Dear Leslie,
In your column last week, you mentioned that you have a bunny you take to horse shows. So my question is: Really? And, if so: Why?
Sincerely,
JackRussellMom79
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Dear JackRussellMom79,
Thanks for your question and, yes, I do have a bunny. I’ve always been obsessed with training things: dogs, horses, boyfriends, etc. So when I saw a video of bunny show-jumping on EN earlier this year, I was more than a little intrigued. I made a beeline for the nearest animal shelter and picked out the friskiest rabbit in the lot, Amelia Earheart, to be my first sportbunny prospect.
While “Millie” got to work on chewing up everything I own, I did some research. As it turns out, bunny show-jumping (also known as “rabbit hopping”) originated in Sweden in the late ’70s. It has since evolved into a popular novelty sport in Europe with a more modest presence on this side of the pond. The world record for bunny high-jump is just shy of 3’3″, while the record for long jump is 9’8″–crazy, I know.
The rabbit hopping how-to manuals made it sound really easy. Like, all you have to do is wave a carrot around and your bunny will jump on command. What they don’t mention in the training manuals is that rabbits have the attention span of a goldfish and very little desire to please anyone but themselves.
Our “bounce training” definitely had its roadblocks. Sometimes Millie would decide she’d rather take a bath than jump, sometimes she’d rather take a nap, sometimes she would need to check something under the bed, and sometimes she just ran away. I’m glad training horses to jump isn’t as hard as training bunnies–I’d be locked up in a psych ward by now. Over time, though, she became more consistent. She mastered other skills, too, like pooing in a litter box and hopping on a leash.
Another goal I had for Millie was to be able to bring her with me to events. I don’t have a dog, which probably compromises my legitimacy as a horse-person, and I hoped that a bunny would fill that void. Since rabbits have very fragile dispositions–they can literally die from fright–I took Baby Millie everywhere I went in an effort to desensitize her. As a result, she could now care less about the hustle-bustle of shows. She loves frolicking in the grass and being fawned over by everyone she encounters. (With a few exceptions: At a recent event, one big-name trainer barked at me, “Get that thing out of here before my wife sees it.”)
Millie is also earning a reputation as a good-luck charm. If a rabbit’s foot is lucky, a whole rabbit must be even luckier, right? In the future, I may set up a lucky bunny petting booth by the cross-country warm-up or just start renting her out by the hour.
With winter coming on, I wanted to make sure Millie had a friend to snuggle up with on cold nights. So our little family recently expanded to include a new bun named Dennis Hopper. Dennis immediately fell madly in love with Millie and will hopefully love her a little less after he gets neutered tomorrow. I hope to start his bounce training soon as well.
My heart definitely has a bunny-shaped hidey-hole where Millie and Dennis have come to reside. They’re even going to be the ring-bearers in my wedding next spring. I strongly encourage other eventers to consider adding a bunny to their entourage, even you, JackRussellMom79. Just remember to keep it separate from your dog.
Good luck!
Leslie
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