Has anyone ever used post anchors on a 4x4 for jump standards? (Something like this maybe? - https://www.homedepot.com/p/Oz-Post-T4-850-4-in-Square-Wood-Post-Anchor-30182/203215009 ) I would think they will be lighter without the base, & If I have an anchor screwed onto the ground, they won’t blow over as well.
Thoughts?
Well, presumably you’d want them to be light so they were easier to carry… if you mount them into place with an anchor in addition to the spike, I feel like it defeats the purpose.
If for some reason you wanted to mount them permanently (is there a reason to do this???) then weight wouldn’t really matter there either. You may as well have the normal, moveable, base to give yourself some adjustability down the road.
I’m not sure you would want to punch holes into the arena base either, especially after you or the barn owner spent tens of thousands of dollars on it. If the arena has a solid, compacted limestone or granite base, you likely wouldn’t even be able to push this in very far either (initially, until you’ve punched enough holes in the base to render it useless).
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Interesting, could be a good idea, I do have some questions:
They might not blow over, but how would they do if knocked?
Would they hold up your rails ok and not sag inward?
If they are really secure, moving them could be a pain, and won’t they leave holes?
My arena at home is not fancy. We have clay soils, so we just leveled & then put sand over. Not ideal maybe, but certainly put it into price range for us, so I’m not as worried about messing up my base. Hole would be smaller than what the toads dig.
I am not sure if this would work, when are soils are dry they are very hard, which would make the anchor hard to put in & out. I may get just one to see how it goes…
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But what happens if, as you are riding and jumping your horse, you wish to lengthen or shorten your line of jumps or combination by a foot or so? With regular standards, you get off, lead your horse over with the reins hooked through your elbow, and move the jump, get back on and finish your schooling. You may need to shorten it up again later, or spread out an oxer a bit more, etc.
Plus, these anchors are expensive, some bits of 2 X 6 affixed the the base of the vertical 4X4 are way cheaper, and should not often blow over if they are of optimum length, and plenty strong if well screwed on and braced if necessary. If it’s blowing like a hurricane out in the riding arena, give riding or jumping a miss that day.
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Agree entirely with this. Any anchors like this that are going to be able to securely hold the standard upright will not be something you can just “pick up and move”. I think OP underestimates how big these are - looking at the spec pages, the shortest 4x4 anchor is still a whopping 24" long, and some of them are nearly 3ft long. At the very least, you’ll need a big mallet to pound the standards in with. If you don’t need a mallet to drive a metal spike 3 feet into the ground, I’m not convinced the soil is firm enough to hold the standard upright, and you’re going to make a giant mess of your arena when they tip over, digging up 3 feet of soil with them. When installed properly, moving these anchors will be akin to moving a fence row, not to mention the holes left behind that will surely degrade the footing over time, maybe even leaving potholes for you or your horse to twist an ankle in.
In the images, they’re literally shown holding fence posts, and I don’t know anyone who would want a moveable fence post. Ultimately, it’s not something I’d recommend when a few 2x4s will work just as well, and for a fraction of the cost.
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Having crashed through and/or taken out a jump standard or two with my leg over the years, I personally wouldn’t want anything with a huge spike on it in the mix.
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“A post set in an oz post will have similar performance characteristics as it would have if it was set in a six to eight inch post hole with concrete.”
(From the video at the Home Depot link)
I guess if that’s what you want out of your standards–posts set so firmly in the ground, it’s like using an auger and concrete–these’ll work just fine.
But I don’t know why you’d want that for your jump standards.
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thank you all. I was thinking I could just screw them in, & then unscrew them when I wanted to move them. Guess that explains why no one does it that way!
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Having taken out a few standards with my giant moose of a baby warmblood, I don’t think I’d want to see what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. 
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Our old farm was in a very rocky area and thus manu of the fence posts were set in concrete. Ever seen what happens when a 1000+ lbs animal knocks into a standard oak board fence with half rounds sunk into concrete? If you’re lucky and the animal hits the mid-point of an 8’ section, the boards break. But if the point of impact is nearer to the fence post, the post will snap off just above the concrete. Dunno if the same physics would come into play with your jump standards. Seems plausible, though.
