Drainpipes as jump poles ! cheap alternative to show jump poles

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maisiemoo

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Did have a brain wave today and bought some 10ft white drain pipe which i will jazz up with some coloured tape. Alot cheaper than showjumps and lighter for my daughter to carry , thought they go well with my polyjump blocks anyone think i'm nuts, also got a 10ft plank which was classed as an oddment from Jewsons for £3 which i am painting , what have others used as jumps ?
 
No we did that when I was a child. If you use the heavier ones they're great - we have a couple from when I was in my teens still going, and I'm over 40 now! The lighter ones blow away in windy weather, and break if a horse stands on them, so make sure you've got the right ones. Have fun painting/putting tape on. They will come up great!
 
Nope, i had exactly the same, untill reasently i've never been on a yard with real jumps, so i've always made my own, i,ve used doors, shaving bales, old tyers and buckets as fillers, small black bins for stands, old road signs (the plank things that fence a hole in the path), and fencing posts and drains for poles.
 
If you put some sand in the tubes and bung up the ends, they are a bit heavier and harder to knock off.
We've used the cardboard tubes that come in the middle of carpets as they are quite thick. Down side is you have to store them inside so they don't get wet but they are cheap if not free and you can paint them.
 
I am looking for 'square' or semi circular drainpipes in white to use as dressage arena boards, not sure where i will find them?

(why have some on our conserveratory though I don't think mum will appriciate it if i remove them?)
 
I know lots of people that use the heavy duty plastic pipes for jump rails, they seem to survive quite a battering, although I wouldn't trust the lightweight ones. Perhaps, if you used the lighter ones if you taped them from end to end if they did break they'd bend rather than shatter?

I am quite fortunate, OH makes our standards (excuse the left over toxic pinkness of these) I get distracted and paint them (unfinished, they're unique anyway;)) and as we have about 15 acres of pine plantation on the property we just go out and cut down a couple of trees for poles.
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Re gutters for dressage boards, I asked a local gutter company if they had any white ones, and they gave me some - they have to pay to take them to the tip, so are glad to get rid of them...
 
I used to use drainpipes but as they were so lightweight the pony soon learnt it was fine to hit them as he couldnt feel them! then had a huge shock when i used wooden poles again
 
I use tryres and tree branches to make rustic looking fences. Old feed sacks to make a scary water tray effect on ground. Wall of tyres so looks like a cross country style fence.

I also hinted about the lovely gift sets at the back of last years robinsons xmas gift guide and gues what OH brought me, 2 proper jumps.
 
I used tree-stakes.....about 10ft long wooden poles with a pointed end ....they are wooden but thinner than usual poles but only cost about 8quid.....much cheaper than buying proper jump poles......OH squared the end off and painted them stripey....Voila!
 
hudsonw said:
We've used the cardboard tubes that come in the middle of carpets as they are quite thick. Down side is you have to store them inside so they don't get wet but they are cheap if not free and you can paint them.
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My dad is a carpet fitter and sometimes you get plastic poles in the middle of the carpets - he bought me about 10 home the other day - they are perfect. They are grey but I bought the pole covers for them.
 
my friend uses childs potties from the £ shop as cups for trotting poles. works a treat as the poles sit nicely in the round groove bit.
 
sue12345 said:
my friend uses childs potties from the £ shop as cups for trotting poles. works a treat as the poles sit nicely in the round groove bit.
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Now that is a seriously ingenious idea! :D

I have been forraging in the forest many a time for straight fallen branches. Even the slightly wonky ones, which are good for spook busting and more rustic looking jumps. If you take a wheelbarrow and vehicle, there are often some short and dumpy logs left over from tree felling, and they make great jump wings - you can have a great day going out and setting up lots of jumps in your local forest/wood, and going back the next day to ride them all :)

Car tyre places are also happy to give them away if you explain what for (think they just want to be reassured that you don't want 100s and won't be burning them) as they have to pay to have the bald ones taken away.

I *may* have also been road cone collecting once, in the mischievous olden days. great fillers, bending poles, for the middle of a circle to check your circle is round, and i'm sure they should make great wings if you could cut out a semi circle for the pole at the top. *whistles*
 
Enfys - love the painting (I can even forgive the pink just this once!)

Sue12345 - thanks for letting us know about the child's potties idea. Next time I'm in a big town with a pound shop I'll be looking out for those.

Plastic pipes - I've found guttering pipes are too light and too easy to break. What is good, though is the heavier duty stuff - sometimes they use it for running power cables through (I think). The blue tubing stuff that you often see along the side of the road when they're doing roadworks. Don't know where you buy it from - but I found three or four lengths of it once which had been fly tipped and decided that the blue (and one yellow, fatter, one too) tubes would be very useful, so went back when it was quiet and raided the fly-tipped stuff. Strong, much more solid than guttering and extremely unlikely to break - but far lighter and easier to handle than wood (and already comes in bright colours!).

Please don't everyone now go nicking them from local roadworks though! I don't want to get in trouble!
 
I think they can be good, but I've found that even with the proper poly jump poles my horse knows he can just kick them down as they are too light to bother him. He got a bit of a shock when we recently moved to a new yard and they have proper heavy wooden poles, I always knew he could jump, he just didn't see why he should bother! Sometimes they are too smart!
 
Faro said:
Enfys - love the painting (I can even forgive the pink just this once!)
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The pink is noxious enough, but you should see the green ones! I swear they shine in the dark :eek: People see them and go "Whooooooooooooooo" and step backwards :D Paint was leftover from daughter's bedroom, which, understandably, she now wants to paint rather less brightly;)

Potties? I wonder if the dollar store has them?.................
 
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