Show in Ionia, MI...pardon my rambling...

[Kyle@theWintertime]

So...I've fallen on some hard times, financially, and realized I could no longer afford gas money to get to the show.

In desperation, I called my AR/House Rabbit Society/PETA acquaintance and offered to drive if she'd help with gas money. I braced myself for a heck of a day...and packed up three Mini Rex (REW buck, black buck, otter doe) and my Champagne buck.

I'll call my acquaintance "Jane" as in Jane Doe for the sake of privacy.

On the drive up, she was telling me how it is very cruel to flip a rabbit onto it's back. :? :shock: Has anyone ever heard of this? She claimed that it cuts off circulation to their legs and is painful, and that the "trance" they go into is paralysis. Uhhh...I don't think I believe that, checking a rabbits teeth once I got kicked BAD, lol.

ANYWAYS.

We get there, and get set up. I was very nervous. But very excited.

Problem is my otter doe and my black buck are in molt. The otter doe looks like craaaaaaaap. Her coat is molting so hard!

Black Mini Rex up first...and even though the judge did mention that Black Jack's coat is a little molt-y, he declared him to have great type, a good head and nice little ears...and he awarded him Best Opposite Sex of Variety! He said he liked Jack's depth. Makes me even MORE eager to see his kits...frankly, Breezy hasn't even kindled yet and I'm daydreaming about her next litter! :lol: I think Breezy and Jack would make the BEST little black dilute-carrying popples EVER.

The otter doe, Nellie, is molting so bad there was no way for the judge to place her, but he said a LOT of nice things about her. I think if she wasn't molting hardcore, he'd have put her up. Even so, hearing nice things about her depth and structure makes me ever so happy! He also said that though her coat is off since she's molting, she's in good condition.

The REW, well...he had a weird cyst thing on his testicles, but it wasn't there (that I could see or feel anyways) so I hauled him to the show...only to scratch him at the last minute due to some concerns about some irritation "down there." I'd rather be out the entry fee than possibly expose him to harm. Or GODS FORBID, if he has a transmissible disease, I don't want to expose any OTHER rabbits to it!!! :x

The Champagne, Boss...well he's awesome but there was a MAGICAL doe there. She was amazing. She just SCREAMED perfection. She took Best of Breed both shows, which is fine because oh man was she PERFECT!!! But Boss didn't disappoint me, I have two very nice new rosettes for Best Opposite Sex of Breed, and one little ribbon that the show secretary said was for Best of Variety. :shock: I don't understand that but she insisted it was his due, so...yay?

The second show started, and the judge for the Mini Rex...was a lot different. :lol: He had nothing much nice to say about either Jack or Nellie, LOL. He said Jack's coat was awful, no comment on his depth or structure. He was VERY negative about Nellie. Said her coat is "awful" (no admission of molting, just that the coat is awful) and then he said she's in rough condition and poor flesh. :roll: Uhh, not an hour before the other judge said her condition was good. As soon as she was excused from the table, I felt her all over (again) and no, she's in fine condition...heck, she's like a little muscle-bound brick of Mini Rex! I dunno, doesn't break my heart that the second judge didn't like my rabbits. I kind of felt like he wasn't really judging to the best of his ability...and not because he didn't place or put up MY rabbits, either. I kinda noticed he wasn't really LOOKING at the rabbits half the time he was posing them. :? So...as a much more experienced rabbit breeder and shower told me, it's a three-dollar opinion.

All in all, EXCELLENT results IMO, for having a scratch-rabbit, two molting monstrosities, and an old buck who simply couldn't hold a candle to the best Champagne doe I've ever seen...I feel pretty good about it.

I think part of the good is that I brought a bunch of frozen water bottles...and my rabbits seemed really relieved to have something cold to snuggle up to. Jack in particular!

Oh, and Jane had an.................INTERESTING day, too. I was hungry and suggested we go see what the 4H group had to offer...they had a lunch area to try and earn their club some money. I walked back there and asked what the special is. A young boy eagerly said "BBQ pulled RABBIT!" Jane just about had a stroke then and there. Frankly I LOVE rabbit, so I told him to load me up a nice big sandwich! I've gotta say...that was the best BBQ I've ever had. :dinner: It was tender, juicy and full of flavor! Cheap too, I think I paid $3 for a HUGE sandwich overflowing with meat, and a baggie of "classic" potato chips! Jane...opted for something else.

She made some mention about how tasteless and horrible it was that they KILLED those rabbits, then COOKED them! We had a shockingly polite conversation about how rabbits are LIVESTOCK, and it is perfectly fine for someone to have a pet from a livestock species but that does NOT mean they aren't livestock any more!

I did feel a little bad for her later though, all her (loud) talk about rabbits-are-pets and stuff, people started preying on her a little. :evil: One gal kept saying to her, "if nobody buys my rabbits for sale I'll have to sell them to the cull buyer for meat." Basically trying to guilt her into buying rabbits. :angry: NOT cool. Obviously she bought nothing...but she admitted she wanted to, to rescue them from their fate.

After the show, we hit Burger King for their $.50 ice cream cones and mused about what a hectic, fun and sometimes stressful day it was.

And now without further ado...PICTURES!!!

The Don's Black Jack (aka Jack) and his BOSV ribbon!

Jake's Houdini (aka Boss) and his ribbons!!!!

And a fun one of Jack, literally cuddling his frozen water bottle between judgings.

 

[LilacGal]

:congratulations: Does best opposite of breed earn a leg? Assuming that there were the required number of rabbits of course.

 

[phillinley]

:congratulations: Does best opposite of breed earn a leg? Assuming that there were the required number of rabbits of course.

Yes.

 

[Pepperoni]

Oh man, I wanted to go to that show. Like you I'm kind of strapped for cash, unlike you I didn't have a friend interested in going. I also didn't have a babysitter and im not about to drag a two year old to a rabbit show without assistance. lol. Congrats on the placements!

 

[Asinaway]

Yay Jackie boy! It's so good to see he's doing a fine job on the show table for you. I see a good future for him, although I sure do miss his personality in my barn, he was quite the buck.

Who was the second judge? There are some judges that are like that, they just glance at the rabbit and hardly give them an opinion. I love the judges who give you good honest opinions and look beyond the molting.

Congrats on the wins!

 

[Rexisbest]

Congrats!!! I love your descriptions of the shows, feel like I was there..almost :lol: I would not lose any sleep over judge 2, my daughter was showing 2 jr otter does at the same time and one was sooooo much better than the other and it made her nuts when the so so one got put up ahead of the great one! Jack looks like a nice buck!! Hoping his offspring bring you even more wins :thewave:

 

[Demamma]

Sounds like a great day. Wish our shows gave out ribbons. I think you are amazing how you can look past your friends differences and actually feel bad for her. Glad you got to go.

 

[SatinsRule]

Goes to show you how different judges can be, even on the same day and at the same show.

Wanna see how bizarre and different opinions can be? Watch the judging on red satins on both ends of a double show sometime.

 

[phillinley]

Goes to show you how different judges can be, even on the same day and at the same show.

But not listening to a competent judge's opinion when you get a harsh one is going to hurt you in the long run.

The key is figuring out what judge's opinion to listen to or not. Harsh or complimentary a judge's opinion with a large amount of experience in the breed he's judging is not to be overlooked. If another judge who rarely ever sees your breed gives you good comments, don't tailor your breedings to that judge either. We keep a list of judges from show to show and track which ones knew what they were doing with our breeds, and/or helpful with explanations. There is a small list of judges who, regardless of the breed shown, I know when we get them we just wasted $3. But there are a lot of good judges out there and we will sometimes make a decision on which show to go to based on who's there.

Unfortunately, sometimes the best judge's of a certain breed are ineligible at a show. Those who know a breed best often bring some of their own rabbits to show so they can't judge that breed. Some of our best feedback at shows have come from judges who didn't bring any of their stock along. Lilac Nationals was a big example of that for us.

 

[SatinsRule]

Goes to show you how different judges can be, even on the same day and at the same show.

But not listening to a competent judge's opinion when you get a harsh one is going to hurt you in the long run.

The key is figuring out what judge's opinion to listen to or not. Harsh or complimentary a judge's opinion with a large amount of experience in the breed he's judging is not to be overlooked. If another judge who rarely ever sees your breed gives you good comments, don't tailor your breedings to that judge either. We keep a list of judges from show to show and track which ones knew what they were doing with our breeds, and/or helpful with explanations. There is a small list of judges who, regardless of the breed shown, I know when we get them we just wasted $3. But there are a lot of good judges out there and we will sometimes make a decision on which show to go to based on who's there.

Unfortunately, sometimes the best judge's of a certain breed are ineligible at a show. Those who know a breed best often bring some of their own rabbits to show so they can't judge that breed. Some of our best feedback at shows have come from judges who didn't bring any of their stock along. Lilac Nationals was a big example of that for us.

You're preaching to the choir, Phil. :lol:

I can give you the names of at least a half dozen judges who, when their names appear on a club's list of judges, I will not attend the show in question. Most of it is consistently demonstrated bias toward and against certain breeds and categories, while other times it's because they couldn't hit their own butts swinging at them with both hands.

I submit to you what happened at the triple show in Longview just over a week ago. Two different classes of reds entered by yours truly. Compare the three judges' opinions across the landscape of three different shows, and all three were noticeably different.

Here is the one which hits me hardest. I brought 4 red 6-8 does. I have one smutty doe with an unbelievable level of body type above and beyond the other 3, and it ain't even close. Color is worth 15 points, while body type, and other general fur categories make up the remaining 85%. The smutty doe finished in the middle of each class, while the other 3 does all took first under one judge or the other. True enough, smut is listed specifically as a fault, but by the way the point breakdowns are defined, the most points a judge could subtract from the equation is 15 points. She beats every other doe in the class on the remaining 85 points by their own words, and it has happened consistently at every show I have run her across the table at.

Now I know what I am looking for in my rabbits and why I'm looking for it. Where it hurts the variety in question is when a judge stands in front of newbies and judges their classes and varieties bass ackwards (color first, then by fur and type) from the rest of the varieties in the breed, (type first, then by fur and color). Probably 95% or better of those same new breeders will get frustrated by not being able to compete on a level playing field, or they will wind up butchering out their type in favor of color, which ultimately undermines their entire operation because in the end, the rabbits which are usually selected for BOV and BOSV don't compete well against better-typed animals from other varieties which aren't judged the same way. What I am telling you is that they butcher out the type which is missing from the majority of the rabbits in the variety in favor of color, and they lose based on type in the bigger picture. And why? Because of what they see and hear at the judge's table.

The real kick in the shins came when a long-term judge couldn't come up with a legit way to improve color on the best-typed animals in the variety. His ultimate answer? "Find a nicely colored RED MINI SATIN and work on your color that way". It's like he was talking to someone who just got off the graveyard shift at the local Whataburger and got the wild hair up his posterior to start raising red satins. What he's ultimately admitting is that he hadn't the first foggy clue of what it takes to raise the things. All he knew was that he hated their freaking color. :lol:

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Thanks guys!

Short reply since I'm at a friend's house doing homework, LOL. Will reply better later. <br /><br />__________ Mon Jun 24, 2013 7:05 pm __________<br /><br />

Oh man, I wanted to go to that show. Like you I'm kind of strapped for cash, unlike you I didn't have a friend interested in going. I also didn't have a babysitter and im not about to drag a two year old to a rabbit show without assistance. lol. Congrats on the placements!

LOL I hear ya. I haven't actually gone to a show alone yet, that'll be a whole new slice of something.

Maybe next time you'll get the chance to come to a show?

Yay Jackie boy! It's so good to see he's doing a fine job on the show table for you. I see a good future for him, although I sure do miss his personality in my barn, he was quite the buck.

Who was the second judge? There are some judges that are like that, they just glance at the rabbit and hardly give them an opinion. I love the judges who give you good honest opinions and look beyond the molting.

Congrats on the wins!

Thanks!!! He is for sure Mister Personality, he's sweet and always seems happy. I'm really loving this little guy!!! So grateful to you btw, Jack is awesome.

I can't recall the second judge's name, but the first one was Michael Perez. He didn't talk much with the exhibitors like the second one did, he seemed more focused on judging rabbits.

As to judges that are harsh...I can accept a harsh or negative critisizm, but I'd like it to come from a judge who actually looks at the rabbits. Half the rabbits the second judge looked at, I don't think he actually checked them over really very much. How do you judge a rabbit if you don't look at them?!

 

[Pepperoni]

The next show that I might be able to attend is the Great Lakes show in August. I'll have a couple of Rex juniors to bring to that. Too bad we are on opposite sides of the state or we could pool our resources and ride together to things. Maybe we could at least hang out and feel awkward together. Haha!

 

[Random Rabbit]

Half the rabbits the second judge looked at, I don't think he actually checked them over really very much. How do you judge a rabbit if you don't look at them?!

There are a Few...( very Few !!!) Old Time Judges... that can Feel the type. Their hands will tell them more truth than the eyes...which can be distracted by "prettyness". Those judges are extremely rare...but i would Listen carefully to them.

Completely different story if the judge was merely blowing thru a breed or class !

 

[Cinnabuns]

Anyone going to the Coldwater, MI show?

Is there anyone that has some Champagnes for sale?

 

[Asinaway]

Anyone going to the Coldwater, MI show?

Is there anyone that has some Champagnes for sale?

I'll be there. Hmm not sure if anyone will have any for sale, your best bet is to hop on FB and look at some of the rabbit pages for MI.