Agility and Jumps

[goneforbaroque]

My friend sent me this article which was way cute

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...e-Dressage-set-world-storm.html#ixzz1KqfUWx3a

I was wondering if any of you had any jump designs or courses you could share! One of my guys has some hops on him and this looks fun.

 

[Kipcha]

I actually co-founded a club for rabbit agility

I do the sport with all my buns! They just love it and it is great for both physical excersize (Both you and your bunnies, there is a lot of running involved when your bunnies get the idea!) and mental stimulation.

http://canadianrabbithoppingclub.com/

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

As a member of the Canadian Rabbit Hopping Club, I have built a few jumps. I basically use a 5X7 piece of wood from Michales as the base, 2X1's for the up part of the stand and 1/2" dowels for the poles. It is quite easy to make them and doesn't cost that much. The ones I have made are 12" tall. If you want to make it taller you will need a bigger base.

Bigger image

This is Korr going over one of my small jumps. You can see the stand on the far side and it cuts off on the closer one.

One thing when making jumps is that they must be safe. The poles have to come off easily to avoid injury. Our club uses film canisters that are cut length wise. Poles or jumps that don't fall over can only be used if they are really low (under 4").

We do agility, so our jumps are lower but we also have other equipment like A-frames, Bunny walk and Teeter Totter.

 

[goneforbaroque]

I have done horse jumping so I understand that the jumps have to come apart. Just wasn't sure what to use as a cup for the cross poles. Film cannisters is a great idea...not sure where I can get those much anymore though!

How did you start your rabbits on going over jumps? Not sure how to introduce mine to them.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

It is a good idea to start with harness training before you try the jumps. The harness gives you some more control to keep your rabbit from running off. If there was a club you wanted to join and do competitions, you would need to have a harness and leash to participate. Some rabbits take to the harness faster than others. It is important to get an H style or similar one so it doesn't choke your rabbit. Some types of harness will tighten when on the rabbit (like when they pull on the leash) which it not safe.

To start jumping, start with a low jump. It can be 2-3" or just a pole on the ground depending on your rabbit. Get your rabbit to go over it. You can try treats to get them to go over, but that has never really worked for me. Most rabbits have a 'tickle spot' that you can touch that gets them to go forward. You can use that to get them to jump and get them going again if they stop. Once they get going over the jump, you can raise the bar by a couple inches. Don't raise it too much too fast, you want them to jump clear rather than jump high. Work on the basics before pushing them too much. It is good to set up a couple jumps in a row (with a few feet between them) so you can work on doing a sequence rather than just 1 at a time.

We get our film canisters are photo places. Walmart usually has them and will give them to you. You may have to ask around at different places as they are getting harder to find now.