Picture a garden fence about three feet tall. Now picture a pet rabbit sailing right over it. It sounds like a cartoon, but there's a world record that says it can be done.
Here's the short answer. The world record for the highest rabbit jump is 107 centimeters, or about 42 inches. That's roughly three and a half feet. It was set in March 2023 by a rabbit named Holloway GtCh Tennessine, owned by Marie Kozubková of the Czech Republic, in a sport called rabbit show jumping.
Show Jumping, Bunny Style
Rabbit show jumping, also called rabbit agility or rabbit hopping, is modeled after horse show jumping. Owners guide their rabbits through a course of small obstacles, usually in an indoor arena. The jumps are scaled down to bunny size.
The sport started in Sweden in the 1970s, when the first rabbit club began holding competitions. At first the rules were copied from horse jumping, but they were later changed to suit rabbits better. Norway joined in the early 1990s, and Sweden's national rabbit jumping federation was founded in 1994.
The idea reached the United States in the 1980s. The Rabbit Hopping Organization of America was founded in 2001, and there was even a rabbit hopping competition at the 2017 North Carolina State Fair. Clubs have since popped up in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
How a Competition Works
Official competitions include a straight course, a crooked course, a high jump, and a long jump. On a straight course, the obstacles sit in a line. On a crooked course, the rabbit has to follow a winding path and take the jumps in the right order.
Courses come in five levels, from mini up to elite. At the elite level, obstacles can be up to about 20 inches high. Rabbits are ranked by their faults, such as knocking down a rail, and time only matters when there's a tie. A rabbit usually gets a generous 60 minutes to finish the course. Run out of time, and the rabbit is disqualified.
Built to Jump
Rabbits are natural athletes because speed and agility are their main defenses against predators. Their hind legs are much longer than their front legs and packed with strong muscle. The thigh muscles do much of the work when a rabbit jumps, while the front legs act like brakes, taking the brunt of the landing.
Their feet are unusual, too. Instead of paw pads, rabbits have thick, coarse fur on the bottoms of their feet. Their long hind toes are webbed so they don't spread apart when hopping.
What Makes a Champion
Any breed can compete, but very small and very large rabbits may struggle. The ideal jumper has long legs and a medium-long back, which helps it judge the height and length of obstacles. In Scandinavia, where the sport has its strongest base, many top jumpers are crossbreeds bred from good jumping parents, and Scandinavian Jumping Rabbits are sometimes regarded as a breed of their own.
The long jump record is impressive too. A rabbit named Dobby, owned by Julia Samson of Sweden, leaped 301 centimeters, almost 10 feet, in August 2017.
So the next time you see a rabbit nibbling quietly in the yard, remember what those legs can do. With a little training and a lot of treats, some bunnies turn into true high flyers.
