Run, rabbit, run – and then hop! Sydney’s Royal Easter Show welcomes showjumping as you’ve never seen it
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On a crisp Sunday morning, the Pet Pavilion at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show smells of donuts and hay.A crowd mills around a fenced-off patch of astroturf, where colourful jumps set to different heights are arranged in a long row.They are here to see 26 competitors take part in kaninhop, also known as rabbit showjumping, which is making its first appearance at the show. As the name suggests, kaninhop has its origins in Sweden, but it has spread globally since the 1970s.Natasha McGarry is a senior judge at the show, and also president of the Rabbit Hopping Society of Australia.The four-time national Rabbit Hopper of the Year, who lives with 25 house-trained rabbits, fell in love with the sport as a teenager in 2013 and has been competing in the greater Sydney area ever since.There are four events: straight course, crooked course, high jump and long jump.McGarry explains the straight course rules to the curious crowd: the winner is the rabbit that collects the “least rail knocks, followed b...