$35 DIY Horse Jump

Gather your materials

The first step is to gather your materials from a Home Depot, Lowes, or other building supply store. No need to order anything from a horse company!

Here is what you will need for one jump with standards and a pair of cross rails (prices are estimates):

• Two 8 ft. landscaping timbers ($8)
• One 8 ft. 4x4 pressure treated timber ($17)
• One 8 ft. 2x4 pressure treated lumber ($7)
• Three feet of 1/4 inch nylon rope ($1)
• Two carriage bolts 1/4 in. by 6 in. long ($1)
• One 2 in. x 2 in. x 36 in. pressure treated square end baluster (porch railing) ($1)
• 16 exterior screws at least 2 inches long (we had these hanging around)

The total for these supplies at my local store was under $35.

Even better, I was able to transport all of the supplies in my SUV.

Make all of your cuts & sand

First, we cut the 4x4 in half. These will be the uprights of the jump standards (supports).

Then, we cut the 2x4 into 8 equal parts (so roughly 1 ft each). You don't want any sharp edges so I marked one corner with the angle cut I wanted and let my husband cut. These will be the feet of the standards.

Then he cut four 2x2 inch blocks from the balustrade. These will become part of the jump cups that hold the rails up.

You'll want to do some light sanding to make sure there aren't any sharp edges or splinters that will get you later. The sanding took me under 10 minutes.

Get ready to put holes in the 4x4s

You will use the carriage bolts as the holders for your jump cups.

We used a 3/8 inch spade bit to drill the holes.

Drill holes in the 4x4s

Next I measured out the holes in the 4x4s for the jump cups. I started 12 inches up from what will rest on the ground and put a hole every six inches up to 3 feet.

That was five holes total on each standard to drill with the 3/8 in. spade bit.

Be sure to use a square to line them up in the middle of the 4x4 to make everything work.

Finished standards

Here is one standard with the five holes drilled.

Attach feet to uprights

Next use your exterior screws to attach the feet to your upright.

I used two screws per foot and made sure they were flush with the bottom of the 4x4.

Arrange them in the pattern show above!

Drill holes in your blocks and assemble jump cups

If I remember correctly we used the same 3/8 in. spade bit to drill holes through the center of the wooden blocks.

Then cut the nylon rope in half and thread one piece through two of the wooden blocks.

I used double fisherman knots to make a loop in the end of the rope to I could hang it over the ends of the carriage bolts.

There is likely a better way to do this but it is working fine for us.

You want the blocks to be slightly tipped in so they make a stable support for the pole while also letting it roll off easily if the horse catches it with his hoof.

Place your poles into the cups and admire!

The last step is to bring your landscape timbers over to place them into the jumps cups and admire your new horse jump!

Since all of this wood is pressure treated you don't need to paint it, but you could of course.

If you want a taller standard just use a 10 or 12 foot 4x4 instead. If you do I may also suggest longer feet (such as 18 inches each) since the upright will be heavier.

Any questions? Please leave a comment below!