Congrats on your great friend!  And nice gift pony  
It may be a Christmas gift but it arrived at an appropriate time, the season of love  *huge sap*
Seriously, it is always good to hear about such caring friendships.

Oooh, it worked on your piggy too?  That's awesome, I have 3 G-pigs. 

I'm really looking forward to starting it with my oldest Holland Lop, he's super-smart already, he's a handful because he's so smart, lol.  And I have a brand new Flemish Giant that I want to train as well.  I'd actually like to try it on ALL of my animals...rabbits and non.

Thanks for all the tips so far!

<3 piggies!  I miss them.  The one in your siggy looks so adorable (the bunnies, too).  I should probably have mentioned that it took significantly more repetitions with the G-pig than with the dog, so my advice would be don't give up if it doesn't work at first.   

Another success I had was getting my dog to wear a cone (Elizabethan collar).  Now if I even pick up the cone she comes over immediately and shoves her head into it, she can't get it on fast enough, it cracks me up 

Keep us updated with your endeavors, I'd sure be interested to hear about working with a rabbit.

I've used it for some behaviors with my dog.  It was REALLY useful for training "walk on a loose leash."  She was like, "oh, THAT is what you wanted!"  For some things it is just faster to show her what I want, because she is so cued in to me (any human, really).  I don't think a rabbit would want to be shown what to do, though, so I don't think you would run into that problem. 

I also clicker trained one of my Guinea pigs to sit up on her back feet, so I'm sure it could work with a rabbit!  Aren't they supposed to be brighter than G-pigs?  Good luck!

Oh, one of my fave aspects of clicker training is targeting or target training.  That is how I taught my G-pig, and I used it with my dog for certain tricks, too.  I bet it would be a good technique to use for your rabbits!

Oh my goodness, the cuteness!     The babies with animals on their backs...baby Night Glider...baby Powder...awwwwwww
I've always kind of preferred the adult ponies, but now I am starting to seriously question that! 

Hi everyone, ah, I've only made three custom ponies, so I'm still learning.   The first two I did were G4, and I did not have this problem, but on the third one, a G1, I had a problem with the paint chipping and peeling around the plug holes as I was rehairing.  I thought maybe someone here has experienced this, and knows how to avoid it!   

Here are some details: I washed the (white) pony with dish soap and let her dry before painting.  I used regular craft acrylics (Americana).  It was a light color so I did many coats O_O.  I let her dry for a day, then I coated her with two layers of Mod Podge.  I used the needle and thread/floss method to add the hair.  It was when I pulled the folded over hair plug through the hole that the paint would chip/peel - but also if I used a thumbtack to widen the hole first.

I didn't think I was using too much hair per hole, but maybe I was?  Was it something about the paint?  Drying time?  I am flummoxed.

If anyone has any advice, I'd be much obliged!   

I love the feet!

Ditto!  That is a neat idea that I would not have thought of.  It looks like she was walking in stardust, eh?  I like the hair color you chose, also.

I don't know how close this is, but my parents have a straw bale garage that they built (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw-bale_house).  It stays warmish in the winter and cool in the summer, but no one lives in it (this is in Ohio, USA).   I think maybe straw bale construction could be used to make a passive house.   I might like to live in a passive house someday, but like you I would want to test one out or talk to someone who has one.