Building/Designing a Water Jump :)

[Blacktree]

Our ditch jumps and bank jumps are now complete, so it’s time to start thinking about building a water jump. I’d love some input/ideas for the overall shape, dimensions, and other construction advice you may have!

I’m thinking about starting with a long rectangle, 1 stride x 2 stride, with banks on all sides and a ramp opening on two of the diagonal corners. I’ve got students just starting their cross country careers through Prelim. My plan is to build the main structural water/bank parts of the jump this year, then use stadium jumps for grids/jumps around it to increase the difficulty for my higher level students. Next year we will build some xc portables. I’d love to find a design that could eventually be expanded if we wanted. The rectangle seems pretty boring, any other brilliant ideas for a versatile shape? Any advice on constructing the base? Heights for the banks? Distances?

[Willesdon]

Possibly of help to you, available via other sources https://www.britishhorse.com/products/a-basic-guide-to-building-cross-country-fences.html

[Blacktree]

Thanks W. Anyone else out there with a few construction tips or simply a water jump design/shape they enjoy? We’ve got a few books, looking now for some real world input before we commit to building what I have in my head

[TLA]

AS a CD, your plan concerns me. In water, you want a minimum of 3 strides between jump in and jump out. If the horse has a bad landing, there is time to sort things out.
I try to avoid fixed distances across water, especially for schooling. One bank, the rest just edges to a pond, so you can put jumps where needed and on an appropriate stride. I built my first water jump at home long before I became a CD, and the distance from in to out has NEVER ridden correctly. We never even put water in it any more.
I have a picture of the one we use for our Event on my phone, so if you PM me an e-mail I will send it on to you.
Tom Angle

[Blacktree]

Thank you TLA!! That is exactly why I wanted input. I was also planning on having a nearby advanced rider out to see the site and chat about possible layouts before breaking ground, I’m just beginning to plan and prepare for the costs involved now. I had similar concerns about the original idea, was worried about locking in such a short distance and didn’t want to make the complex difficult to expand on later if we wanted to. The modified plan is to build only two fixed sides, set up like an ‘L’, with a small ramp into the water on the corner between them. The other sides would be open, with a more gradual slope in. This would allow for eventual expansion if we wanted, and wouldn’t ‘fix’ any distances.

Please do PM me pictures or post links of good small water jumps everyone, there are surprisingly few that I have found by googling!

I’ve also put my measuring tape in the trailer, will be sure to measure what I see when we go xc schooling on our local courses this summer.

[LAZ]

It’s not going to be big enough–You want the horse to be absolutely clear that it can go in and not OVER the water. And honestly, mine has two banks (one is very small, less than 18") and that’s plenty of banks. You can always set a portable on the edge of the water if you want another effort, and I can rope a log onto my little bank if I want to use it larger. The little drop is the most used fence on the farm–all my clinicians use it.

My jump is oblong, 5 strides by 7 strides.

You can see photos of mine on my FB Page or web site–Come Again Farm . com

[LAZ]

BTW–you will save a lot of PITA factor if you get a good course designer out to lay it out, give you input, and shoot grades. I used Jon Wells and his input made the thing a success. I would have put it else where and it would have been a mess–boggy site, only approachable from one direction.

[Blacktree]

Thank you LAZ! Will start preparing hubby for something bigger… He was excited when I told him that we would only need to build two drops in at least.

[VF1]

Our water jump is an L shape. We are very happy with it. Here is a video. Pm me for more pics / info. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe3mZtA6XSg

[ksbadger]

Don’t forget you have to prepare the bottom of the water in a very similar way to a dressage ring or you’ll have footing problems and possible accidents. I would second the advice to get a professional in to at least help with the initial design.

[Blacktree]

Wow LR, that’s an amazing water jump!! I want to come school at your place! Unfortunately something on that scale won’t be possible for us, but that gives me some great ideas. We are definitely planning on investing in a proper base/liner.

[GoForAGallop]

One farm near me has a relatively small one, you can see it in their course slideshow: http://scarlethillfarm.com/xc-course/

Google maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/245+Lowell+Rd,+Groton,+MA+01450/@42.6104317,-71.5522451,105m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e3bf9527cd1421:0xf7f9d55189a8dc83!6m1!1e1

Edit: After a little digging on Youtube I found an adorable chubby Haflinger tackling it, that gives you a different angle of the banked wall: https://youtu.be/cHI8V9Ien3o?t=3m56s

And lastly, a more advanced rider schooling literally every possible element that could be associated with it: https://youtu.be/H5fK8HdnRCw?t=1m57s

It’s definitely an incredibly useful size and setup. I DON’T think that you could do any smaller. They’re very nice folks and I’m sure wouldn’t mind if you sent an email with any questions.

[Blacktree]

That aerial view on google maps is very useful, thank you. Good idea!