"This is like a brand new sport. It came to the United States in the 80s, but it's just suddenly become a national sport -- a national pastime,'' said Tami Steele, owner of Alikatt Bunnies.
Steele, of North Lebanon Township, Pennsylvania was referring to competitive rabbit hopping, a sport which is burgeoning in popularity.
Rabbit hopping had its humble beginnings in Sweden in the 1970s, where the first rules and procedures were based on horse jumping. Later, these rules were perfected for the rabbit and the sport began its global journey.
Currently, rabbit hopping usually consists of small single or larger jumps, sometimes combined with other equipment, such as teeter totters and bridges. The rabbit is attached to a harness and led through the course by the owner.
While the sport may seem taxing on the little animals, rabbit hoppers will be quick to point out that not only are rabbits naturally adept at these sorts of skills, they also thoroughly enjoy them. In fact, most are naturals.
"We do train our own rabbits, but the rabbits really do their own training,'' said Steele.
A rabbit's instinctive tendency is to run in zig-zags, attempting to confuse any predators. The rabbits will learn by example, however, eventually becoming excited enough to get out on the course.
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"They'll start watching the other rabbits and see how much fun they're having, and then try to imitate them,'' said Steele.
She has been involved with rabbit hopping since the fall of 2011, when her daughter became interested in the sport during a 4-H meet.
"I saw someone doing it, and I was like, that is so cool,'' said Alexis Steele, who shows and hops rabbits competitively.
"She said 'Mom, I want to do rabbit hopping.' So I said, OK, how do we do this?'' said Tami Steele.
The first obstacle they encountered was a lack of supplies in the local area. The two conquered this by doing it themselves, hiring a local woodworker to build a set of jumps for them.
He then proposed that they continue to produce, seeing as there was significant demand for products yet no consistent local or even national supply. Steele agreed and formed Alikatt Bunnies.
Since that time, the company has expanded to sell harnesses, clothing and other hopping accessories, and has sold jumps to competitive hoppers as far away as Washington, Florida and Texas. She explained that much of her business' demand comes from Colorado.
It also caters to the local rabbit hopping crowd, which Steele quoted as "around 50 people,'' running competitions in the area and participating in a number of state competitions.
Steele elaborated on the training process, which includes some interesting community interaction.
"Part of the training that we do with the rabbits is that when we run errands, we take the rabbits with us, and that gets them used to being out -- different people, different noises, different smells -- and that makes them a lot calmer,'' she said.
This helps keep the animals calm at competitions and showings, as she claimed that "we can put them on a table and they'll sit there all day long.''
Steele also gives online classes and seminars, which have been massively popular, filling beyond capacity.
"I ended up doing a couple of different sessions because I couldn't get their names in fast enough,'' she said of one seminar.
In these she stresses the virtues of hopping as well as how to get started and care for the animals.
"I really focus on safety, because that's the most important thing. Safety for the people and safety for the rabbits,'' she said.
Steele had a number of tips for current and perspective rabbit owners, including having plenty of fluids available, trimming the animals' nails and feeding them primarily hay and pellets.
"We do give them a treat sometimes, but a treat is only a tablespoon,'' she said.
And if a rabbit begins to over-exert itself, there is little danger of exhaustion.
"When they're tired they'll just drop down or grab the poles,'' said Alexis Steele.
"As far as the joy of rabbit hopping, the owners seem to enjoy it as much as the rabbits themselves.
"Well it's lots of fun. I get to spend time with my bunny rabbit and he gets exercise, when he's not being stubborn,'' said Taylor Guirate, who was there hopping her rabbit Dr. Lagomorph, which happens to be the scientific name for the rabbit family.
"I like just how rabbits have so much fun with it and watching it. Their excitement is contagious. Plus it's something different. You don't hear about it every day,'' said Alexis Steele.
