I really, really dislike jumps made of lawn chairs. If something happens and the horse hits them, they may very well get stuck on his legs and cause a horrific accident.

 

It certainly would not be my choice of jump using chairs or poles as those are....

Chances of mishap and the horse being caught up in those chairs, poles or paint cans...

You've jumped over the thing many times incident free, thankfully...
Yet, it only takes one incident to have serious or deadly injuries sustained by your horse or you for that matter...
That "fence" is unforgiving if the unthinkable happens the way it is constructed...

I would rather jump less fences but the ones I do jump are made so there is a "escape" for my horse and I if needed...
I see you have a "conventional" jump in the background..that would be my "happier" choice to jump.

The chairs...great for a rest period...not so much for jump standards...

jmo...

 

Yes it's dangerous. The horse can refuse and end up tangled in the chairs, you could fall off and get thrown on them. The plastic could snap and stab you or your horse.

If you're adamant to build your own jumps you should buy straw bales and cover them.
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Hello Marlea.

When you set up a jump the poles should be able to fall down to the ground if the horse knocks them, preventing them subsequently being a leg trap for his leg(s) to fall between. In this picture it looks to me that if the poles were knocked by the horse on his approach, or 'kicked back' as he went over, they would be stopped from falling by the uprights on the chair.

So yes, I do think it has potential to be dangerous.

It is not the jump per se that is dangerous, it is the way it is constructed so that it will NOT all fall to the ground that is very dangerous.

 

It's really quite easy to construct your own jump standards. All it takes is a couple slabs of wood, a hand saw and a drill and about 1-2 hours for one persons work. Jump cups are, like, five bucks. You already have the poles so voila. Jumps. Much safer than lawn chairs.

 

Those poles worry me more than the chairs which I imagine are so light they'd fall over easily though he could get his legs stuck in them if they went underneath him - but the poles look like some sort of thin canes that could break into sharp splinters that could end up stuck in his chest or belly if he landed on them.

 

not a safe jump at all. those chairs will go flying all over the place if he hits a pole.

 

Well all jumps are dangerous on some level. Our job as equestrians are to make them as safe as they can possibly for our horses and for ourselves. Personally I would NOT jump a jump made of plastic garden chairs as they do have a tendency to break and splinter and if the worst came to the worst, then this could do some damage to horse and rider.

I would not go as far to say that you deserve to have your horse taken away from you though :/

 

I use plastic lawn chairs and PVC pipe when jumping my dog (hes in agility, I only have a few regulation agility obstacles), and from my experience with that, I wouldnt put a horse over them unless you put the pole on the very top over the back, but that would obviously make the jump much larger than what you have pictured. I also clearly remember fooling around with my friends jumping the same obstacle. I got a bit clumsy and grabbed the pole with my ankle. The entire thing came with me, and pulled me to the ground. I cant imagine if a horse had a similar incident. I wasnt badly hurt, maybe a bruise, but if a horse had fallen like that?

Should you have your horse taken away? God no. He/she looks very happy and healthy in your care. Whoever said that was being rude or jealous. I would uust advise againat thisparticular jump

 

Off topic, but are you bareback in the first picture? If so, you have a much more stable jumping position when you are bareback! This likely means your stirrups are far too short on your saddle, or you are otherwise overusing your stirrups. Just what I see, take it or leave it.

 

Agreed, I was thinking exactly the same thing! (I'm having somewhat the same issue of overusing my stirrups and know I have a much better leg without stirrups.)

 

are those old paint cans I see ? One answer.. Yes. Find some thing else to make a jump

 

First of all, I'm CERTAINLY no jumping expert. At all.

Secondly, whoever said you need your horse taken away is a complete dunce. I agree with a poster above. The horse looks very well taken care of!

But I did want to add that, when I was little, a plastic lawn chair split open on me and tore my leg up quite badly. I still have the scar and 15+ years later remember it well. Was very painful. If something went wrong and you or your horse were to cause the plastic to tear or split, it can become KNIFE sharp.

 

I wouldn't say you "deserve to have your horse taken away"...that's a little extreme.

Having said that, lawn chairs wouldn't be my first choice in jumps but hey...we've all done it a time or two. Be aware of the danger.
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I've done the same thing before with lawn chairs and pvc poles. I always made sure that I had the poles on the arms so if my horse was to hit them, they would just roll off.

But, I would much rather use hay/straw bales, cinder blocks with poles on top, etc to plastic chairs.

Or even better, jump standards

 

Here are some things about that jump.

As has been said, when poles are hit, they need to be able to drop right to the ground and lay there. This can't happen with this jump, so there is a good chance a horse can get tangled in this jump.

Plastic, like the chairs and some thinner PVC pipes will break, easily, if they are hit. When the do get hit and break, they will break into razor sharp slicing pieces. I saw a horse cut an artery in their leg when they were sliced by a broken PVC pipe. Those chairs would break this way.


Thin lightweight poles can break into a stabbing spear. They also do nothing to teach a horse to respect a pole and to try not to hit one. I like HEAVY wooden poles. If you must use PVC, you need to use very HEAVY large pipes, so it will be harder to break. And, they must be stored out of the sun to keep them from oxidizing and becoming brittle.


Have I jumped very questionable jumps that were ill advised as a kid? You bet. I have been very lucky not to have been hurt or hurt my horses..

 

Yes it is dangerous, but im not going to rant because you have read many already!
But let me correct some people, Jump poles do NOT have to fall when the horse knocks them, Xcountry jumps don't. yes people and horses get hurt on them, but they also get hurt on poles that do fall, I would suggest using barrels, hay bales, or logs to jump (you can stand short logs on there side and set a pole on top) though.

 

Cross country jumps cannot be compared to this jump. XC jumps do not role around at the slightest touch, running the risk of such an easy entanglement. And the jumps are going to use such solid elements that the horse can see and get an idea of what is there and respect it. This jump is hard to judge, will move around and stay up way too easily and there is nothing there to encourage the horse to respect and jump carefully.

That said, anyone who has jumped has jumped things that were not advisable. The OP posted here, after getting roasted, to see if there was a valid reason for people's concern. I think there was a reason to be concerned, but certainly no reason to have roasted her. I will admit to having jumped far dumber jumps in my day.....

 

well, it does seem prety dangerous, if you cant buy jumps, you can use what ever you want as long as the pole can fall easilly

 

Yes, the jump is dangerous. If I were your parent, I'd help you build a safer one. I might not roast your hide for the jump but I'd roast you good for riding in shorts and a tank top (HAH, not that I ever wore anything else.). You ARE wearing your helmet and boots, so that's good.

 

The jumps been taken down and I've used safer equipment to make safer jumps! I was only jumping bareback in the photo with the shorts anyway, I wasn't expecting to be riding, but I went out and was like 'eh, why not?' I don't see the harm ahah

 

I don't see the harm ahah

The harm isn't always apparent until something bad happens.

 

I know I am late on this topic But like I always tell riders it only takes once to make it an accident. If your second guessing a jumps safety best not to jump it. There are so many less expensive alternatives to use as jumps.
for those who compare cross country jumps to arena jumps they are in two different classes and even the eventing world is rethinking the safety of solid jumps that do not give.
Im glad the OP redid the jump to make it a bit safer.

JMHO
TRR