Monday, June 15, 2015

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? 

39 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. thanks! our barn had a little combined test this weekend and i was stupid proud to see it used as part of the stadium course :D

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  2. Well done! I love building jumps - and it's true you can never have enough screws. I ca almost garuntee that the next time you go to build something you will not be able to find that entire box

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    1. haha i really hope that's not the case... but have no doubt that screws/nails/etc have a tendency to disappear into thin air!

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  3. Very nice!! Please build some XC fences next so I can make some for home :-P

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    1. actually..... there might be plans for that. one of the trainers at our farm just got a new house with some big old wrecked wooden planters. so she brought the panels in. could end up as some type of ramp? they are HEAVY tho, and will require heavier machinery than a cordless drill. and wherever they end up will have to be a fairly permanent location... but my mind is definitely buzzing with ideas haha

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    2. Oooo very exciting! My husband is a nut who 'collects' wooden pallets for... something... in any case we have a lot of them so I'm hoping they will be transformed into some coops and other fun things!

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    3. i actually had an idea for sawing a pallet in half and adding 2x4s along the bottom for stability then using the two pieces as boxes for fill. but i think with enough patience pallets can be transformed into just about anything.

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  4. Oh nice work! I'm a huge supporter/homecrafter of DIY horse stuff so this makes me very happy haha

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    1. me toooo!! there's definitely a certain level of satisfaction that comes from diy projects (at least, when they work out haha. otherwise i just feel like an abject failure lol)

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  5. Nice! I like that it is big enough that you can place it on an angle like you did. Your barn owner must be loving you!

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    1. thanks! i definitely wanted something that could be versatile. the lesson program at my barn handles a huge volume of little kids and more beginner type riders so i wanted it to work for new jumpers too.

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  6. I have had left over lattice and wood boards in my garage for almost a year now.. you just provided the motivation to actually screw that sucker together! My husband will thank you!

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    1. yay you should totally do it! i was surprised at how super easy it was - and new jumps are always fun :D

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  7. Replies
    1. haha yes you totally do! you can add to your bevy of existing DIY jumps :) !

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  8. I love it! I have some old lattice from a deck addition project laying around that I can totally repurpose for this. (I had that in mind for it, but I like that you have this tutorial!)

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    1. ooh yes and let us know how it goes! it was way easier than i expected, plus the finished product is actually pretty light weight and easy to move around. and of course you can do all kinds of fun colors and designs... tho i wanted bright white for this particular project

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  9. That looks great!! You should be very proud! I love it - you have inspired me. Now I must have one!!
    Also, your barn owner must love you, kindly providing jumps for everyone's use!

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    1. thanks! and yay for passing on the inspiration! i was actually pretty surprised by the final cost - was expecting to spend closer to $50... so yea the whole thing was really quite doable

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  10. hooray! this looks great and easy to put together.

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    1. and i should add the commentary made it a even more fun!

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    2. it was super easy! and glad you enjoyed the commentary too lol... i may or may not have been giggling a little while writing (also beer may have been involved...)

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  11. Good work! I may borrow your idea at some point :)

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    1. you totally should! i think fill-type fences or props might be the most versatile and useful in jumping courses since they help the horse get used to variety and weird looking junk haha

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  12. Go girl!! Way to make a great fence!

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    1. thanks! i can't wait to jump it - hopefully maybe tonight?

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  13. This absolutely cracked me up and WAY TO GO girl. Let's DIY EVERYTHING!!!

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    1. lol i'm glad my humor wasn't too... um... questionable lolz. and yes DIY alllll the things!!!!

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  14. Wow you are handy! I could probably do this but it would take a lot of motivation

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    1. it's super easy, but i know exactly what you mean about motivation. my motivation came from the worlds stupidest and most unnecessary xc refusal ever. seriously 20pts i could have lived without very well thankyouverymuch. therefore it had to happen haha.

      oh, and for the record, i finally jumped it with the mare a couple hours ago. she didn't even blink.....

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  15. Awesome job with the lattice jump!

    And because I'm also a child: I have to say that I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read this post because I TOTALLY would choked. I burst out laughing with your "That's what she said!" Did NOT see that one coming...and then of course I just continued on laughing all the way down the post every time you mentioned "screw." Apparently nearing 36 years of age does NOT equal increased maturity. lolololol ;) And I'm happy with that.

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    1. LOL no, no maturity to be found 'round these parts. seriously, there are endless jokes tho... and i may or may not have giggled through much of this writing

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  16. Wow great job! It looks very nice!! Hehehe I loved your little naughty jokes

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    1. thanks - i'm super happy with how it turned out, especially with how light-weight yet sturdy it is. glad you appreciated the jokes too lol... this post was certainly rife with fodder !

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