Originally published in the Pottsville Republican-Herald on August 6, 2022.
10-year old Ariana Eifert, 2022 Schuylkill County Fair Little Miss, urges her friend's rabbit, Thing 3. PHOTOS BY WES CIPOLLA
Originally published in the Pottsville Republican-Herald on August 6, 2022.
SUMMIT STATION — Rule number 19 of the Schuylkill County Fair’s Saturday Rabbit Hopping Contest: “No treats (for you or your rabbit) will be allowed on the hopping course or in the warm-up area.”
To train the rabbits to stay on course and hop over the hurdles, their young handlers waved attractive objects, used clicking tools and even enticed them with female rabbits at the finish line. On Schuylkill County Day, the last day of the fair, the rabbits’ only motivation was the thirst for victory — and their owners tugging them on leashes.
Girls cheered on the leaping lapins in the hopes of winning prizes in three divisions — Junior, Intermediate and Senior — and tried to coax them over the hurdles, with varying degrees of success.
Mochi, belonging to 13-year-old Lacey Wolfe, of Pine Grove, cleared the hurdles with great speed and agility — except for the last one.
“Dude,” Wolfe said to Mochi, urging her over the last hurdle. “Dude!”
Saint Nick, a Dutch rabbit, sniffed the hurdles but had no intention of jumping over them. He is one of 30 rabbits belonging to 2022 Fair Queen Faith Yeager, 18, of Cressona. Unfortunately, he wasn’t up to hopping.
“They asked me to do it, so I figured I’d just try it for fun,” Yeager said. “It was worth a shot.”
Tiffany Eifert, mother of Ariana Eifert, the fair’s 2022 Little Miss, was there to cheer her daughter on. Ariana led a friend’s rabbit, Thing 3. Ariana’s own rabbit, Tiffany said, is too heavy to hop. Thing 3 was just as rebellious as Saint Nick.
“Tap his butt, remember, down by the tail,” Tiffany said.
“I’m trying!” Ariana said, as she urged the rabbit on.
“That rabbit is very destructive,” said Alyssa Cook, 14, of Minersville.
She was stroking her rabbit, KitKat, who held onto her tightly with her front paws. Cook thinks KitKat will do well, although she has no hopping experience.
If the rabbits don’t want to jump, their handlers can place their front paws over the hurdle to give them a head start.
Jazzy, a big black ball of fur, nuzzled peacefully in the arms of his owner, 16-year-old Brooke Donati, of Orwigsburg.
Brooke and Jazzy.
“He’s smaller,” Donati said, explaining Jazzy’s advantages in the competition. “A lot of the bigger breeds, they’re harder to jump. He’s fast. He’s been doing it for multiple years, so he has more experience than the other rabbits here. And he jumps over baby gates at home all the time.”
Previously a therapeutic rabbit, Jazzy was one of the first Donati had owned.
“They all have different personalities,” she said. “I know when I first got him, I was scared to pick him up. As I got to know his personality, I was like ‘Oh, he’s really chill.’ ”
The rabbit leapt over the hurdles and made it look easy, winning Donati the Intermediate Division blue ribbon.
“I know for showmanship on my part, I wish I could’ve done better,” she said. “But for hopping, I’m happy about what he did.”
Jazzy will be getting treats tonight in honor of his victory — “and lots of cuddles,” Donati said.
13-year-old Monica Martin, of Pine Grove, and her rabbit, Coconut, won the Junior Division.
Monica and Coconut.
“I think he did pretty good, because I didn’t have to train him at all to do it,” Martin said. “He was just naturally good at it.”
Martin has had Coconut for three years.
“He is kind of clingy, and he’s kind of bad sometimes,” she said, “or into mischief.”
Yeager wasn’t at the races to hear about her rabbit’s victory in the Senior Division. She was busy changing from her rabbit-hopping clothes into her Fair Queen dress and tiara.
As fair royalty, she, Eifert and Fair Princess Lila Evans oversaw the rest of the day’s festivities, from livestock judging to the 4-H FFA Master Showman Contest to the Princess and Baby Parades.
“It’s something I do every year,” Yeager said, “so I enjoy doing it.”
All three division winners received a blue ribbon and a collection of rabbit hairbrushes to care for their champion hoppers.
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