El Cheapo Dollar Store cones

[susanne]

I keep meaning to call the Oregon Dept. of Transportation about second-hand traffic cones, but it has yet to happen.

Today we stopped by the Dollar Store and my eye landed on some painfully bright cones. Theirs are intended as pool toys, but they sit evenly on the ground and hold a tennis ball -- they aren't weighted, but for $1 apiece, I can always experiment. They have them in dayglo orange, yellow, green and purple, and stand about a foot high.

 

[RhineStone]

Besides our official driving cones that my husband and I have ordered for special occasions such as Christmas and Mother's/Father's Days, I have gotten some soccer cones at the local everything store. They were about a buck a piece. They don't hold a tennis ball, so that is pretty cool that Susanne's will, but they work really good for getting new horses and new drivers to understand the idea of going inbetween the cones before we dig out the $$ ones!

I have also seen "traffic" style cones at Home Depot that are less pricey than official cones, but not as cheap as the soccer cones.

Having at least one set of official cones has helped tremendously with our training program. The horses don't spook at them at the shows and we drive them better, too. But they are WAY too expensive for beginners to plow over!

Myrna

 

[CZP1]

I have the some from the dollar store as well.

 

[billiethekid40]

I have a word of caution for some of the dollar store cones marketed as "safety cones" for kids... they have slits in the sides so they collapse if a child falls on them, but if a horse steps on them their hoof can go through and they can be quite sharp. Not a HUGE deal if you're right there but I wouldn't leave them out in the pasture in case they cut off circulation. I threw mine away because I just didn't feel they were safe for the minis.

 

[RhineStone]

I threw mine away because I just didn't feel they were safe for the minis.

I would have taken them! We just leave them in the arena.

 

[susanne]

What I bought are not safety cones -- they're intended for creating a water spout in the pool, so they're not collapsible.

All the same, I'll bring them in; otherwise, Scarlet and Thelonius would likely use them as megaphones to make their whinnies deceptively loud and deep...