I've only shown dogs before, never rabbits. My main reason to show at all is to get a professional assessment of my animals.

So-o-o... <Deep breath!> I want to take some of my Astrex to a show as well as my "normal" Rex. I figure I'm paying the entry fee, so I am paying for an overall evaluation of type, correct? I'd be going in well aware that curl is frowned upon- but I want to know how the rest of the rabbit matches the standard. My goal is to breed correct, show quality Astrex Rex in all but fur.

Are rabbit show people really cliquey and snobby? Will I be blacklisted as a respectable breeder, or shunned as someone promoting a terrible fault?

I don't plan on breeding Astrex curl back into the normal line- all the curlies will be "culled" to my curly herd.

Rabbit people tend not to be as bad as horse and dog people but some will probably file you under the odd breeder who doesn't pay attention to standards. So far 2 breeders and I have blacklisted each other in our own opinions based on different breeding and care styles. I get frowns about my colony raising as well which my husband helps by running around telling everyone from the meat breeders to the people buying our mini rex at shows that we colony raise.

The Astrex will get disqualified, because they won't have the right fur type for a standard Rex (which is, of course, rex fur). The judge will give you comments on it, but you can always bring them and ask a judge to evaluate them after the show or between breed classes without having to pay money to get disqualified from an official class. This will be at the discretion of the judge of course.

I used to think rabbit exhibitors weren't like dog people, but as I get older and more involved I think they might be worse. I stay out of the politics - show my rabbits and go home. Its probably just our state though, I've heard we're a bit, er, rowdy.

and some judges will dq you and not tell you anything about the rabbit at all other than it's dq'd.

Hmmm... perhaps best if I just bring the "acceptable" Rex, and evaluate my Astrex on my own then.

The new person, Skysthelimit has a nice link/ article on her site, about evaluating rex--


http://www.showgermanshepherds.info/ LOok for The Pencil test

That's what I'd do, personally.

Are you able to show on a regular basis? I would imagine local shows frequently have the same judges. Perhaps once you've hit a few shows and gotten to know the judges one might be willing to critique your astrex for you. Or even possibly a more experienced breeder once you make some connections at the shows. Surely there are some showers out there who would be happy and willing to share their knowledge with you.

I was gonna say most of the time when a judge is not busy you can pull them side and ask their opinion and they will give it to you. Just ask nicely if they would go over some of your rabbits for you. maybe do that with your astrex fur ones then enter your normal rex in the show.

Excellent, easy to understand method! I can't wait to go try it.

Thanks everybody for your ideas on ways to approach the judges and other fanciers. I probably wont show too much- depends on how far I'd have to travel to get there. But I'd like to get to 3 or 4 a year if I can.

I see my girls have an easier time getting this kind of attention when they are showing under 'Youth" or ask during "youth" showing.

I'm going out on a limb here and saying that the rabbit will be DQ'd when it goes across the table. Unless the Rex standard has changed over the years, the fur's depth should not exceed 7/8ths of an inch. The judge will know it the moment the rabbit goes onto the table, and even if there aren't any other rabbits shown in the breed, he/she can deem the rabbit unfit for placement. I like the idea of asking one of the judges to eval your stock for you after the show is over.

There are breeders of various breeds who will breed their rabbits with an animal from another breed in an effort to strengthen an area which their rabbits are perhaps weaker in than they would like. It's not at all uncommon for Satin breeders to intro a New Zealand to improve some area of body type, so while some of the other breeders may look down upon you for it, we're talking about your breeding program, not theirs. Gossips are going to gossip no matter what you do, so just don't pay them any mind.



Sadly, yes there are a few clicques and snobs in rabbit showrooms just the same as any other competitive arena, but for the most part, rabbit exhibitors are not.

I think the judgees are much more helpful too youth breeders.