SHOW JUMPING STANDARD...DIY :) Good ol' Dad's Idea! Before and After

[jojo.1986]

I have been looking for some showjumping poles for a little while now...at my yard we have plenty of wings and bouncers but the poles are faded and very heavy!! after hours of looking through the internet trying to find some 'budget' but not tatty poles my good old dad passed me his Wickes Catalogue and said..why not buy some guttering poles (£2..to £7 each) get some electric tape (£3) and make your own...so today off we went. Loaded up the trolley.. I spent £36.00 and got 8x2meter white poles and 3xSlightly thicker 2meter poles...5 coloured electrical tape and if i do say so myself...done a bloody marverlous job!! not only can tomorrows jumping session for the girls at the yard be more colourful, i saved well over £100 and got 11 lovely poles!! give it ago yourself!

BEFORE ~



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AFTER ~



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[BeBopTalulah]

Those are brilliant!!!

I've been searching for DIY poles too. The only thing I came across were some bare wooden poles on ebay, still about £15-£20 EACH, then you've got to paint them. That is a fantastic idea. Wick's is about to run out of gutters!

 

[Carefreegirl]

Just be careful as if they break they shatter and splinter and have very sharp edges especially if they're trodden on. Great job tho.

 

[soulfull]

Just be careful as if they break they shatter and splinter and have very sharp edges especially if they're trodden on. Great job tho.

sorry but I echo this, be really careful

They do look really good though

 

[BeBopTalulah]

Just be careful as if they break they shatter and splinter and have very sharp edges especially if they're trodden on. Great job tho.

Are all plastic poles the same? I only ask because there are a lot of plastic jump poles out there, are they different? It's a fair point to make about shattering.

 

[soulfull]

Are all plastic poles the same? I only ask because there are a lot of plastic jump poles out there, are they different? It's a fair point to make about shattering.

The ones made especially for SJ will break sometimes but the don't shatter in the same way, well not supposed to anyway

 

[Carefreegirl]

The guttering is quite brittle and a single layer where as I bought some jump-for-joy type plastic poles off a mate and managed to break one by dropping it and running it over - don't ask....... It has an inner lining like a tube within the pole and the plastic isn't as brittle. I'm sure there are much cleverer people who can explain this better and actually know what they're talking about

 

[jojo.1986]

I got it wrong...they are actually waste pipe poles...my dad did say that guttering pipes were brittle and bendy. These are very sturdy and not saying if a horse or rider in that case was to land on one it wouldnt break but it doesn't seem the type of material to shatter. Plan is to clear these bright colourful poles though! Going to be eventful as all summer we have been jumping boring wooden ones!

 

[welshcobmad]

They look awesome! Well done! Dont forget some pics of them being used!

 

[horsegirl]

Don't use them as trotting poles though, they look great!

 

[Peanot]

What a great idea. Possibly use heavier ones for the top in case they do shatter. Its true tho that the lovely jumps out there for sale are so expensive so I went to B&Q and bought some 8x4 shelving wood and had them cut them into 4 2x4`s and I painted these and put legs on them and I must say they look great. I also had hubby to cut me an arch out of 4 of them and made a viaduct and painted them. They look great too.. I`ve even made 2 dice. We`ve got ladybugs, sharks teeth, flames and even planks with spongebob squarepants theme on. And a couple of character fillers too. Our horses are quite used to jumping the spooky fillers now.

 

[OneInAMillion]

We just bought cheap 8ft fence posts (field isn't big enough for 12ft poles) and painted them

 

[jojo.1986]

Yea that was the plan..to brighten up the clear round! Plus the old poles we currently have are plain wood and sooo heavy. So putting them out is an effort and bringing them in after an hours session is even tougher...I generally do believe they are durable..the thickness of the actual plastic on the tube is 2cm thick. I'll let you all know tomorrow night...that's if I manage to get the lads over them!! I don't fancy dragging the old boring wooden ones out again! Ha!

 

[Rudey]

The poles look fantastic, you have done an amazing job! However, sorry to be negative but, I was at an annual show where they were using plastic jumps/poles/fillers. I was warming up in the practice ring, and as a horse went over the practice jump the plastic pole got tangled in his legs. The pole snapped and a huge sharp shard of plastic just missed my horse!

OP, are the poles hollow? If so, what about inserting a wooden pole down the middle - just to be safe? xx

 

[Hollie15]

I was just wondering about the weight of them....becuase I considered doing what you have done, but I wondered, if your horse was to knock it, because they are light, would they go flying infront (rather than just dropping to the floor) and then potentially get in way of horses feet etc. Sorry to sound negative becuae I was really worried about it and so have not done it. Please keep us updated....I hope it does work well so I can copy

 

[Flowers187]

surely all that tape on them would hold the shards together? We have the proper plastic jumping poles at our yard and they are hollow, arent old wooden poles just as bad for snapping and having big chunks of splintery wood stick out left right and centre!

 

[MissTyc]

surely all that tape on them would hold the shards together? We have the proper plastic jumping poles at our yard and they are hollow, arent old wooden poles just as bad for snapping and having big chunks of splintery wood stick out left right and centre!

I was thinking this as well ... definitely sounds like it would solidify things!

 

[JessPickle]

The tape would surely stop shattering, the same way people tape windows in earthquakes?!

 

[Bettyboo222]

Just done some googling and seen how much theese poles cost, please let us know if it works because if so it is a brill idea

 

[Magicmillbrook]

I have just been asking my OH about this, he works in the water industry and is going to research some of his stockists for jump pole diameter pipe made out of polythene or poly propoline. PVC is brittle and not very shock resistant. I know we have one jump pole that came off a building site that is made of a slightly flexible plastic and has lasted years even in being out in the full sun (some plastics go brittle in sunlight). Would prob be more expensive than waste pipe but bound to be cheaper than the equestrian jump poles. If I find anything will post

 

[QUICKFIRE]

Might be a silly idear but, get , some expanding foam the sort used to fit windows, comes in large cans, and spray it into the pipes, maybe this would help stabalize the plastic a bit, and give a bit of weight to the poles, ignor if you think this is stupid its late!

 

[WoopsiiD]

My dad works on a building site and he came home with a load of the slightly bendy ones. I'm not technical in any way shape or form but these were a special plastic that doesn't shatter-something to do with grooves meaning they just snap cleanly.
To weigh them down a bit we filled them with sand and blocked the ends.

 

[jojo.1986]

I am about to go down and try them out in a minute. But to answer your questions...they are light in regards to our bloody old heavy (and tbh quite dangerous,when I think about it) wooden poles...but not too light that a gust of wind would take the whole course down! Honestly guys they are VERY sturdy and yes with the hours of tape I applied round each pole (every foot) it's going to take alot to shatter them..i will take some pics of them in use and post on here tonight...hopefully they are a success

 

[china]

we used gutting at my old place and they were fine! one broke but didnt shatter. I may get some for our yard, the problem we have we use our arena to turn out in in the winter and they chew the wooden poles and jump stands ;-) Plastic would be ideal! could u post a link of the ones you bought, i have just had a look on there site and there are quite a few.

 

[kittykatcat]

These look ammmmmmaaaazzzzinnnnggg! Is that just electrical tape you have used for the colours? Or have you painted them as well???

 

[SVMel]

Might be a silly idear but, get , some expanding foam the sort used to fit windows, comes in large cans, and spray it into the pipes, maybe this would help stabalize the plastic a bit, and give a bit of weight to the poles, ignor if you think this is stupid its late!

To weigh them down a bit we filled them with sand and blocked the ends.

Combine the two, a bit of sand to help it drop cleanly when knocked, use a bit of expanding foam to block up each end. Leave overnight, trim off the excess with a sharp knife, hey presto, ends blocked trapping sand inside. You can paint the foam as well I believe, if you don't want it to be so obvious

 

[Whoopit]

D'ya know what, I'm sure in my younger reckless loony days I jumped my horse over much more stupid things than a plastic pipe! I was 13yrs old and had 15hh coloured rig who was a complete idiot - I hurtled over breeze block walls, leapt off concrete drops that were like cliffs and hooned through water you could launch a boat in. It's probably a miracle that horse has knees and didn't drown

Needless to say I'm not 13yrs old anymore, bought and pay for the horse myself and daren't tackle so much as a trotting pole

I hope you have fun and lots of use from your homemade jumps OP - don't forget pics and i'm sure they're perfectly safe. I fancy making my own now too having seen yours

 

[3Beasties]

OP do you have a link to the poles and tape?

 

[jojo.1986]

Hey guys...as promised some pics and an update on whether the poles were successful or not.....the verdict...they were GREAT!!!!!!!!!

Spirit my first pony i tried over them walked around on warm up with his eyes on stalks and snorted for about as he hasnt seen the school look so bright and colourful!!

HarryBear my second boy wasnt phaised at all but did knock one down...he hit it pretty hard and it just fell to the floor...not shattering...no flying or getting tangled in his legs!! so a success id say they were!!

the poles are hollow but sturdy.
Yes kittykatcat its electric tape...i left them out stupidly last night and it rained abit...they were ok still intact...but tonight they are covered up safely!
(but to be honest for around 1.50 a roll of tape it wouldnt matter if you had to re-tape them every so often?!

Agreed Woopit, the things i dont hesistate to jump in a forest or a park make my diy poles look very safe!

below are the links to Wickes poles and tapes...i did find though they had alot more availiable in store.

the pic above showing all the 11 poles finished cost me only 36.00 and 2.5 hours of my time in the sun making them

hope this has helped you all save a few pennies..just going to get some shares in wickes now as the waste pipes are going to become out of stock!!

http://search.wickes.co.uk/search#w=electrical tape&asug=

http://search.wickes.co.uk/search#w=waste pipe&asug=waste

the pics arent great ill post some more on thursday when i get all the poles out...didnt have too much time today

 

[melxvengeance]

i buy poles from B&Q. they are a bit like fence posts but round, they're meant to be tree supports. they do have a spike on the end but if you cut them off with a saw they're fine, i think they're 10ft and only £4 each. wooden too.