Rabbit Hopping NZ

How to choose your new Hopping Prospect and best friend:

The great thing about Rabbit Hopping, is that anyone can do it, providing they have the patience and are prepared to take the time the rabbit needs to learn how to do it. One of the other wonderful things about Rabbit Hopping is the fact that it doesn’t matter what your rabbits pedigree is, a rabbit from say, a pet shop can easily be just as good or even better than a pedigree show rabbit! Some rabbits take less time to learn how to hop than others but NEVER rush them or try to push them before you feel they are ready. To start with you need to harness train your rabbit, this is if anything one of the most important parts of hopping, because if your rabbit is not harness trained properly it cannot jump!

The rabbit must feel comfortable in the harness and feel confident in open areas or it’s natural instincts will tell it to lie flat on the ground or panic and and just run around frantically which is very stressful for the rabbit and dangerous as it’s handler may let go of the leash or yank on it, causing injury to the rabbit. When you have harness trained your rabbit, which may take some time, start by just lying a pole on the ground and encouraging your rabbit to go over it. Do not shove your rabbit and NEVER push it with your foot! Gradually you can increase the height by say, 5-8cm and wait till your rabbit jumps comfortably over it before making it higher. Do not overdo it or the rabbit will lose interest, a good idea is to just exercise your rabbit on the leash for about 10min, then to jump for 5min every day, usually as a reward after my rabbit has jumped nicely, I let it run around the garden a bit and have some fun, which is better than giving it an un-healthy treat, especially since in a competition you can’t just give your rabbit treats after every single jump, because apart from anything else it will become fat and lazy and if your rabbit is fat or even just not well muscled it can actually be quite dangerous for it to do hopping of any height because it’s unfit and not prepared, so can get seriously injured. I am not suggesting that you hop with your rabbit every day, but don’t expect a rabbit that has had no exercise for a week to jump 50+cm out of the blue, because it could(if attempted) even break a leg. Some rabbits are better suited than others to hopping and there are some breeds which are just the wrong shape for it, here’s some breeds which should not be used, unless they are exceptionally fit and have strong bones:

Big/Meat Breeds, e.g. Flemish Giants and New Zealand Whites, because they are so heavy they cannot manage the larger jumps and they risk breaking their front legs on landing, because of the pressure on them, due to weight. The maximum weight allowed is 5kg.

Very small rabbits, e.g. Netherland Dwarfs and Jersey Woolies, because their bones are fragile and break easily also they are at a disadvantage when it comes to jumping the larger jumps, there are exceptions tho and some Netherland Dwarfs have done well in the past... The minimum weight allowed is 1kg, unless exception is made.

 

A good Rabbit Hopping Prospect(e.g type, personality): If you are looking for a rabbit to hop with, chose the most lively rabbit from the litter which comes up to you or shows most interest in it’s surroundings and it will probably be the most playful/bossy one, often rabbits with “attitude” of lots of character make good hoppers and it also makes them more handleable, you want a rabbit that is laid back enough to not freak out in new surroundings, but at the same time you don’t want it to be so laid back that it just wants to sleep and be cuddled because then it probably will not see the point in jumping. Lops are usually the best breed for hopping, because of their laid-back, intelligent and active personality, but there are many other suitable breeds, such as rexes, which although sometimes nervous and may take a little bit longer to train they have the perfect body type for jumping and are very intelligent, crossbreeds are usually a good bet as well. Medium sized rabbits are the best for hopping. There is some argument as to whether a male rabbit is better than a female or whether castrated males are better, personally I find the entire males the best, but sometimes they get so interested in the females near by they won’t hop. Females have much the same problem, where they can get very interested in the opposite sex and females will sometimes decide they just don’t feel like jumping, so they won’t. Castrated males are often to laid-back and get podgy easier. Basically everything depends on the rabbits personality and the quality of the training and patience it receives.

 

How to train your rabbit to hop: There are 3 main parts to teaching your rabbit to hop and they are:

• Harness Training

• Discipline/Obedience

• Learning to hop

 

Here is also the 3 types of harness that should be used, some exceptions may be made:

Shoulder Harness, H-type Harness & Chest Harness