Ellipse and Oval Arena Layouts

Published 7 July 2026 · Updated 21 July 2026

By YardForge

Indoor schools and some warm-up rings use rounded short sides — effectively an ellipse inscribed in a rectangle.

Recommended workflow

1. Open the designer and set the bounding rectangle via Project → Arena size… (e.g. 40 × 80 m).
2. In the Arena panel, pick the Ellipse boundary preset (or L-shape / cut corner). For freeform ovals, use draw custom polygon and place enough corners to approximate the curve.
3. Connect the course so the ridden path bows around the short ends — drag path control points on long legs instead of cutting the chord.

Measuring the curve

Use the tape measure tool to check that bowed legs match the intended riding distance. Stride labels update along the foot path.

When to use a plain rectangle

For affiliated FEI/BS courses on standard rings, a rectangle with correct width × length is usually sufficient — see FEI arena dimensions.