Giffy.js is a minimal GIF previewer and player that displays a custom cover image until you hover over the animated GIF instead of playing the GIF on page load.
Example: https://codepen.io/dan-palmieri/pen/xyZeqE/
Facebook-like GIF Player Plugin With jQuery - jqGifPreview
jQuery Plugin To Play Animated GIF On Hover - gifPlayer
GIF Image Previewer And Player Plugin For jQuery - GIF-loader
jQuery Plugin To Play Animated GIF Just Like A Video - Gifplayer
Play Animated GIF On Hover - jQuery Giffy.js