Make your own show jumps?

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Emma86

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Hi All,

Does anyone have any ideas on cheap ways to get hold of or make show jumps? I'm searching the net but obviously looking in the wrong places and cant afford to buy anything I have seen.

Or what can I go and scavenge to make them myself (safe ones of course)?

Ideas much appreciated! TA! :)
 
I learnt to jump using two of the old oil drums... Worked just fine. The poles are about a tenner, ring your local forestry commission.
I'm trying to find cheaper alternatives for my daughter to learn so shall watch this thread, there must be some superscrimping ideas!
 
My dad made some big traditional wings out of wood for me, they are very good but so hard to move.. I can't move them alone. For poles, To start of with we used drainpipes (ones the width of jump poles not skinny ones) they are really cheap and easy to move etc. but the only problem after a while your horse might learn how easy they are to knock down and become uncarfull! So now we use heavy wooden telegraph poles cut to 12foot long.. But they are very heavy too!
Hope that helped, but my dad is looking to build some sort of light verticals pole with holes for cups as jump stands ( I'm sure your know the ones if I had a picture .it's like the ones that normally hold the back rail on an oxer) but he can't work out how to make them at the moment! But I really need some lighter ones that I an move easily for grids etc.
sorry for the long post!
 
Right hee hee I've been on a mission for this myself recently :D

Get some old tyres - either from the side of the road/round the local woods like I did or from a garage where you will get them for free. They have to pay to have them taken for disposal so getting a few for no money shouldn't be a problem - you can stack them up as fillers and wings.

If you can get a hold of traffic cones - *dons tin hat* again I got mine because they were abandoned in ditches! - you can use them on their sides or upright as wings and fillers. DO NOT STEAL THEM FROM ROADWORKS OR BUILDING SITES!

Get your hands on a couple of wooden pallets, if you cut them diagonally in half you have a nice wing that just needs a support and a few holes for jump cups so all you need extra is a few bits of wood and some jump cups
OR
Cut them in half horizontally and you have something to stuff bits of long grass/brush into and you've got yourself one heck of a scary filler! ;)

You can have someone cut down a likely looking tree (make sure you have permission from the landowner first though!) for poles or you can pick them up from a timber merchants fairly cheap. Don't use plastic drain pipes because they can shatter into sharp bits on impact which could injure you or your horse.
OR
Go to a carpet shop and pick up some of the inner tubes (cardboard), fill them with sand/gravel and cover the ends. You will need to keep them out of the wet though but also a good cheap way of getting poles :D

Buckets, plastic beer crates and barrels all make for good stackable wings if you can get hold of any.
 
TheXRaceHorse said:
My dad made some big traditional wings out of wood for me, they are very good but so hard to move.. I can't move them alone. For poles, To start of with we used drainpipes (ones the width of jump poles not skinny ones) they are really cheap and easy to move etc. but the only problem after a while your horse might learn how easy they are to knock down and become uncarfull! So now we use heavy wooden telegraph poles cut to 12foot long.. But they are very heavy too!
Hope that helped, but my dad is looking to build some sort of light verticals pole with holes for cups as jump stands ( I'm sure your know the ones if I had a picture .it's like the ones that normally hold the back rail on an oxer) but he can't work out how to make them at the moment! But I really need some lighter ones that I an move easily for grids etc.
sorry for the long post!
Click to expand...

Drain pipes is such a good idea! I spose if you could seal the ends you could fill them with sand or something to give them a bit more weight?

I was thinking of getting my brother to make some wings but as you say they will be really heavy. I just need something easy to move around and super cheap!!
 
sandi_84 said:
Right hee hee I've been on a mission for this myself recently :D

Get some old tyres - either from the side of the road/round the local woods like I did or from a garage where you will get them for free. They have to pay to have them taken for disposal so getting a few for no money shouldn't be a problem - you can stack them up as fillers and wings.

If you can get a hold of traffic cones - *dons tin hat* again I got mine because they were abandoned in ditches! - you can use them on their sides or upright as wings and fillers. DO NOT STEAL THEM FROM ROADWORKS OR BUILDING SITES!

Get your hands on a couple of wooden pallets, if you cut them diagonally in half you have a nice wing that just needs a support and a few holes for jump cups so all you need extra is a few bits of wood and some jump cups
OR
Cut them in half horizontally and you have something to stuff bits of long grass/brush into and you've got yourself one heck of a scary filler! ;)

You can have someone cut down a likely looking tree (make sure you have permission from the landowner first though!) for poles or you can pick them up from a timber merchants fairly cheap. Don't use plastic drain pipes because they can shatter into sharp bits on impact which could injure you or your horse.
OR
Go to a carpet shop and pick up some of the inner tubes (cardboard), fill them with sand/gravel and cover the ends. You will need to keep them out of the wet though but also a good cheap way of getting poles :D

Buckets, plastic beer crates and barrels all make for good stackable wings if you can get hold of any.
Click to expand...

Didnt think about that for the drain pipes, i thought they were thick and chunky. There is a carpet shop next door to my work so will pop in in a min!

And the pallets is such a good idea. Fab ideas thank you!
 
Emma86 said:
Drain pipes is such a good idea! I spose if you could seal the ends you could fill them with sand or something to give them a bit more weight?

I was thinking of getting my brother to make some wings but as you say they will be really heavy. I just need something easy to move around and super cheap!!
Click to expand...

Please don't use drain pipes!

showaddy1 said:
Sandi... what a fab idea. I'm on the search for pallets!!
Click to expand...

Ask in your local big warehouses they might have some going spare. We were lucky in that a friend of the family works for one so he's brought us 4 so far.. but we've used them to put the hay on so I might ask for another 2 :D
 
Emma86 said:
Hi All,

Does anyone have any ideas on cheap ways to get hold of or make show jumps? I'm searching the net but obviously looking in the wrong places and cant afford to buy anything I have seen.

Or what can I go and scavenge to make them myself (safe ones of course)?

Ideas much appreciated! TA! :)
Click to expand...

one excellent way is used fencing rails this first jump is pure old rails from the fence. even the feet are rails

the second one bits ply painted and fencing rails for feet.

the last one is shop bought but i made one and sold it one long 12ft 6 inch plank bits fencing rails for the thinner two pieces, just the cost of the plank thats all.
 
We nicked all my jump poles from the wood, chopped off any pointy bits, job done :)

Got loads of old tyres from a farmer neighbour, and every now and again a blue barrel would float down the river past the field- yoik!

My jump wings were from Mole Valley Farmers, £20 a pair I think. They were just a single upright, so not "wings" as such. A tyre round the bottom kept them steady.

Was also going to say pallets!
 
sandi_84 said:
Right hee hee I've been on a mission for this myself recently :D

Get some old tyres - either from the side of the road/round the local woods like I did or from a garage where you will get them for free. They have to pay to have them taken for disposal so getting a few for no money shouldn't be a problem - you can stack them up as fillers and wings.

If you can get a hold of traffic cones - *dons tin hat* again I got mine because they were abandoned in ditches! - you can use them on their sides or upright as wings and fillers. DO NOT STEAL THEM FROM ROADWORKS OR BUILDING SITES!

Get your hands on a couple of wooden pallets, if you cut them diagonally in half you have a nice wing that just needs a support and a few holes for jump cups so all you need extra is a few bits of wood and some jump cups
OR
Cut them in half horizontally and you have something to stuff bits of long grass/brush into and you've got yourself one heck of a scary filler! ;)

You can have someone cut down a likely looking tree (make sure you have permission from the landowner first though!) for poles or you can pick them up from a timber merchants fairly cheap. Don't use plastic drain pipes because they can shatter into sharp bits on impact which could injure you or your horse.
OR
Go to a carpet shop and pick up some of the inner tubes (cardboard), fill them with sand/gravel and cover the ends. You will need to keep them out of the wet though but also a good cheap way of getting poles :D

Buckets, plastic beer crates and barrels all make for good stackable wings if you can get hold of any.
Click to expand...

Yes I suppose that is true that theres a chance of that happening to the drainpipes, but the ones we use are quite strong and they have never shattered before. They have only snapped in half like anyother pole, but I can see its not worth taking the risk when the carpentary tubes are much safer!:) But wouldnt the cones do the same thing if being used as a filler/wing and the horse landed on them?
 
Oh and I forgot to mention, We have made somre cracking fillers from painting wooden doors (hinges off etc.) And then used oil drums/barrells as the wings and leant them up against them.
Oh and another filler that we have are the barriers that they use for building sites etc. Round where I live you find them ditched everywhere as they are buliding on the feilds out the back of where I keep my horses. They Leave them in the middle of the path, in ditches, in hedges and you can get really cool coloured ones too! They are about 1metre high so make a perfect filler and have little feet on them so they can stand up under a jump on there own. Bu as was said earlier, they are made out of plastic so I suppose they could shatter, but most fillers etc. are made of plastic and I have seen some instuctors use them:) And I have seen, horses land on wooden fillers/poles and splinter the horse. So jumping any jumps a risk really if you know what I mean
 
Go to your local tyre place and they should give you a stack of them.

Last time I needed tyres, I rocked up to Bridgestone with a trailer and they loaded me up for free. They have to pay to get rid of the old tyres taken off cars and trucks so any chance they can get rid of tyres for free to people, they are happy to do it. :)

You then have really adjustable jump wings, fillers and can even make walls out of them.
 
For lower jumps, upturned cheap plastic plant pots are handy. I raise these by adding a smaller upturned pot. (I've lots from my garden, but they're cheap as chips anyway)

I've some creative friends who use all sorts of things as fillers etc to get their horses used to variety; their best filler yet was a kids Barbie lilo from their swimming pool.

Old doors can be used as wings if you have someone handy with a bit of wood work, and can be hacked up as fillers too. If you have an old damaged hollowcore door (usually internal doors - tap on them and you'll hear the hollowness!) you'll find they're filled with a cardboard honeycomb. Most have enough wooden cross-pieces that you can rip the thin board skin off the outside and make a reasonable "gate" jump. You might find damaged doors in a skip that can be modified and are free.

If you're a greenie, you can grow your herbs etc in pot plants as fillers.

I'm very wary of any kind of plastics for poles as they can make nasty shards when trodden on, unless they're purpose-made jump poles.
Wooden planks make good, safe "poles" for a ground line or for trotting poles.
 
We made a complete set of jumps from pallets. They were taken apart and the smaller strips used as upright bars on the wings. We did have to buy some bigger pieces of wood for the tallest part of the wing. We had a wall, fillers, a gate and about a dozen pairs of wings. Was a bit of a mamouth job painting them.
 
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