Bend teen and her high-flying guinea pig, Abby, leap into Guinness Book of World Records
(Update: Adding video, comments from teen)
Beats old mark by 2 centimeters; her trainer says, 'I thought it would be fun to just try it out'
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The bond between a pet and its owner led to a Guinness World Record for a Bend teen and her pet guinea pig.
Grace Hoiness and her little star, Abby, flew right into the Guinness Book of World Records for highest bar jump by a guinea pig. Abby set the new world record with a jump of 22 centimeters, which is 8.6 inches.
Abby can also perform multiple jumps in a row. The pair captured the record for the title on Jan. 17.
"I started training her, I think probably a couple of months after I got her," Hoiness, 18, said Tuesday. "And within maybe a week or two she was jumping with just like finger movements, me directing her."
"About a month later, she was jumping them just on site, like she could see the jump and she'd just jump it. I kind of just thought it would be fun," the teen added.
"I saw something about someone else's guinea pig who had broken a record for maybe highest platform jump or different records related to guinea pigs," Hoiness said. "I decided maybe if there was a bar jump one, and I thought it would be fun to just try it out."
Hoiness got Abby two years ago from someone who helps to re-home guinea pigs. The world record to beat was 20 centimeters, so Abby bested it by 2 centimeters. She may soon have some competition: Hoiness has another guinea pig, named Cookiepig, she has been training to jump.
Here's how Guinness featured the feat and the record-holders:
That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for guinea pig-kind!
Grace Hoiness and her furry friend Abby (USA) are celebrating after earning the record for highest bar jump by a guinea pig by clearing an impressive 22 cm (8.6 inches) height.
Grace, an 18-year-old college student from Oregon, noticed American crested Abby, who was two and a half at the time, had a love for leaping and decided to help hone her skills by introducing her to increasingly bigger jumps.
And it seems Abby is a natural athlete – easily clearing the height needed to secure the record.
Grace, who is studying environmental sciences, said: “I realized that Abby was so great at jumping when she learned how to jump over the obstacle in a day.
“She was a very fast learner, and in about a week, she was jumping over it without me even instructing her to do so.
“It feels awesome to have the record, and I think that Abby is excited as well.”
Grace has two guinea pigs – Abby, now three, and Cookiepig, who she welcomed into her home just a couple of months ago. She’s rehomed or rescued others in the past too.
She loves how ‘sweet and friendly’ the animals are, and it seems they love her just as much.
“They squeak every time I walk into the room and love to snuggle with me,” Grace explained.
Abby will likely be celebrating her new record title by tucking into some of her favourite veggies – although Grace admits her pet can be rather picky.
She said: “Abby is very friendly and energetic. She loves to run around my bedroom floor and have zoomies all over her cage.
“One thing about her is that she is extremely picky, she refuses to eat most veggies except lettuce, cilantro, cucumber, and sometimes peppers.
“I have tried for years to get her to eat other veggies but she simply refuses and just leaves them in her cage. I think she is the only guinea pig in the world who will not eat everything that she sees.”
But watch out, Abby - Cookiepig is now also learning to jump and may end up taking the record from you in the future!
