Rabbit hopping is a relatively young discipline that is quickly gaining new fans. After all, rabbits are virtually born for jumping, so why not use it for both their and their master’s entertainment.
Rules of rabbit hopping, that is, rabbits jumping over obstacles, are similar to dog agility based on horse show jumping. However, gradually, it has been “made to measure” for rabbits. This sport has originated in Sweden in the 70’s and after the break of the millennium, it spread beyond the borders. Today, it is popular mainly in the northern Europe and the USA, but fairly often, you can encounter it even in our country, since even Czech championship already exists. I first ran into it several years ago at the FOR PETS exhibition, where a race was taking place.
The furry friend goes through the rabbit hopping course with harnesses and on a leash. It must not be pulled by the leash and the guide must not get over the obstacles together with their pet. The guide must be older than seven years of age and the rabbit older than four months, in the disciplines of the high jump and long jump older than twelve months.
There are four disciplines in rabbit hopping:
Straight and crooked course
Eight to twelve obstacles are jumped over, placed one after another at the same interval on a straight course, in the case of a structured course on a crooked one. On both of the courses, the rabbit that goes through the course in the shortest amount of time and with the least faults is the winner.
According to difficulty, courses are ranked into performance classes. The rabbit achieves promotion between them by gaining three qualification points granted for the so-called ranking. The rabbit gets points for ranking if it finishes among the first fifth of the competitors. However, if the rabbit manages to go through both rounds without any faults, it gets a point even if they don’t rank. In classes, the courses differ in height and the number of obstacles.
High and long jump
Only one obstacle is jumped over. Its length, or its width is gradually increased. Each rabbit has three attempts for a jump.
In the highest, elite classes, you receive a certificate for winning in all the four disciplines. If the rabbit has three certificates in one discipline, they receive the Champion title. When the rabbit achieves the same title even in other disciplines, they receive the title of the Great Champion (two disciplines), the Super Champion (three disciplines) or the Grand Champion (four disciplines).
And how can you teach your little rabbit to jump over obstacles? It is fundamental to teach it how to walk on a leash. Only then, the training of jumping over obstacles may begin. First lay the bar from between the sides on the ground. Sit the rabbit in front of the obstacle and wait whether it jumps over it. If it doesn’t feel like it, you can carry it over, praise it and let it jump to the next obstacle. When it has understood what it should be doing, you can gradually increase both the number of the obstacles and their height. The training should rather be short and more frequent. Not all rabbits will like show jumping and in that case, there’s no use in making them do it. But most love the jumping, after all, it is natural for them. If you build the obstacles on your own, don’t forget to make them light and easy to knock down, so that the rabbit could not hurt itself. Training is ideal on a non-slippery surface, for example, on a carpet. You can even train it outside, but especially beginners at jumping may be easily distracted from training by the grass.
I believe, that for many rabbit owners, this sport can be a great variation of their relationship with their furry friends and they will have loads of fun together. Have you ever tried rabbit hopping?
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