Homemade Jumps

If you mean show jumps then I do the following - less wood means cheaper!

For each wing:

1 upright - approx 4 feet long depending on how big you want to jump
1 foot - I prefer quite a deep "plank" for this, about 18 inches long
2 joiners - each about 18 inches long, any sturdy peice of wood for these

Method - Stand your upright up and attach one of the joiners to one side at the bottom and the other the other side. Then attach your foot at the back of the joiners. Your foot will be like the top of a T, the two joiners uprights of the T, and the upright will be sandwiched between the uprights. Use screws not nails!

For cups you can either use the movable metal ones (in which case make sure you buy the right dimension of wood for your upright) and then drill holes are intervals you want, or, just make some wooden cups using chunks of leftover wood.

Then paint the whole lot with gloss undercoat... gloss itself is very shiny.
 
Fillers are easy!

Go and find an industrial estate that has some pallets lying around, preferably the large ones...

Large pallets - cut in half lengthways (well, if you're a wimp like me, as they're about 4'6 whole!) so you have 2 mini "gates". The ones I have had three "arms" sticking out beyond the last upright, so i lopped off the bottom two and hung from the top one. I made my uprights so that the cup was exactly the right height for the gate to sit on the floor but also be on a cup as they are heavy. From one large pallet I made a white and a rustic like this (and the pallet was free). Damaged wooden gates can also be reused like this, lop of the broken rail and make what's left into a mini-gate.

Small pallets - good for teaching youngsters about fillers, just cut a small pallet in two and put a little foot on each end (so 4 feet in total). You'll end up with two little free standing pallets you can start at the outside of a jump and move to the middle as the horses get used to them.

Left over wood, especially half rounds, are great for making "Tiger traps". Take one plank/ rail, and at 1 foot ish intervals (make sure too wide for a horse to get hoof stuck) screw on small sections of half round (make sure all cut to same length). Then add feet to make free standing or screw in top hangers.

Leftover planks of wood just need a pair of wooden hangers screwed in, or you can buy metal ones but i never bother. If you have any colourful supplement lids you can also tack these onto a plank for a scary filler, I've used red Codlivine lids tacked onto a white plank before at approx 18 inch intervals and it looked suprisingly good!

Finally, doors also make good fillers. You can paint them as you like, or make wavy cuts in them etc.

Do of course make sure all bits of metal/ door furniture/ nails/ hanging bits of wood are cut off before you use them...! I also attach feet of free standing fillers so that the majority of the foot is at the front, that way if it gets hit it'll rock backwards and fall over.
 
Umm, I have one on my phone, if you PM me I can text it to you?

BTW, don't get conned into buying "jump poles" which cost about £12 each, just pop to a sawmill and ask what length and width posts they have, you can get them from 3 inches to massive. I usually go 4-6 inches wide and 10 feet long, and they cost about £3.50 each. If they have pointy ends just saw them off.
 
Lol, I've got bits of square white drain pipe as my arena boards!

I also have a couple of bits of blue plastic pipe about 6 inches across which are great as jump poles, no painting needed! Assume they were water pipes originally
 
Polotash said:
Fillers are easy!

Go and find an industrial estate that has some pallets lying around, preferably the large ones...

Large pallets - cut in half lengthways (well, if you're a wimp like me, as they're about 4'6 whole!) so you have 2 mini "gates". The ones I have had three "arms" sticking out beyond the last upright, so i lopped off the bottom two and hung from the top one. I made my uprights so that the cup was exactly the right height for the gate to sit on the floor but also be on a cup as they are heavy. From one large pallet I made a white and a rustic like this (and the pallet was free). Damaged wooden gates can also be reused like this, lop of the broken rail and make what's left into a mini-gate.

Small pallets - good for teaching youngsters about fillers, just cut a small pallet in two and put a little foot on each end (so 4 feet in total). You'll end up with two little free standing pallets you can start at the outside of a jump and move to the middle as the horses get used to them.

Left over wood, especially half rounds, are great for making "Tiger traps". Take one plank/ rail, and at 1 foot ish intervals (make sure too wide for a horse to get hoof stuck) screw on small sections of half round (make sure all cut to same length). Then add feet to make free standing or screw in top hangers.

Leftover planks of wood just need a pair of wooden hangers screwed in, or you can buy metal ones but i never bother. If you have any colourful supplement lids you can also tack these onto a plank for a scary filler, I've used red Codlivine lids tacked onto a white plank before at approx 18 inch intervals and it looked suprisingly good!

Finally, doors also make good fillers. You can paint them as you like, or make wavy cuts in them etc.

Do of course make sure all bits of metal/ door furniture/ nails/ hanging bits of wood are cut off before you use them...! I also attach feet of free standing fillers so that the majority of the foot is at the front, that way if it gets hit it'll rock backwards and fall over.
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what a brilliant idea - thanks :D

all i need is a pallet and some white paint :D and some glue?!

fab :D
 
Wow, those are fab BSJAlove... lots more professional looking than mine, but i'm def not up to making angled cuts that match, lol!

Charlie.. once you start looking for pallets you see them everywhere (I know, I'm sad!). Even small building projects have them lying around, supermarkets, B and Q, offices, rows of shops, all sorts! I bet if you go for a little drive you'll find a couple.

By the way, a good source of free wood is any building site.. even single house ones accumulate lots and it just gets skipped. My latest find is a friend having a new roof, already made a turkey house from her leftovers!
 
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We use 4x4 timber, one length to suit you for the post, and 4 shorter bits around the base. Paint as required, silly pictures are not mandatory;)
 
I got jump poles from a sawmill. The poles were 4" wide and came in 12' lengths that I cut to 10 then painted. Only cost £4 each. MUCH safer than drainpipes - they will shatter.

To make wing stands I got some 2x3. 5 foot for uprights with holes drilled at 3'intervals. The feet I made with 4 pieces of 2 foot 2x3 arranged squarely around the upright. You have to use coachbolts to attach them together as screws will cause injury if the horse lands on them.

Don;t forget to undercoat them all first before you paint them or the paint will just soak in!!!!
I did undercoat and then a layer of gloss. I am chuffed as my first set and poles lasted all last winter outside in the snow without any marks on them!
 
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