HARE-RAISING ADVENTURE
This bunny trail allows rabbits to show their stuff
Rabbits won’t be pulled out of a hat, but the names of some local celebrities will be at the Butler Farm Show’s first Celebrity Rabbit Hopping Contest on Monday, the opening day of the farm show.
Local celebrities, including the 2017 Pennsylvania State Fair Queen, Madeline McEachinof West Sunbury, will be paired with six members of the Butler Bunni Bunch 4-H Club, to guide and encourage pet rabbits to race over a course of hurdles.
“It’s an activity growing in popularity and this is a way to showcase what you can do with a rabbit,” said club member Shirlann Harmon, 17, of Butler, who was recently crowned queen of the Big Butler Fair, a separate event.
Rabbits were Shirlann’s entry into the world of 4-H, after she asked the Easter Bunny for a rabbit when she was 8 years old — and he brought her two. Now she is president of the only 4-H Club in Butler County devoted to raising and showing rabbits.
It is 4-H Clubs that have been championing the growing new sport of “rabbit hopping.”
The rabbits are trained by members to hop over hurdles placed in a straight line; the animals’ normal behavior is to run in a zigzag pattern to escape predators. Any breed or mixed breed of rabbit can be trained to be a hopper, but the rabbit must be at least 4 months old. No dragging or lifting of the animal is allowed. Some rabbits respond to verbal cues, such as “up.”
“Some kids train with treats, others just praise. The rabbits like to be picked up, rubbed down and told ‘good job,’’’ club leader Shannon Brandon of Prospect said.
But not all all rabbits can be “hoppers,” she cautioned.
“It takes a rabbit with a high arch in its back — as well as a child with lots of energy for training,’’ Ms. Brandon said. Her children, Ryan and Sarah, will race Little C and Wi-Fi, two English Spot rabbits, a breed known for high hopping, on Monday.
Six members of the club, which has more than 30 members ranging in age from 8-18, will participate in Monday’s race. Some have had their rabbits take
part in high levels of competition, such as Olivia Blatt, of Center, whose rabbit Ada — which is a breed known as Tan — competed at the Pennsylvania Farm Show with a local celebrity handler this year.
The sport of rabbit hopping began in Sweden in the 1970s when a group of equestrians patterned the competition after show jumping by horses. It was introduced in the United States in the 1980s, said Sally Turner of Philipsburg, Centre County, a Pennsylvania Rabbit Breeders Association director. She was at the first national event in the U.S., the 2013 American Rabbit Breeders Association national convention in Harrisburg, when rabbit hopping was approved as a performance sport.
“That was the first time the convention had been held here in Pennsylvania in 40 years, and we were excited to be hosting,’’ she said.
Pennsylvania has taken the lead ever since in promoting rabbit hopping through 4-H Club events, competitions at rabbit shows and the state Celebrity Rabbit Hopping Contest, which is televised each January at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg.
“Rabbit hopping is such a great way for kids to get involved in their rabbits and bond,’’ she said. “And it’s pure entertainment.’’
Rabbit hopping is a timed event.
The rabbit that completes the course with the fastest time and the fewest faults — knocking down rails or going completely off course — is the winner. All rabbits are outfitted with a harness and a 4- to 6-foot leash.
Although the rules originally were patterned after equestrian events, official rules and courses are now being developed by the American Rabbit Hopping Association for Rabbits and Cavies. Cavies refers to guinea pigs.
The course at the Butler Farm Show has 10 jumps, with heights ranging from 6 inches to 10 inches. At official competitions, course jumps can exceed 16 inches and include obstacles and crooked paths.
At the 4-H Club’s final meeting before the farm show, the six hopping rabbits practiced the run outside the farm show building as Shirlann and Sonnet Roberson, 14, prepared younger club members for what to expect at the judging. They demonstrated the “football hold,” in which the rabbit’s face is tucked inside the person’s elbow crease. “This is the only safe way to carry your rabbit to the judge’s table,” Shirlann told the younger members.
Shirlann notes that rabbits are only one of the activities of 4-H.
“It was rabbits that brought me to 4-H. But it has been so much more. There is practically a project book for any interest you might have,” she said. “But most importantly, it’s been the people, the 4-H camps and the leadership opportunities. That’s what 4-H is all about.”
The Celebrity Rabbit Hopping Contest begins at 5 p.m. Monday in the Dairy Tent of the Butler Farm Show grounds, 625 Evans City Road, Connoquenessing Township. Information: 724-482-4000.