Now THAT’S a bunny hop: Rabbit dressage set to take the world by storm
That rabbits like to hop is hardly a secret. But now European rabbit enthusiasts have harnessed their bunnies’ natural talents to create a new spectator sport… rabbit showjumping.
Invented in Sweden in the early Eighties, Kaninhop involves bunnies bouncing their way around courses consisting of several small jumps of varying height and length.
Snoopy, a black-and-white bunny from the German city of Jena, is the star of the local Kaninhop club – and he makes spends his days leaping over all manner of barricades, jumps and rails.
Buggin’ out: Snoopy the show jumping rabbit can jump around 60cm high
‘Snoopy can jump 60 centimeters (about 2 feet) high,’ proud Claudia Fehlen, the 23-year-old founder of the Jena bunny hopping club, told Der Spiegel.
‘And he has done well in tournaments. He came in second once, and third another time.’
Over the past few decades to sport has spread far from its Scandinavian homeland and clubs have now sprung up in several other European countries, the U.S., Canada and even Japan.
Rules vary from country to country, but generally the more jumps a rabbit clears the higher its score. There is also sometimes a time element to competitions.
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