# How to teach a rabbit Showjumping



## Felline (Jul 13, 2010)

I've gotten the question here on the forums of 'how to teach a bunny to jump?'

So I've decided to tell from my own experience and how I usually learn my bunnys to jump.

Bunnies are natural jumpers and all bunnybreeds can do it more or less and most bunnies likes it, and think its fun. It's also healthy for them and keeps them in shape.

All breeds are allowed to compete, but there are some breeds that probably wont be good jumpers. 
The Flemish Giant and the French lop, can hurt their legs if they jump to high jumps and they have their weight against them. I've had experience of jumping with a French lop myself and he never managed to jump higher then 15-20 centimeters.
The English lop with its huge ears isn't the perfect bunny for jumping either as they can hurt their ears, and easily trip on them.
The Angora rabbit with its long fur isn't either someone I would recomend for jumping, unless its clipped that is, because of the difficulties their coats cause with agility and vision.

I personally prefer dwarven lops or dwarven lop crossbreeds as jumpers. They have a perfect temperament, they are curious and they are brave. They also have the perfect size and weight and have much force in their paws. Most (not everyone) of the swedish 'elite' in the showjumping are dwarven lops or crossbred with dwarven lops.

Before you start training the bunny, I recommend to harness-train it so it gets used to walk outside with a harness on first.

*So how do I train them?
*I usually start training a bunny when they're 3 months old, or older, depending on when i get the bunny. They can learn at any age above 3 months.
The first training lessions I prefer to have indoors or in a outdoor enclosure as I dont use harness on them the first times. Remember though that if you jump with them indoors, do it on a carpet so the bunny cant slip. Make sure that you train the bunny in a calm enviroment the first times.
I always take it slow when I teach a bunny how to jump. First I just let them run freely around the room/enclosure when a jump is standing (a low jump, about 5 centimeters high only), and in 90% of the bunnys I've trained, they walk up to the jump and inspects it curiously.
Sometimes they get what to do instantly and jumps over themselves, and sometimes not.
If they jump over, I reward them with cuddles and a kiss saying 'good job' with a happy tone on my voice. I never reward with candy/vegetables or anything else edible.

If it dont jump over by itself, place the rabbit infront of the jump, then lift the bunny over the jump and then reward it with a 'good job' or a kiss or cuddles or what you most find suitable as a reward.
I sometimes get the question "Why reward when you lift it over? The bunny havent jumped itself..." and I'll give my answer to that one.
The bunny learns that when he's on the other side of the jump, he'll get a reward.
Then repeat it. Place the rabbit infront of the jump, wait to see if it jumps by itself, you can help it abit by tickle it with your fingers on its rear or on the side of its back paws. If the bunny runs to the side of the jump or in the opposite direction from the jump, simply place the bunny infront of the jump again.
If it havent jumped by itself after a few minutes, try lifting it over the jump again and then reward.

*One major important thing* to think about is; always have faith and belive in your bunny! If you feel that your bunny can do it, the bunny will feel it to.
Bunnys can easily pick up your emotions. If you're nervous, the bunny gets nervous. If you're sad, the bunny can get worried. And if you feel like "my bunny will never understand jumping", the bunny probably wont bother trying.

*Another important thing* to remember is that you have to take it easy. Dont expect your bunny to understand the jumping instantly. And dont sit and struggle with it for hours. 15-30 minuts training/day is well enough, otherwise the bunny can get bored of it and will never jump again.

A perfect example of that is my first bunny ever, named Donna. She was a black dwarven lop.
It was our first competition ever, 20 years ago. In the competition I was in, there were 2 'basic rounds' and then 2 finals on that.
Donna jumped the 2 'basic rounds without problems. She didnt knock down a single jump, and she got into the finals. The first final round she went really good aswell with no knock downs. Then when we got to the last finalround, she had had enough. She lied down and refused to move. She never ever jumped any jumps at all after that.

So dont overdo it in the beginning. It's supposed to be fun for both you and your bunny.

Keep this training for a week or two, and when the bunny have understood that it's supposed to jump over the jump, you can start practice with a harness on.

Keep in mind not to pull hard in the harness, and make sure you hold the lead loose enough by the jumps so the bunny can manage the jump without getting pulled back and in worst case crashes down on the obstacle. And don't use a stick or your foot to control or steer the bunny, always use your hands.

When it's gotten used to the harness and jumping with a harness on, you can make the jump abit higher (maybe 10 centimeters) and then see if the bunny still understands that it should jump over it.
And then just build on, maybe not on the height of the jump, but maybe put another jump about 1,5-2 meters behind the first jump so it learns to jump more then 1 jump in a row.

That's the first basics on how to learn a rabbit to jump.
So the 4 most important thinks to think of is:
1. Belive in your bunny!
2. Take it slow and easy.
3. Reward much with words, cuddles and kisses
4. Have fun! and make sure your bunny have fun aswell.

*If you dont have the access to 'real' jumps, improvise!*
It can be a log, or 2 empty packages of milk taped together, a broom lying down...
Use your imagination, but make sure there are no sharp edges or spikes or anything like that since the bunny can get injured.


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