One Board Practice Horse Standards

Do you have a 8' 2x4 laying around and you don't know what to do with it? Do you want to make jump standards with that 2x4? Are you wondering what jump standards are? Then this Instructable is for you!

These practice standards are handy to have in schooling a horse, or if you just want to have a lightweight, low height standards that are easy to set up and move around.

What are standards, you're still asking?

Standards are used in horse jumping. They are a set of two stands that hold a horizontal pole at a certain height to provide the obstacle that a horse must jump over. They generally have the ability to be adjusted in 3" increments to provide different height challenges for the horse and rider.

Woodworking has hazards. Use proper safety gear and know how to properly and safely use your tools.

Materials

• The one board we'll be using is a standard 8 foot 2x4. The actual dimensions of which are 1.5" x 3.5" x 96"
• Wood glue
• 3" screws
• 1.5" screws
• Two 6" x 1/4" bolts

Tools

• Table saw
• Hand saw
• Scroll saw, jigsaw, or coping saw
• Electric drill
• Drill bit for pilot holes that will work for your screws
• Driver bit that will work for your screws
• Electric sander or sandpaper
• Paint and waterproof sealant

If the board has any rough patches or looks grungy, sand it all down now to save time later.

Mine was pretty good, so I used it as is.

On to the cutting.

Rip the board lengthwise by cutting the board at the width of 1.5". This will give you two lengths with the dimensions:

• 1.5" x 1.5" by 8'
• 1.5" x 1.75+" x 8'

The second board's width is determined by the kerf of your saw and doesn't have to be exact.

From the 1.5" x 1.5" x 8' board, cut the following lengths:

• (2) 28" long - the long bottom supports
• (2) 14" long - the short bottom supports
• (4) 2" long - the legs for the cups
• (1) A small bit that's left over, we'll use it in step 3

From the 1.5" x 1.75+" x 8' board, cut the following lengths:

• (2) 36" long - the vertical part that holds up the bar
• (2) 4.5" long - the face of the cups
• (1) The remaining piece will be ~14", we'll use it in the step 3

The horizontal pole that the horse jumps over rests on little shelves called jump cups. The cups need to hold the pole stable, but allow for it to easily be knocked off and fall to the ground. If the horse doesn't make it all the way over (or decides to run straight through) the pole needs to be able to fall out of the way safely so that it doesn't injure the horse or rider.

The two 4.5" long pieces cut in step 1 will be those cups.

Measure in 0.5" inch from either end.

Make a fairly shallow arc between the two marks. I used an old paint lid. A plate or bowl would work well too.

Cut the arcs out with a scroll-saw, jigsaw, or coping saw.

Save the pieces you cut out for step 3.

Here's where we try to use as much of this 2x4 as possible. Our end goal is to make as many 1.5" x 1.5" x 0.5" spacer squares as possible. These will be used to hold up the cups at specified heights. For each height, we need 4 of these spacers. I was able to scrounge 28 squares from the bits of 2x4 left over.

Take that piece from step 1 that was about 14" long. Rip it to 0.5" thick lengths. You should be able to get three pieces that measure 1.5" x 0.5" x ~14".

Take that other small bit from step 1 and rip that to 0.5" thick as well. You should be able to get two pieces that are a full 0.5" thick and a scrap piece that may be 0.25" or so.

Using a crosscut sled on a table saw, a miter-box, or just a handsaw, cut as many 1.5" x 1.5" squares out of the half inch thick pieces as possible. I was able to get 8 squares out of each of the three 14" x 0.5" strips. I trimmed down the two short pieces square and that gave me a total of 26. If there were two more, I'd have enough for another set of height supports.

So to get those last two, I used the arcs we cut out from the cups in step 2. I trimmed off one end, then used the stop block to cut it to the correct size. Those two pieces are domed in the middle but they should work.

Fifty pieces, including the handful of scrap. That's a lot of pieces.

Give all the pieces a good sanding at this point. Making each piece smooth and ready before assembly will be much easier than trying to smooth out everything when it's all together.

Each cup consists of the arc piece we cut in step 3 and two 2" legs.

Position the pieces as shown and mark two spots above each leg for pilot holes. Make them about 0.5" in from diagonal corners of the legs. Drill the pilot holes through the cup piece and into the leg.

Since we're gluing to end grain, apply a good amount of glue and work it in with your finger to improve the bond.

Drill the screws into the pilot holes, making sure that everything remains even and square.

The math to figure out the placement of the spacers is relatively straightforward. Since the cups are 1.5" tall, if we want the top to be at 12", we need the top of the spacer to be 1.5" below that, or 10.5". Since the spacer is also 1.5" wide, the bottom of the spacer will be at 9".

Mark each 1.75+" wide sides of the 36" long boards at the following. Put an X in between the pairs of marks to keep track of where the spacers attach:

• 9" and 10.5"
• 15" and 16.5"
• 21" and 22.5"
• 24" and 25.5"
• 27" and 28.5"
• 30" and 31.5"
• 33" and 34.5"

To help prevent splitting, drill a pilot hole in the center of each spacer and counter sink them, if you have the bit. I got some splits anyway. You may want to go a bit bigger on the pilot holes than you normally would.

At this point, I recommend sanding the outer face of the spacers. I didn't, but wish I had because it would have made things easier than sanding them after assembly. Live and learn...

Apply glue to each spacer and use a 1.5" screw to attach them to the X marks on both sides of each of the boards.

When you get to the spacers that are close to each other, use you assembled cups to ensure that the spacing isn't too tight as you're fastening everything.

I had a few spacers crack when I was tightening the screw. I was able to glue the crack and clamp it back together. I let the glue dry for a while and so far it looks like it might have worked.

Gather the pieces for one side of the standard: The 36" piece with the spacers attached, the 28" piece, the 14" piece, and assemble cup.

First assemble the base. Mark the center of the 28" piece and make two marks for pilot holes. Position the 14" piece perpendicular onto the centered mark and drill the pilot holes into both pieces. Apply plenty of glue and use 3" screws to fasten the two pieces together.

Place the 36" inch vertical piece in the corner of the base. Mark and drill pilot holes as before, apply glue, and drill in 3" screws. Add two more screws parallel to the 28" piece to help tie everything together.

Repeat for the other half.

If necessary, give it all a final sanding.

You may have noticed a flaw in my design by now. If you put the cup on the bottom spacer or the top spacer, it just falls off. The middle spacers work alright because since they are so close together, the cup can rest in its spot. But we'd obviously like to be able to use all the heights. That's where the cup retainers come in.

I had a couple 1/4" by 6" carriage bolts in my junk box which worked great. You could also improvise with something similar. The key functionality is to have a pin of some sort that goes through the cup's legs and the vertical standard that allows the cup to be positioned and secured but is also easy to move around if you'd like to change the height.

Mark a hole in each of the 4 cup legs. Make sure it is 3/4 of an inch from the front (cup) side and centered vertically. Drill the holes at the marks using a 1/4" bit or slightly larger. Make all your holes as perpendicular as possible since the end goal is to get a bolt through a cup leg, the vertical stand and the other cup leg. The straighter the better!

Mark the holes for the pin in the vertical post. You can either mark these with a ruler or use the cup you just drilled as a jig to get your holes in the right place. Either way, mark everything and then double check the position to make sure everything will end up in the right place. Again, drill the holes as perpendicular as possible.

Drill all the holes in vertical posts and double check the fit by sliding in the bolt. Carefully widen or adjust any holes that are too tight.

Note: In retrospect, this step would probably be easier if completed after attaching the spacers but before attaching the legs. I think it would be easier to move the piece around for measuring and drilling without the legs getting in the way. But this is the order I did it in, so at least it's possible.

This step will add a nice finished look to your standards. Technically it's optional, but it will give the standards some protection and help them last longer out in the elements where they'll be used.

For paint, I used acrylic because it is what I had available. If you have some exterior house paint or something that can handle bumps and bangs, even better. Paint it as you see fit. I opted for a white base with some splashes of color on the spacers.

For waterproofing, I used some water-based sealant because, again, it was what was available. As long as the waterproofer or sealant is compatible with your paint, you should be good. Follow the manufacturers instructions and seal those standards up.

Unfortunately, the snow in my neck of the woods means these won't see action for a few months, but we're looking forward to using them when the weather gets warmer.

Happy Jumping!