Jumping in a 20x40 manege...

[jumpthemoon]

Is it possible to school over fences sufficiently to compete at BSJA in a 20x40? Does anyone do this? I can go for lessons on a weekly/fortnightly basis where there is a 60x30, but at home the manege is 20x40.

How difficult is it going to be for me - I've not jumped in it before as the surface is rubbish, but it's being resurfaced in a few weeks, so I'll be able to do some practise.

 

[showjump]

My school is 20 x 40, in an ideal world id love a bigger one, but i manage in mine.

I tend to put jumps down the long side and in the midle have a cluster of 2/ 3 so theres space round the edge.

Ive had a course of 8 in mine with a double, anyway if you can master jmping in a smaller arena it should be easy in a bigger one!!

 

[jumpthemoon]

That's true! By the time we get out to a competition the arena will seem huge

I suppose I'll have to do bounces instead of related distances...

 

[showjump]

I can get a 3 stride in mine, and a treble but that was quite tight!!

 

[miller]

Used to livery at a riding school with a 22 x 39 - schooled horse regularly over 2 doubles, treble and spreads - competing up to Fox B&C at the time - plenty of room when you get out and really gets the horse thinking

 

[AutumnRose]

Yep we only have a 20x40 and it's suprising what you can do. My YO competed up to advanced eventing and managed it. Can do a 3 stride and 4 strides on a dog leg, gets the horses thinking and when you go out the areans seem huge!!!

 

[flyingfeet]

You can easily get a 6 strides related distance in if you use the diagonal

I have currently got 9 jumps in mine, a triple, two doubles and a few single jumps. Horses find it dead easy competing now, as its no where near as hard as training at home!!!

 

[jumpthemoon]

Wow looks like I'm worried for nothing then! Although how I'd get 9 jumps in there I don't know!!! I suppose I'll get good at course building

Feeling more positive now, thanks

 

[catembi]

I've got a 20x40 & it's not even fenced. I did a jumping lesson in there on Tues & it was fine - we were doing grids & got 3 canter bounces down the long side wth no probs. We compete bsja. As others have said, it forces you to refine your controls, which can't be a bad thing.

I've got 6 pairs of wings & 12 poles.

 

[flyingfeet]

Worth adding I chopped all my 12ft poles down to 3metres (just under 10ft) and have 6ft stile poles in one jump.

All the plastic jumps I own were 3m so made sense to have everything the same size so I could mix my plastic poles, planks and fillers with my wooden poles. I also have a nice stash of firewood now!!!

I went to train at Angie Thompsons and she had a course of 14 jumps in a 20 x 40m, which was amazing, and I need to go back to copy her designs! I do have slightly less jumps so that I can do 20 m circles (you couldn't in Angies!)

 

[Santa_Claus]

Before YO built the outdoor school I only had access to a 15x30m indoor. Now remember I was on a 17h2 lanky warmblood lol. Well I could get three fences across the centre of the school, 2 straight and one on an angle or I could put a one strided double or two bounces up! I think it amazed some of the liveries when they saw me jumping 1m10+ fences in there with him set up like it was! Worked though and we were competing sucessfully fox/1m25s on a regular basis. You do get used to it and it did help our turning and jump offs indoors and he became surprisingly nippy in an indoor jump off!!

 

[little_pink_piggies]

I compete up to intermediate/1m30 BSJA on a 16.2 tb out of a 20x40 with a really crappy surface!

I can get a parallel-upright-parallel one stride treble in there, i can get a decent grid (4 fences) but thats tight and i can get a small course... it actually helps as you appreciate the size of the ring at a competition!!

 

[lizzie_liz]

Our yard has a 20x40 and there is the room for the fences but what our yard does lack are wings and fences, however someone has since made a load of fences which are now in a field.

But with a 20x40 you learn to be creative with fences and put them at various angles scattered around the place. It does make you really ride.

 

[kerilli]

my former trainer produced a horse to 4* level with only a 20x40 manege. grids across the diagonal is one solution, but you need 2 people to make sure it lines up, really! v thin wings that hang off the p&r fence (if you have one) means you can build right to the edge, too, to build a course.

 

[Joss]

You are wonderfully lucky to have an arena at home. I compete at Intermediate B.E/1m20 & dont have an arena at all. Have to box up to go & use other peoples......

I did have an arena set out in a field between cuts of silage but now all the fields are full of naughty bovines!!!

 

[Jade2007]

It's a pain in the a*se because you can't do any grids, even more annoying when you have a 60x20 school that you're not allowed to jump in

And don't see how you could get a 3 stride double up the long side, can only just fit a 2 stride double for my 14hh pony!

Try doing the zig zag thing:
/
\
/
\

Whre you go over a jump, circle to the next on the line and keep going. 'tis very fun in a thin school, especially on a sharp little pony

You can also do dog legs and doubles at angles:
-
.-

 

[Gingerbird]

I managed it happily for year, and my horse was about as flexible as a sideboard!!!!

As others have said, once you go out in to a comp arena its a peice of cake because you have so much space!

 

[StaceyTanglewood]

This is why when i had my school built at home we had a 30x60 built x

 

[DidiR]

the key to getting more jumps in to a small area, is to "see" more than just the 2 long sides and the 2 long diagonals as your options.

I saw a demo on course-building at the British Equine Event (now your horse live??) a long time ago...

See short diagonals... eg K-B etc, and other angled lines which are not necessarily marker to marker.

Use shorter poles - even down to 9ft, and narrow jump stands, or stands that can be used to support poles both sides, eg barrels and some of the blok/polyjumps.

Set your jumps inside the track, so that you can go around a jump at say K, and make the line to B rideable.

Also build uprights and oxers that can be jumped both ways, as well as ascending spreads that are single direction only.

Have fun !!

 

[Thistle]

Another thing you can do is make a double and then inside it on a dog leg of 3 strides another fence which can be jumped alone or as a dog leg using part of the double.

 

[avthechav]

oooohhhh cotswold SJ, ive been going to Angie for lessons too- Its amazing how she fits that course in and also how much you gain from having to jump a course accurately because it is tight. I went on Tuesday and she had a grid down the long side with a double, a bounce and an upright. So much fun and I have been learning loads- do you still go there?

 

[RachelFerd]

jumping in a 20x40 is fine - anyone with their own school is pretty lucky any rate!

I have no problem fitting in a 4-part grid down the long side, or 5 part down the diagonal. You can do all sorts using the centre line, short diagonals and building fences right up to the edge of the arena.

Jump 4 joy stands which can have poles coming off at different angles are useful, because you can have one upright that is being a stand for 3 different jumps at once.Having 10ft poles rather than 12ft ones definitely makes a difference too.

Rockhampton EC in south glos is a BSJA centre, and I swear is only about 25x50, and they fit full courses in there...

 

[ann-jen]

I jump BSJA too and practice in a 20x40 most of the time. I can fit a 1 stride triple no problem down the long side and have had a full course in there. We also have a 40x40m at the yard but believe it or not its actually easier to set out a course in the 20x40 than in the square arena where turns onto the diagonal become very acute.

 

[Hattikins]

A well known and respected Show jumper in my area who produces young show jumpers and occasionally eventers, has little more than a 20 x 30 school and produces horses from british novice to 1.30m opens and beyond. So its very possible to do it in a small school

 

[teapot]

And to test your control - you can have a fence on the centre line and then one or more on both 3/4 lines. Did this as an exercise a couple of weeks ago and it really gets you thinking. Or you can just circle behind them to get a better approach.