the extra 10 minutes when I was on a yard with a lady who couldn't give a **** about other people in the arena and would happily set up two grids on the long sides and then get annoyed when people wouldn't get out of her way, even though it was an enormous school and the rest of us used to share nicely. The YO had to say something in the end when she turned up one Sunday morning to find a small child in tears because her carefully put up cross poles had been put up to 3 foot - whilst the child was in there trotting over them!!

I find people take it a lot better if you are smiling when you say no though.

 

[Caol Ila]

I'd say the arena etiquette at our yard is basically Lord of the Flies. Assertive riders on bold, quick horses have right of way!

Got into a discussion on my personal FB page where I asked whether people follow the rule of left-to-left at all times, regardless of gait, unless someone is riding a figure like a circle or diagonal, in which case they take the inside track; OR if riders at walk should always cede the rail to faster riders, regardless of direction. My FB friends split in all ways, depending on what discipline they did and where they learned to ride. It's no wonder its anarchy at a big yard that does not have its own set of arena rules. TBH, I try my hardest to avoid the arena like the plague when it's busy.

To address a few things people raised: *If the riding school had been using the indoor, people would have either not ridden or battled the weather in the outdoor.

*The training/desensitization was riding in the indoor when it sounds like a 747 taking off because of the wind. It was empty, and the yard was quiet when I started, so I thought, good, we have an opportunity to work on this. As I am sure you all know, you can only throw so many spanners at a tricky, nervous horse at once, or they just get too trigger stacked to learn. As I said in the OP, he accepts people dragging jumps around in the outdoor. He's also not awful in the indoor when it's not blowing a hoolie.

*I'm terrible at thinking on my feet in situations like these, so only thought of asking for that extra ten minutes while I was driving home. Then I thought, "Would I have been a dick saying that?" Hence this thread.

*On that note, jumping off him and doing groundwork would have also been a smart idea. Good for the horse and very passive-aggressive, lol.

*Our outdoor is huge, so people just set stuff up without saying anything. Sometimes to a degree that's almost farcical. On more than one occasion, I have set up some ground poles in an empty arena, gone to fetch my horse, then while I've been warming them up, someone marches into the arena and starts turning my poles into 3ft jumps without saying a word. I have spoken up on those occasions. "Errrr.... I just set those up ten minutes ago." They have said, "Oh, sorry. Can I make two or three of them into jumps?"

*The ethics of setting up a course of jumps in a small indoor when the weather is too wild to hack or use the outdoor are definitely questionable, in my mind, but people do it so you just have to live with it.

*Planete's yard sounds lovely.

 

[millitiger]

Genuinely can't see anyone who has said that. There are a couple of posters talking about the difficulty/not wanting to school in that kind of space with someone also jumping. Mostly people are talking about the interaction between two humans because that's what the op asked about.

I don't want to make people uncomfortable but below are 2 x direct quotes from this thread. Either not phrased well or people saying they struggle to school around jumps in a 20 x 40

"4-5 jumps in a 20x40 makes any schooling difficult."

"especially in that small a space is just rude IMO, regardless of whether your horse would be tipped over the edge you cant practice proper flat work in that small space well around jumps"

 

[nikkimariet]

I'm not sure it is a question of arena etiquette really, just different types of personality trying to interact and share a space.

Google 'askers vs guessers'. I don't know how scientific it is but there certainly are people who ask for whatever they want, whenever they want it, fully accepting that the answer may be no. And there are other people who never ask for anything unless they are almost certain that the answer will be yes and therefore feel obligated to say yes to any requests that someone else makes of them.

So I guess the question is - did you agree to the guy moving the jumps because he put any pressure on you to, or just because your own brain made you feel obligated to say yes when you really meant no?

Well, both really……yes, your horse (and you) should be able to cope with what is after all normal goings on around him - and if it was me I’d be happy to use it as a further schooling/obedience/concentration opportunity - and yes, it would be perfectly reasonable to ask for the interloper to wait for a few minutes so you could get the most out of your blessed solitude. It’s as much an attitude adjustment as anything else.

Agree with both of these

 

[DabDab]

I don't want to make people uncomfortable but below are 2 x direct quotes from this thread. Either not phrased well or people saying they struggle to school around jumps in a 20 x 40

"4-5 jumps in a 20x40 makes any schooling difficult."

"especially in that small a space is just rude IMO, regardless of whether your horse would be tipped over the edge you cant practice proper flat work in that small space well around jumps"

Yeah but they're not saying that is not possible (your wording). And therefore the existence of showjumping warmups is somewhat irrelevant...?

And schooling around jumps in a smallish space is more difficult. I do it a lot because I'm too lazy to move the jumps, and since it was me who positioned the jumps, they are in places that can still fit school figures around, but it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate the comparative ease of schooling when I have bothered to move them.

 

[millitiger]

@DabDab I think we'll just keep going in circles here (although perhaps perfect 20m ones ).

Saying 'any' schooling is difficult or that 'proper' flatwork can't be done is the same as saying it isn't possible.
I would use the tomato/tomatoe saying but I'm not sure it works written down semantics is what I mean!

I think we could say we've read these differently and have a difference of opinion, no one person has to be right

 

[Fransurrey]

I think that's fine for schooling, and in my experience, people always ask if they can come in too, but I think jumping is a bit different, I don't see how you can "share" a 20x40 arena with 4 jumps in it?

Agree. I didn't even share our 20 x 40 school for schooling when a livery asked if she could come in and lunge. I had a 4 year old in there for the first time (a week post purchase) and I'm afraid I just said a flat no. I'd booked it. She did stand outside pointedly for the next ten minutes, though...