![Rabbit Show Jumping - Easy Class](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Rabbit_Show_Jumping_-_Easy_Class.jpg)
Rabbit show jumping (), also known as rabbit agility
or rabbit hopping,
is an
animal sport
Animals in sport are a specific form of working animals. Many animals, at least in more commercial sports, are highly trained. Two of the most common animals in sport are horses and dogs.
Types of animal sporting events
There are many types o ...
where the animals are led through a course by their owners,
modelled after
horse show jumping.
It is typically conducted in a closed, indoor arena, with obstacles scaled to suit the
rabbits. Competitions have been held in the United States
and several European countries.
As rabbits are common domestic
pet
A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence, ...
s, some owners train their
pet rabbits for this sport.
History
Rabbit jumping started in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
in the 1970s, when the first rabbit club started to arrange rabbit jumping competitions.
At that time, the rules were based on the rules from horse jumping, but were later reformed to be better-suited for rabbits. The sport grew throughout Sweden and several rabbit jumping clubs were formed to support the growing interest. In the early 1990s,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
joined in with rabbit jumping activities, developing new clubs and joining Sweden in rabbit jumping competitions.
The (Swedish Federation of Rabbit Jumping) was established on September 3, 1994. Rabbit show jumping became popular in all parts of Sweden.
The sport reached the United States in the 80s.
The Rabbit Hopping Organization of America was founded in 2001.
The rules and guidelines for rabbit hopping were for the club with the help of the judges' committee in Denmark and with personal assistance from judge Aase Bjerner.
The American Hopping Association for Rabbits and Cavies (AHARC) was chartered with the
American Rabbit Breeders Association
The American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) is a national Club (organization), club for domestic rabbit and cavy breeders. The ARBA is headquartered in Knox, Pennsylvania in the United States. Its membership is composed of rabbit and cavy bree ...
in 2013. The rules and guidelines for this association were moulded after RHOA and Denmark. The AHARC held the very first official national competition in the United States during the 2011 ARBA Convention in Indianapolis, IN. The performance competition for rabbits during 2013 ARBA convention in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was a Mid Atlantic Rabbit and Cavy event. AHARC had the first national performance event for cavies during the 2014 ARBA TX convention.
A rabbit hopping competition was held in 2017's
North Carolina State Fair
The North Carolina State Fair is an American state fair and agricultural exposition held annually in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1853, the fair is organized by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. It attrac ...
.
The Rabbit Hopping Society of Australia was founded in 2013, also with the assistance of Aase and Rasmus Bjerner.
In 2015 Freya Pocock Johansson founded Rabbit Hopping New Zealand.
Record jumps
The world record for the highest rabbit jump is , and was achieved in June 2019 by Miss Pinkys Grand Champion Harajuku "Dobby", owned by Julia Samson from Sweden. The same rabbit also holds the world record for longest jump, at , achieved in August 2017.
Earlier records
High Jumps:
Snöflingans Majesty of Night (2015) (Sweden)
Snöflingans Majesty of Night (2012) (Sweden)
Tøsen (1997) (Denmark)
Long Jumps:
Yaboo (1999) (Denmark)
Courses
![Kaninhoppning](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Kaninhoppning.JPG)
Official rabbit hopping competitions consist of a straight course, a crooked course, high jump, and long jump.
In a straight course all the obstacles are placed in a straight line and have to be jumped in succession. In a crooked course, the obstacles are placed in an interloping path in which the obstacles must be jumped in the correct order.
Straight and crooked courses are divided into 5 levels.
The measurements are slightly different in different countries.
Mini: Max 26 cm high, 30cm long (6-8 obstacles)
Easy: Max 30 cm high, 45cm long (8 obstacles)
Medium: Max 38 cm high, 65cm long (10 obstacles)
Advanced: Max 45 cm high, 75cm long (10 obstacles)
Elite: Max 50 cm high, 80cm long (12 obstacles)
The mini-course is an introductory course. In order to progress from easy to medium, etc. a rabbit has to earn promotion points. Rabbits are placed according to the number of faults they have (such as knocking a rail down). Time only comes into play if 2 placing rabbits have tied for the same placing.
A rabbit has a set time (usually 60 minutes) to complete the course; if the time runs out before the course is completed, the rabbit is disqualified.
Breeds
![Rabbit Show Jumping - Advanced Class](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Rabbit_Show_Jumping_-_Advanced_Class.jpg)
All
breeds
A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slight ...
are allowed to compete; however, there may be problems with smaller and larger breeds. ( dwarf rabbits are smaller than and giants bigger than .)
The ideal jumping rabbit has long legs and a medium-long back, which will help it correctly judge the height and length of obstacles. In the case of slender bone structures, such as the
Belgian Hare, the legs should be strong and muscular so high jumps will not hurt them. In Scandinavia, where rabbit show jumping has a strong base, most are crossbreeds, bred with good jumpers as parents, similar to the method of breeding
lurcher
A lurcher is a cross-bred dog resulting from mating a Greyhound or other sighthound with a dog of another type, commonly a herding dog or a terrier. The lurcher was for hundreds of years strongly associated with poaching; in modern times it ...
s, deliberately crossbred racing dogs. Scandinavian Jumping Rabbits can be regarded as their own breed, with well-kept pedigrees.
See also
*
Rat agility
Rat agility is a sport for pet rats. It basically uses scaled down versions of the obstacles used for dog agility. The sport originated in Sweden and can trace its origin back to table runs (owner on one side of the table had to get the rat from t ...
*
Dog agility
Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles. The handler ...
*
Cat agility
Cat agility is a sport in which trained cats are lured through timed obstacle courses by their handlers.
Cat agility contests, like similarly themed dog agility contests, are modeled after the equestrian sport of show jumping. Under the rules, c ...
*
Behavioral enrichment
Behavioral enrichment is an animal husbandry principle that seeks to enhance the quality of captive animal care by identifying and providing the environmental stimuli necessary for optimal psychological and physiological well-being. Enrichment ca ...
References
External links
Rabbit Hopping in SwedenCanadian Rabbit Hopping ClubAmerican Hopping Association for Rabbits and CaviesRabbit Hopping UKRabbit Hopping in DenmarkRabbit Hopping in NorwayRabbit Hopping in AustraliaVancouver Rabbit Agility ClubRabbit Hopping New Zealand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabbit Show Jumping
Animals in sport
show jumping
Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...