Waukesha County Introduces

The Sport Of


 Rabbit Hopping




Donna Towell
4-H Rabbit Hopping Key leader
Wisconsin State Fair Superintendent
Pioneered the program for both Waukesha County and the
Wisconsin State Fair

The sport of Rabbit Hopping was introduced in 2004 to the Waukesha County Fair by the kids in the Prairie

Pioneers 4-H Project and is now being run by Donna Towell as a county wide project. In 2015 the Wisconsin

State fair will be holding their first Rabbit hopping event open to the world.

Rabbit Hopping is a sport that was started in the early 1970's in Sweden with the rules, guidelines and jumping

equipment being similar to horse show jumping but on a smaller scale. Its popularity spread to Denmark,
 
Germany and England. By the year 2001 the first national Rabbit Hopping Organization of America was formed

here in the United States by Linda Hoover.

Rabbits have 2 minutes to complete a course ranging from 8-12 jumps with the heights from 2 inches to 20

 inches.  Each jump can have a different and creative design ranging from two poles holding a stick to the

sophisticated elite water jumps.

Rabbits are first trained to feel very comfortable in
 
harness attached to a 6-foot lead. They are then
 
introduced to the jumps and with a little

 encouragement and patience the rabbit will begin to

 jump.   The rules are very strict when it comes to the

 safety of the animal so the handler is not allowed to

 use their feet to move the rabbit forward or lift their

 rabbit with the lead.  It takes the skill of the handler

 and the willingness of the rabbit to make a winning

 team.

We are finding Rabbit Hopping to be a lot of fun for

 the rabbit pet owner because they are able to learn

 about taking care of their rabbits, spending time with

 their furry friend and both the rabbit and the

 handler are getting some exercise.

Most rabbits are eligible for Rabbit Hopping

 Purebreds, mixed breeds, spayed and neutered

 rabbits are all welcome to jump. It is not

 recommended for rabbits that are 9 1/2 lbs or larger

 and all rabbits have to be 5 months to 6 years of

 age.  These restriction are for the health and safety

 of the rabbit . The handler may be 7 years old to an

 adult to enjoy this sport.

During training time the children and adults were able to work with their rabbits at the Rabbit Hopping practices.

They were able to see if their rabbit was one that would enjoy this sport. Several handlers were very surprised

to find out they had natural athletes and their rabbits weren't afraid to hop the course. With lots of practice,

rabbit and handler are able to compete in a Hopping event.

Our Rabbit Hopping events are now offering The Straight line, Crooked course, Team Relay, High Jump , Long

Jump, and Agility course.







This page goes to the event Rules and Regulations on the Wisconsin State Fair web site.

Entry forms will be posted in May





                                                                  This page goes to the event  Rules and Regulations for Agility




 This is a page explaining what a Judge,Timer, Scorekeeper, Gate Keeper

and Rail Runners do at an event



This page are samples of the forms we use for events




Click On Picture To Make Larger



 







 

 

 

 




 






Watch some amazing Rabbit Hopping


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5jwKDC3Y0U&app=desktop


Rabbit hopping in slow motion

http://www.youtube.com/watc
Toh?v=9J0trazYgeM

This is the UK, a Grand National for small animals, was held in the town of Harrogate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnWS8rmfqbk

This link will take you to the clips from the TV show  "The Amazing Race" where they had rabbit hopping as one of the challenges

This link will also take you to many other Youtube videos to watch.

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

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