FoxFire wrote:
i live in the southern part of the US, florida to be specific
one thing i wonder.... whats the downside to this? is it like with horses? can a bunny get injured, or damage knees and ligaments? and... once they learn how to jump, would it be harder to keep them in an enclosure? i' always wondered how show jumping horses were kept their paddocks.. whats to keep them from just leaping over the fences when ever they want?
Hmm ... I can't remember off the top of my head if there are any rabbit hopping clubs in Florida, since I happen to live accross the ocean from you, but I'll keep my ears open for one. Do you use Yahoo? There is two active Yahoo groups focused on rabbit hopping which are very good for locating clubs and for advice on building and basic training of rabbits.
Well ... Like pretty much any sport or activity, there is always a chance that something could go horribly wrong and a rabbit could get injured. However, I have never heard of any rabbit getting seriously injured, and minor injuries are very uncommon. I have been hopping my rabbit all his life, and he has had more than his fair share of spills, and crashes, something going straight through a seemingly solid jump, and the worst injury he has ever had was a tiny bump on his leg, that I am 99% sure was not caused by rabbit hopping.
As for keeping rabbits in enclosures - unfortunately, yes, rabbits that have had some experience with rabbit hopping are more commonly hopping out of their enclosures. However, this depends on your rabbit's personality as much as his training. If your rabbit is outgoing, adventurous, and curious, he is likely to jump out of his enclosure, whether he has had any rabbit hopping experience or not. Rabbit hopping only asks the rabbit to jump at your command - rabbits can jump before they have any training. It may increase his fitness and ability, but this can be solved by putting a top on the enclosure, or increasing the height of the fences.
Though, in rabbit hopping, the gains heavily outweight the risks. Generally, rabbit hoppers take the rabbit's safety in the highest account, right down to the surface he lands on and the weight of the poles, so, with these safety measures in place, the risks are minimum.
Rachel.