DIY Jump Stick

I have been saying for the better part of the last year that I wish I had a jump measuring stick – specifically this one. Alas I don’t want to spend $75+ on a metal stick so DIY it was! Generally speaking 5′-6′ standards are the norm with 3″ spacing between pin holes. That doesn’t change the fact that my eye likes to play tricks on me. Given the minimal investment in making your own stick I decided to go for it this weekend. To make your own jump stick  you will need:

  • Measuring tape
  • 5′ PVC pipe (I chose 3/4″ diameter but you could adjust this to your preference)
  • PVC Pipe cap (optional)
  • Permanent marker or label maker
  • Electrical tape (optional)

Once you have all of the goods so to speak this process is very simple and I won’t insult anyone by explaining in detail aside from saying that if you do decide to use caps make sure you account for that when measuring. For me this worked perfectly as with both caps on from the bottom of one cap to the ridge of the other cap was 5′. I personally started by marking for the eventing heights through Advanced (HAHAHA) and then going back over them with their corresponding flag color electric tape (BN – Yellow, N – White, Training – Black, Prelim – Green, Intermediate – Red, Advanced – Blue). After that process I moved to another side and wrote down the feet in increments of 3″ and then moved to another side and wrote the corresponding meter heights. In hindsight I should have used my label maker.

It won’t work for all standards and holes because not all are the same but it should be a good base line and will hopefully help me as Annie and I start coursing over bigger fences to start to train my eye a bit better and not constantly be guessing or counting holes.

In my head this jump seemed huge (yeah I know it looks small in the pic) but thanks to the stick I knew it was just 3′. Do any of you guys have DIY measuring sticks?

 

13 comments

  1. Karen M says:

    My barn has some pvc ones for when they host shows … I like the color coding though! I might have to make new ones with colors 🙂

    • Equestrian At Hart says:

      Haha advanced is very out of the question for XC questions haha! In the SJ ring I would love to get to 1.30m some day if we end up skilled enough. Time will tell! 3′ looking reasonable is a new accomplishment for me and all the credit goes to the ginger jumping bean.

  2. Nicole says:

    I made one and titled it “Reality Stick” which trainer and assistant trainer love. I especially love it when they text me to say they had to break out the Reality Stick on someone!

  3. Heather says:

    Maybe it’s the angle or the no ground line/airy vertical, or just that Annie jumped the crap out of that jump but it sure looks bigger than 3′! You guys look super awesome. Color coding was a fabulous idea on the stick though! I’ve always just marked right on the stick with sharpie, but the colors were a great idea.

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