Ever since he was a child Sam Lawrie dreamed of dazzling crowds in the show-jumping ring.

But when your back garden would struggle to host a cat-swinging contest, traditional dressage is out of the question.

Which is why Sam latched on to something smaller.

Some might say he is hopping mad but already his stable, or hutch, is garnering an enviable reputation as Sam shares his tips with fans of the growing sport of rabbit showjumping across Europe.

His two prize jumpers, Ivory Dancer and Golden Flame, have been trained to hop over fences more than three times their height.

Standing just over a foot tall, Ivory Dancer is within a centimetre of the world record, which stands at a hare-raising 91cm.

Now A-level student Sam, 17, who lives in Chichester, is hoping to attract other enthusiasts.

He said: "I liked the idea of rabbits doing something as opposed to just being cooped up in hutches."

He first heard of the sport from a report in a Swedish newspaper when he was 11.

The following Christmas, his grandmother bought him his first rabbit harness - and he has since come on in leaps and bounds.

He said: "The first time I put a harness on one of the rabbits I was quite taken aback. It just started jumping over the flower pots and bamboo canes I had set up in my garden."

Sam is contacted by people from around the world, via his web site, eager for tips from the maestro.

One girl from Norway emailed him for advice. Now her rabbit, named Golden Flame in honour of Sam's long-eared prodigy, is the country's high-jump champion.

But Sam, who still wants to be involved with horse racing when he is older, denies there is a secret to rabbit showjumping.

He said: "Once they have learnt the basics, you only need to train them for about ten or 15 minutes each day.

"I think I may be the only person training rabbits to showjump in the country. But I'm sure it's going to catch on soon."

Rabbit showjumping's first big break came on Esther Rantzen's That's Life TV show in 1985.

The clip of leaping bunnies roused interest, for some reason, in Sweden.

The first national championships were held six years later with an astonishing 60 entrants. The sport has spread across Scandinavia where more than 50 clubs have been set up with 2,000 owners.