Kids at fair show you can lead a rabbit to an obstacle course — and make it jump

It was only the second time 5-year-old Sara Forry competed in the rabbit agility contest at the Westmoreland Fair, but she already looks like a professional.

Sara walked alongside Princess Anna as the rabbit jumped 12 consecutive obstacles Thursday at the fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township.

“Up, up,” she said, or patted the rabbit on its back when Princess Anna, wearing a pink harness and leash, slowed a bit as she made her way through the course three times.

Afterward, Sara, of Berlin, Somerset County, said she sometimes clicks her tongue if her rabbit needs a little more encouragement.

“I hop it a lot,” she said as she snuggled against her mother, Michelle Forry, one of the rabbit superintendents at the fair.

Seventeen animals and three relay teams of three rabbits each competed in the agility contest. Some needed a little coaxing to jump over obstacles of varying heights; others refused to budge and their owners dropped out.

The rabbits are on harnesses and their owners run alongside — or stand beside, depending on the rabbit's mood — as the animal completes the course.

Hannah Smith, 16, judged each competitor on the time it took to complete the straight-line course and whether or not the rabbits knocked over a bar on the jumps, the highest 8 inches tall.

A few rabbits knew the drill and smoothly hopped through the course, netting their owners ribbons.

One went to Mikayala Musgrove, 16, of Smithton, whose rabbit, Diesel, made it through the course in 6.28 seconds, quick enough for second place.

“We have the same exact course at our house,” Musgrove said.

Sabrina Hayward, 16, of Salem Township watched the competition as a representative of the Westmoreland County Rabbit Club.

“You just want to get them when they're younger,” she said. “You lift them over it at first. ... You start teaching them with one pole on the shelf, then two poles or three poles.”

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-837-5374, rsignorini@tribweb.com or via Twitter @byrenatta.