How to Make a Jump Chute for Horses

A jump chute can help a horse learn to jump and adjust its stride without the help of a rider or having to balance itself under the additional weight of the saddle and rider. The chute can be used to test the animal's natural ability to jump before it has been trained to do so or can be an appropriate way to ask it to jump higher than it normally would under saddle. A jump chute is easy to construct but needs to be done in a safe manner to help prevent injuries.

Things You'll Need

  • Jump standards
  • Measuring tape
  • Jump poles
  • Warning tape
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Instructions

    • 1

      Decide what type of jump combination you want to set up, and lay out ground rails perpendicular to the arena wall at the appropriate measurements for the striding required by the horse. Leave just enough room for the jump standards on the wall-side of the rails. The measurements you choose between the rails will depend on the exercise you want the horse to practice, the horse's size and stride length, and the height you plan to jump the horse. Most jump chutes will be laid out so that the horse is doing short gymnastic combinations.

    • 2

      Put a standard on each side of the ground rails. Remove the jump cups from the standards until you are ready to build each jump. Jump cups are hazardous without rails in them because a horse can run into one and injure itself if it does not stay straight through the chute. Without a rider, there is a good chance that the horse may veer to the side of the jump and hit the cup.

    • 3

      Add a single standard to the inside of the chute, one stride length before the first jump, and another one a stride after the final jump. This will help guide the horse into and out of the chute. Tie the end of the safety tape to one of these standards at the horse's shoulder height. This height will discourage the horse from trying to jump over or duck under the tape.

    • 4

      Walk along the inside jump standards toward the opposite end. Keep the safety tape taught, and wrap it once around each jump standard in the row to keep it at a consistent height. Cut the tape, and tie it off at the other end. Safety tape will break and not harm the horse or the jump standards if the horse decides to misbehave and run through it, but it is visible and thick enough to deter the horse from doing so.