Rabbit show jumping (sometimes known as rabbit dressage or rabbit hopping) is a competition in which trained domestic rabbits leap over appropriately sized obstacles. The activity began in the late 1970s in Sweden (where it is known as Kaninhoppning). It was popularized in the United Kingdom following an appearance on the TV show That's Life!. There are more than fifty rabbit show jumping clubs throughout Scandinavia.
Some people compare rabbit show jumping to equestrian show jumping. Trainers and devotees can win titles and awards during events sponsored by groups such as the U.S. Rabbit Agility Association, Rabbithopping-USA, the American Association of Sporting Events for Rabbits, 4-H Club fairs, and other venues. Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and the United Kingdom hold local and nationally sanctioned events.
The event depends on the type of rabbit, with separate competitions for small rabbits and larger rabbits. The rules are quite different in all countries except Sweden and Norway, therefore it's hard to organize an international competition. Rabbit jumping is also an activity in America, but has not gained widespread popularity. The official world record in high jump for rabbits is 1 meter (39.37 in), by Snöflingans Majesty of Night & Tarkan Sönmez (Sweden). The official world record in long jump for rabbits is 3 meters (118.11 in), by Yaboo & Maria Jensen (Denmark).
Read more about Rabbit Show Jumping: Breeds
Famous quotes containing the words rabbit, show and/or jumping:
“I positively think that ladies who are always enceinte quite disgusting; it is more like a rabbit or guinea-pig than anything else and really it is not very nice.”
—Victoria (1819–1901)
“Back now to autumn, leaving the ended husk
Of summer that brought them here for Show Saturday
The men with hunters, dog-breeding wool-defined women,
Children all saddle-swank, mugfaced middleaged wives
Glaring at jellies, husbands on leave from the garden
Watchful as weasels, car-tuning curt-haired sons
Back now, all of them, to their local lives....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“Everything seems beautiful because you don’t understand. Those flying fish, they’re not leaping for joy, they’re jumping in terror. Bigger fish want to eat them. That luminous water, it takes its gleam from millions of tiny dead bodies, the glitter of putrescence. There’s no beauty here, only death and decay.”
—Curtis Siodmak (1902–1988)