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Harrogate hosts 2012 Rabbit Grand National
Yorkshire was once again the land of hop and glory as rabbits went head-to-head in a test of speed and agility.
Now in its second second year, the Rabbit Grand National was one of the big crowd-pullers at the Burgess Premier Animal Show in Harrogate.
Ten rabbits took it in turns to hurdle eight fences against the clock at the Great Yorkshire Showground.
The competitors included a contingent from Sweden – a hotbed of rabbit-jumping talent.
And last year’s champion Cherie, a two-and-a-half year old owned by Swedish nursery school teacher Magdalena Ahsblom, 24, took the title again.
Magdalena said: “She has a head for competition. It’s a bit like horses – some of them like the competition, some of them don’t.
“They have to enjoy it.”
Invented in Sweden in the early eighties, the event sees rabbits bouncing their way around courses consisting of several small jumps of varying height and length in a time-trial.
Similar to horse showjumping, seconds are added to their overall time if they knock fences over.
Tina Larsson is one of thousands of people who take part in competitions in Sweden.
Her four-year-old veteran jumper Flora came second for the second year in a row.
The 30-year-old, who has been involved in rabbit jumping since the age of ten and now has a stable of 25 rabbits.
“They are born to jump,” she said.
“It’s not that hard to get them to jump the fences as they will do it anyway, so they pick it up really easily.”
Kirsty O’Connor, from sponsors Burgess Pet Care, added: “It’s a fantastic way to show rabbits need space and shouldn’t be confined to a hutch all the time. We’re showcasing some of the best in the world.”
The rabbit jumping was one of the highlights of a weekend that attracted more than 3,000 gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, rabbits and rats.
Paul Threapleton, chairman of organisers the Bradford Small Livestock Society, said: “The rabbit jumping is something a bit different – it shows that owning a rabbit isn’t just about keeping it in a hutch all the time. It makes it a lot more interactive.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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