Rabbit Hopping
There is a new sport developing in the world of rabbits. This sport requires skill of both the handler, and rabbit. They have spent months, training, preparing, for the big event. When the big day comes, their excitement builds, as their name is called to start the course. Their rabbit jumps over each hurdle beautifly! As they reach the end of the course, they pick up their prized rabbit, and head back to the waiting area to wait for the results.
This sport is called rabbit hopping! This is a relatively new sport in the united states, but has existed in Europe for many years. It requires rabbits to navigate either a straight line course, Crooked course, high Jump, or long jump. These classes are judged on the rabbits speed, and skills.
Almost any rabbit can learn how to hop, some will be better than others, but with enough training, most of them will learn how. The smaller breeds like Holland lops, Britannia Petites, English Spots, and Mini rexes are usually better, because they have a smaller amount of weight to have to get up and over the hurdles. Even though the smaller rabbits usually dominate, I I have also seen a flemish Giant do very well. So no matter what kind of rabbit you have, do not be afraid to give it a shot!
Before a rabbit can compete in rabbit hopping events, a lot of training is done to teach the rabbit how to hop, and to build up the muscles to jump higher, and faster. This training starts out with getting the rabbit used to wearing the harness. Rabbits competing in rabbit hopping use what is called a H harness. They are commonly used for cats, and have a loop around the rabbits neck, another loop around the rabbit's stomach, and then a connecting piece between the two loops on the rabbits back. This is a safe way to restrain the rabbit, while still giving it the room to move freely over the jumps.
When the rabbit has gotten accustomed to wearing the leash, the handler starts working them over low jumps. These jumps are just poles laying on a floor that the rabbit can easily maneuver on. (avoiding wooden floors at all times during training, Foam or rubber mats, or carpet works best) by gently coaxing the rabbit over the pole, they are training them that when they go over the pole they will get petted, and praised. After make a big deal over them, scratching them, and giving them attention, they have the rabbit go over the jump again, and again, making a big fuss over them each time. They do this for 5 to 10 minutes before they put the rabbit away. Rabbits have very short attention spans, so a few short training sessions a day is better than one long one.
Once the rabbit is willingly going over the pole, the handler raises the pole to about 2 inches off the ground. they then work with the rabbit going over that for a while, and then they slowly raise the bar, a little more every time, as the rabbit builds up the muscles to jump.
As the weeks and months pass, the handler has turned an already adorable rabbit, into a seasoned hopper, as they compete in rabbit hopping events, their rabbit gets better and better, until they find themselves competing on the national level of competition.
Already, rabbit hopping has gotten media coverage, from people fascinated by this new, adorable sport. At the ARBA national convention in October, the rabbit hopping contestants were visited by the cast of “Good Morning America” and they were even able to hop one of the contestants rabbits with them! Then, in January, the celebrity rabbit hopping competition, with 6 local celebrities from tv, radio, and politics, was covered by the news channel “PCN” along with numerous local newspapers.
Rabbit hopping is a fast growing sport filled with adventures! There is now a ARBA sanctioned club devoted to rabbit hopping, and more and more people start hopping their rabbits everyday. I am excited to see what the future of this wonderful sport has in store!
There is a new sport developing in the world of rabbits. This sport requires skill of both the handler, and rabbit. They have spent months, training, preparing, for the big event. When the big day comes, their excitement builds, as their name is called to start the course. Their rabbit jumps over each hurdle beautifly! As they reach the end of the course, they pick up their prized rabbit, and head back to the waiting area to wait for the results.
This sport is called rabbit hopping! This is a relatively new sport in the united states, but has existed in Europe for many years. It requires rabbits to navigate either a straight line course, Crooked course, high Jump, or long jump. These classes are judged on the rabbits speed, and skills.
Almost any rabbit can learn how to hop, some will be better than others, but with enough training, most of them will learn how. The smaller breeds like Holland lops, Britannia Petites, English Spots, and Mini rexes are usually better, because they have a smaller amount of weight to have to get up and over the hurdles. Even though the smaller rabbits usually dominate, I I have also seen a flemish Giant do very well. So no matter what kind of rabbit you have, do not be afraid to give it a shot!
Before a rabbit can compete in rabbit hopping events, a lot of training is done to teach the rabbit how to hop, and to build up the muscles to jump higher, and faster. This training starts out with getting the rabbit used to wearing the harness. Rabbits competing in rabbit hopping use what is called a H harness. They are commonly used for cats, and have a loop around the rabbits neck, another loop around the rabbit's stomach, and then a connecting piece between the two loops on the rabbits back. This is a safe way to restrain the rabbit, while still giving it the room to move freely over the jumps.
When the rabbit has gotten accustomed to wearing the leash, the handler starts working them over low jumps. These jumps are just poles laying on a floor that the rabbit can easily maneuver on. (avoiding wooden floors at all times during training, Foam or rubber mats, or carpet works best) by gently coaxing the rabbit over the pole, they are training them that when they go over the pole they will get petted, and praised. After make a big deal over them, scratching them, and giving them attention, they have the rabbit go over the jump again, and again, making a big fuss over them each time. They do this for 5 to 10 minutes before they put the rabbit away. Rabbits have very short attention spans, so a few short training sessions a day is better than one long one.
Once the rabbit is willingly going over the pole, the handler raises the pole to about 2 inches off the ground. they then work with the rabbit going over that for a while, and then they slowly raise the bar, a little more every time, as the rabbit builds up the muscles to jump.
As the weeks and months pass, the handler has turned an already adorable rabbit, into a seasoned hopper, as they compete in rabbit hopping events, their rabbit gets better and better, until they find themselves competing on the national level of competition.
Already, rabbit hopping has gotten media coverage, from people fascinated by this new, adorable sport. At the ARBA national convention in October, the rabbit hopping contestants were visited by the cast of “Good Morning America” and they were even able to hop one of the contestants rabbits with them! Then, in January, the celebrity rabbit hopping competition, with 6 local celebrities from tv, radio, and politics, was covered by the news channel “PCN” along with numerous local newspapers.
Rabbit hopping is a fast growing sport filled with adventures! There is now a ARBA sanctioned club devoted to rabbit hopping, and more and more people start hopping their rabbits everyday. I am excited to see what the future of this wonderful sport has in store!