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Horseless Horse Sports

Good news for the horseless horse lovers out there. You can compete in your favorite equestrian sports without investing all of your time and money into horse ownership. These are slightly modified versions of horse sports, but it’s better than nothing, right?



All of your favorite hunter/jumper divisions are now available in a more manageable size.



Rabbit hopping! Who knew this was a competitive event? They’ve got everything covered, from show jumping to puissance, and even a version of the long jump (yes, there really was once an equestrian long jump competition.)

Obviously rabbits are natural jumpers, but how do you train them to do this? Are they breeding elite leporine athletes in Denmark? Where can you get a crochet ear net for your bunny so that he can display his sponsor’s logo?

Rabbit hopping is impressive, but canine dressage…now there’s a sport.

I’ve got nothing snarky to say. That’s just plain impressive.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Back to The Near Side

View Comments

  • The dog dressage was simply stunning! I was kind of hoping for a canter pirouette but I'm so impressed by the passage. The flying changes were really well done too but the passage had me.

  • Very impressive. I have seen the rabbit show jumping, but never dog dressage. Is it a real competition? Are shadbellies required?

  • I think that canine dressage is actually a competitive event. I came across several other videos, though none quite impressive as this one. None of the others wore shadbellies, either, but some did dress in costume.

  • Yes, Canine Dressage( Heelwork to music, or canine Musical Freestyle) is an actual sport.... Shadbellies aren't required but many people do dress in costumes this preformer choose this one. it's a growing sport all across the world.

  • What funny things to watch! And a good display of what animals can do. My old riding instructor had two little Yorkshire terriers, of which another girl at the barn, Zoe, and I would take down to the outdoor ring. There were four-inch-high and five-inch-across old black logs that we rode over on the horses, but we would "jump" the dogs over all four of them, with no room for a stride in between. So they were bouncing. It was so fun!

  • Actually, training rabbit hopping isn't that hard, from what I've heard. You can clicker train them to jump and most bunnies love it. I plan on training my rabbit when she is old enough,but now she is only four months old so it would be too much for her.

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