FCE's DIY: Lattice Gate Horse Jump Tutorial

Readers may recall that Isabel and I recently had words about a small lattice fence on cross country at Waredaca. She hit the brakes from 4-5 strides out, quite unexpectedly. And ooh boy GRC Photo captured the moment with some priceless pics (naturally I ordered them and will share asap lol). 

We might not have even been over the fence on second approach before I obstinately decided that lattice will NOT be a problem for us in the future. Because I will MAKE a lattice fence that Isabel will jump and jump and JUMP until she is bored to tears of lattice.

so yea. i did that. 

And guys. This project is STUPID easy. Doooooo itttt!!! Seriously. If I can you can. 

Ahem. ANYWAYS. 

Cost: $36.91

Time: 2-3 hours (including shopping for materials)

Materials Purchased: I shopped at Home Depot; prices may vary

• 2' x 8' Vinyl Veranda Lattice Sheet - $12.97  You could choose pressure treated wood lattice as well, tho this will likely require dry time before painting.
• 2" Exterior Screws (1lb) - $8.47  I only used 20 screws, so I bought way too many.
• 1"x3"-8' Premium Pine Lumber - $5.64  The Home Depot rep cut this into four 2' sections to use for framing the gate. Again, you could opt for pressure treated wood (it'll last longer) but I wanted to paint these pieces immediately.
• 2"x4"-10' Pressure Treated Lumber - $4.97 ...I, um, I definitely meant to get a 12' section. Oops? At least we have 10' rails at the farm too... But hey - skinny-ish spooky jumps are good too!
• 2"x4"-8' Pressure Treated Lumber - $2.77

Other Materials Used (but not purchased):

• White paint
• Cordless drill
• Measuring tape / pencil
• Paintbrush (I actually couldn't find one and used a sponge instead... eh oh well? but yea, I'd recommend a paintbrush should you try this on your own haha)

Inspiration pic from amazon via google images. And, um, may be subject to copyright...

My very professional blueprint, clutched in my sweaty little paw while cruisin the Depot.

It's really not a lot of supplies. And aside from the 1"x3" board that the rep cut, everything was available exactly to my size specifications. 

1 lb. of screws was definitely overkill. honestly the farm probably had 20 2" screws lying around that I could have used to save $, seeing as this was the second most expensive item on the shopping list. But hey, you can never have too many screws right? 
(that's what she said. hey-oh!)

After getting everything back to the farm I just laid all the materials out to see how it would best fit together. I was already pretty certain of my assembly plan, but it never hurts to experiment a little BEFORE you start screwing stuff together.

The four 1"x3" framing pieces also got their first coat of white paint at this point. 

I was a little torn about whether the 4 upright beams should be evenly spaced, or should the two central pieces be closer together. Ultimately I liked them a little closer together (plus this makes measuring easier haha!).

The four uprights are on top of the lattice, which is itself on top of the 2"x4"s. So the screws would go through the lattice connecting all three layers. A lattice sandwich, if you will.

Then it was time to measure (twice!!), make my pencil guide marks, and start screwing! It took a moment to get a feel for the drill and the very first screw split the wood (you can see in the bottom right corner). It tended to start bucking a little when the screw reached the vinyl, so putting a lot of weight onto the drill really helped. 

The uprights on the end got 3 screws on top and bottom, and the center uprights got 2 screws top and bottom. The end pieces are more important bc they are responsible for the gate's overall stability and I want this thing to be sturdy and well-used! The extra screws really did the trick.

Close up of the screws. I aimed for at least 2 screws penetrating the lattice (wow how many jokes can i fit in here?? i am clearly a child) , sometimes 3. The lattice was kind of a pain to drill through, but these would be the only connection points and again, I wanted stability.

Center uprights just add a little extra strength to the gate

Then one last coat of paint for the uprights. And yea, I recommend using an actual paintbrush haha. But at least now we know a sponge can get the job done in a pinch.

The 2"x4"s at top and bottom will eventually be painted too, but it's generally recommended that you give pressure treated wood a month or so to dry out before painting. These pieces were still wet enough to the touch that I deemed it prudent to wait it out.

And Ta Da!!! The finished product!! Successfully christened by lesson students the very next day!
(the gate is set at an 18" height here, demonstrating its size versatility)

Guys it's pretty ridiculous how excited/proud I am of this silly little jump. But really, it was so easy to make - just buy the pieces and screw them together. It's actually seriously whet my appetite for trying out a few other designs too haha... 

Plus obviously I'm eagerly counting down the minutes until Isabel and I jump it!!

So what do you think - are you gonna give it a whirl? Or have you already tried your hand at jump construction in other projects?