Bunny rabbit dressage?

I may have to create a new category for animal athletic events: first we had Cowboy Monkey Rodeo, then Wiener Dog Races, and now… Bunny Dressage!

That rabbits like to hop is hardly a secret. But now European rabbit enthusiasts have harnessed their bunnies’ natural talents to create a new spectator sport… rabbit showjumping.

Invented in Sweden in the early Eighties, Kaninhop involves bunnies bouncing their way around courses consisting of several small jumps of varying height and length.

Snoopy, a black-and-white bunny from the German city of Jena, is the star of the local Kaninhop club – and he makes spends his days leaping over all manner of barricades, jumps and rails.

‘Snoopy can jump 60 centimeters (about 2 feet) high,’ proud Claudia Fehlen, the 23-year-old founder of the Jena bunny hopping club, told Der Spiegel.

‘And he has done well in tournaments. He came in second once, and third another time.’

Over the past few decades to sport has spread far from its Scandinavian homeland and clubs have now sprung up in several other European countries, the U.S., Canada and even Japan.

And yes, we have video:

Be sure to click through to see photos of Snoopy and his pals in action.

What’s next? Armadillo bowling?