Making wavy planks for horse jumps is something I have ALWAYS wanted to do. They are fun, different, and just add a different element for my horse to get used to jumping over. I haven’t even looked to see how expensive it would be to buy these already made, but I would assume they would be expensive.
To make a wavy plank will cost you about $10.00 total, this is for the wood, paint, primer and sandpaper. This does not include the cost for the tools, but if you are building horse jumps I am willing to bet you already have these tools in your garage.
I made a video of the entire building process which I will link to in the bottom of this post if you wanted to check it out.
To make 8 foot wavy planks this is what you will need:
- 2”x6” x8’ lumber
- 60 grit sandpaper
- Kilz 2 primer
- Oil based enamel paint
- Orbital sander
- Jigsaw
- Drill
- Circular saw
First draw a wavy line on the lumber. Keep it simple, and don’t go too far into the wood. You don’t want to make the wood too narrow, otherwise it may break if it falls to the ground or your horse bumps it.
Next, measure off where the planks will sit in the jump cups. I measure mine 6” long, and 3”wide. This gives a nice secure part of the plank to sit in the jump cup. Then you will cut this part out with the circular saw and jigsaw.
Once you have the plank ends completed, now is the time to grab your drill, and start drilling holes along your drawn wavy line. I used a 3/8” spade drill bit. As you go along this will look like a dotted line. Believe me, don’t skip this step! The first plank I made, I tried to just cut into the wood to begin the wavy line, and that was a really bad idea. You will be going against the grain of the wood, and it is close to impossible to make it work. We tried using a router, a circular saw, a sawzall, and lots of other things trying to make this work.
Drilling holes into the wood weakens it, and gives you an easy way to get started with cutting through the grain of the wood, trust me on this!
After that is complete, grab your jigsaw and start following that wavy dotted line. Get as close to the edge that will be your wave as possible. This will mean less sanding once all of the pieces are cut out.
Now it’s time to use the sander, and sand all edges smooth. I like to round all edges as this makes it look really nice. The more you sand, the smoother it will be and the better your finished product will be.
Once you are happy with the sanding, now you can primer coat all sides of your wavy plank. You don’t have to do this heavy, a thin coat of primer is fine.
Once your primer coat is dry, now paint on a coat of oil based enamel. The oil based paint works the best because it will withstand being outside. Do several thin coats of paint on each side allowing to dry between coats of paint. This will give you a shiny finish on the plank.
If you are feeling really creative, you could paint stripes on the planks, or multiple colors. I chose to leave mine a solid color and then add stripes to the rails.
And there you have it! That is how to make your own wavy planks for your horse jumps! $10.00 per rail isn’t too bad when you consider what you are getting out of this. Wavy planks are fun, and not a lot of people make these, so imagine what a few jumps with wavy planks would look like in your arena!
And if you are looking for ways to make extra money by building horse jumps, this is an excellent piece of jump equipment to add to your list of items. They are original, and people really like having them for their jumps.
Happy creating!
YouTube Video How to Make Wavy Planks for Horse Jumps
