Rabbit jumping makes its debut at fair

Onlookers draped themselves over the fence surrounding the bunny jumping competition Thursday at the Northwest Montana Fair. Handlers and their rabbits were spread out beneath the shade of a canopy, some taking time for an extra snuggle with their competitors while others kept a close eye on the competition.

Before them was a line of jumps, ranging in height from roughly 3 inches to about a foot.

Kalispell’s Rebecca Cloninger approached the starting line with her furry companion, Hopper, a cream-colored, New Zealand-Palomino cross. He was decked out in a red halter and matching leash, which Cloninger used to guide her bunny down the course. The rabbit hopped over the jumps of varying heights and shapes, ears flopping back and forth with each bound. When it came to the final obstacle, Hopper sailed over the rungs with ease to his owner’s delight.

“He did his best run ever,” 14-year-old Cloninger said. “He didn’t go off the course and he didn’t knock over any rungs.”

Cloninger was one of roughly 20 competitors who participated in the fair’s first bunny jumping contest. The sport ranks competitors based on speed and how clean their runs are. The event was spearheaded by Glacier View 4-H leader and Glacier Rabbit Breeders founding member KelleySue Bain, who wanted to raise awareness about the burgeoning sport.

“Most people don’t even know about it or don’t know that it’s available here,” she said.

Rabbit hopping, also known as Kaninhop, originated in Sweden in the 1970s and has a sizable following in Europe — there are more than 4,000 rabbit hoppers in the U.K., Germany and Scandinavia, according to National Geographic.

She hosted the club’s first contest in April and introduced rabbit hopping to fairgoers in Missoula last week. Bain has another competition set for Sept. 16, which will also feature rabbit agility, but noted that the contest will be low-key, at least for now.

“We’re still trying to keep it really fun because everybody is so new, so we’re not making it really serious yet,” Bain said.

Wes Oedekoven, whose son and daughter participated in Thursday’s show, said raising rabbits helps teach his children responsibility.

“It’s good for them to have some chores to do and a little bit of education and animal life for them,” he said.

The Oedekovens are active members of the bunny show world — they’re traveled to contests as far away as Idaho and Washington and have quite the herd of their own at home.

“My wife — she has accumulated several over the years,” he said. “I’m sure at some point during this summer and spring we were over 100.”

Oedekoven and his children used two Polish rabbits for the hopping contest, but Bain said any rabbit could make a great jumper. Large breeds such as the Flemish Giant, may have some extra difficulty because of their size, while small and medium-sized breeds like the mini lop and mini rex are well-suited for the sport.

“Rabbits are very easy to train and they’re very smart. Some people clicker train them and can get them to do all kinds of tricks. You can get them hopping pretty quickly — at least a little bit,” Bain said. “Sometimes you’ll get a rabbit that just doesn’t want to do it, but definitely the majority of them want to do it once they get comfortable.”

To train a bunny for rabbit hopping, Bain recommended starting slow by first getting the animal accustomed to wearing a harness. After the bunny becomes comfortable, handlers begin walking it against a wall and then introducing obstacles such as a foot or a stick for the bunny to jump over.

Competitors come in different shapes and sizes too. Bain said the September show, which will also take place at the fairgrounds, will be open to youth and adult contestants.

“It’s open to everybody — we had an old-farts division and we got the grandmas and the parents up there,” she said of Thursday’s event. “I think we had more of them than kids.”