The most wonderful show day EVER!

[MamaSheepdog]

I didn't know it when I entered, but the show today was a "Backyard Show", and is usually held at one of two churches, but they were booked for other activities, so it was held at the Fairgrounds. Consequently, it was very small- only two judges, and a couple hundred rabbits.

We arrived about 7:45, and got all set up and registered. I had a substitute entry (more on that in another post), and they didn't even charge me the fee for the switch.

Shortly after, my phone rang, but I had noticed a fellow dialing his phone, and sure enough it was SyP.

He needed his entries tattooed, so I got all of my tattoo equipment, and swabbed their left ears with alcohol. I run a litany in my head of Right ear= Registrar when I am tattooing.

I always write the tat in the ear with a Sharpie first... thankfully... because in my sleep deprived-over caffeinated-adrenaline jittery-state, I marked the right ear on the first bun! :shock:

Fortunately SyP's daughter (or his breeder-partner's daughter?) was on the ball, and said "Isn't marking the right ear a DQ?" I can only hope that if the bun had actually gotten on SyP's lap I would have realized the rabbit was facing the wrong direction- but if I hadn't, what a poor "favor" I would have done a fellow RT'er.

That would have been absolutely mortifying. So... if I ever offer to tattoo your rabbits at a show, be warned- I have my "blond moments" and must be watched!

Disaster averted, we got the rest of the buns tattooed without issue.

I had a couple of hours of "down time" before the rush of getting multiple breeds on the table in rapid succession, and met some of the nicest people. Several were attracted by my hay delivery system:



Gotta love those dollar store shower curtain rings! :roll:

I gave out my Rabbitry cards which also have my username here at RT and RabbitTalk.com on them, so hopefully we will have some incredibly nice new members joining us soon.

One of my very favorite judges was judging the A show. He has a wonderful sense of humor, and goes out of his way to include and educate exhibitors young and old.

I clerked the Rex class for him (my family were the only exhibitors) and he grilled me on how I would place the rabbits on the table, and why, and how many points for this and that... it was nerve wracking to be "put on the spot", but I did fairly well- my two favorites took BOB under him and the judge from Show B.

I am very proud to say that I got great comments on shoulders, width, loin, and type from both judges. Shoulders in Rex are notoriously poor, so I couldn't have been happier. Judge B, who raised (raises?) Rex was more strict on fur quality- but I spoke to him between breeds, and told him my emphasis was on (meat) type first, and he reassured me that fur quality could be improved in a generation.

I also told him that my lines don't make weight by six months, and he said that most don't until seven or eight months. He also said that some breeders will get a litter out of a doe before she makes weight and show her afterwards. This made me very happy since I have seen larger litters out of does that are bred at a young age.

I am most happy about the wonderful people I met at the show, but we also came home with 6 Legs!

My buck 'Lectric Blue took BOB in Show A, and is now finished with 3 Legs I believe, and Queenpup's Jersey Wooly Showoff (who she "stole" from me :angry: )took BOSB in both shows so is now Granded with 4 Legs. I have a BOB Leg on my Opal buck Fergus, and a BOSB Leg on both my REW doe Nigella and an as yet unnamed blue doe.

As an additional perk to a marvelous day, I saw a rock in the parking lot next to my car... it looked like this:

__________ Sat May 25, 2013 10:31 pm __________

***My OP messed up, so here are more pics...***

But when I flipped the rock over, this is what I found:



Here are the Rex entered, from left to right being 'Lectric Blue, Fergus, Inaki, and the unnamed blue doe:



Nigella and the "stolen" Showoff:



__________ Sat May 25, 2013 10:34 pm __________

Oh-kayyyy...

I am not sure what is happening here, but my pics are getting randomly re-organized.

I know I am not THAT tired, but being a Techno-Peasant, I have no idea why it is happening.

Hope y'all can figure it out anyway.

__________ Sat May 25, 2013 11:05 pm __________

I forgot to add a couple of salient points that I learned at this show...

First off, that my Beveren buck, who I consider to be a "whack-a-doodle" due to his behavior of pacing the cage and trying to lift the lid of his cage when he sees me is actually "normal" for bucks of most breeds. My Rex bucks are so laid back that I thought he was hyperactive.

The other is that cages made with the wire run horizontally is dangerous. My "Whack-a-Doodle" Beveren buck got his rear foot caught in the wire as my friend was trying to put him back in the cage, and he started screaming his head off. Thankfully he was freed before he broke his leg- but I will no longer buy cages where the wire is oriented that way.

 

[3mina]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Alberta shows MSD
That's pretty much the size of shows we have up here. Our show today was a one day triple and I doubt we had more than 150 rabbits there. What we lack in size we make up for in quality though and we have a lot of fun doing it.
Our shows are so small that most of us have supper together afterwards with the judges.

 

[caroline]

Glad you had so much fun! I bet I know who that "favorite" judge was.
I can just hear him quizzing you

 

[dayna]

How cool! I've never been to a show before so I was seeing the day through your eyes.

And really cool rock!

 

[Marinea]

That sounds like so much fun! Congrats on your wins.

One day, I will get to a show.

 

[Rexisbest]

Congratulations!!! Your rabbits travel in style....food, water, hay and TOYS! Love your setup, especially the curtain rings, very clever!

 

[skysthelimit]

I will have to steal the curtain ring idea, and I am interesting in the little bottles you have.

I am so glad you had a very good judge, I had one a while back, and there is so much to be learned, as there is almost nothing written on Rex, it's those old breeder/judges that have all the knowledge stored up. I sure would like to know where to get a line that is competitive on the table after kindling, I feel the need to have some more Rex brought from the West Coast around Convention time

From the underside, that rock looks like a piece of Amber.

 

[Peach]

Curtain rings! Very smart!

Looks like you had a wonderful day Ah now I can't wait until my show in two weeks </3 I love your rexes!

It's great to hear of judges teaching. There are some really bad ones, but there are some really great ones that will teach you a good thing or two

 

[CWD]

I was wondering all day how the show was going.
I sure wish I could have made it.
Congrats on the 6 legs. way to go.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

That sounds like an AWESOME day!!! So glad you had a good time!!!!!!

 

[ladysown]

good good

 

[Ivory]

Well done.

Love the rock too.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

That's pretty much the size of shows we have up here.

Our shows are so small that most of us have supper together afterwards with the judges.

I really enjoyed it, and look forward to attending many more "Backyard Shows"! I am going to join the KCRBA and volunteer my time in the hopes to have many more such events.

Attending dinner with the judges would be icing on the cake!

Glad you had so much fun! I bet I know who that "favorite" judge was.
I can just hear him quizzing you

He always wears a cowboy hat it that confirms your suspicions. :cowboy:

And really cool rock!

If you want a really comprehensive idea of what to expect at a show, check out this post I made after attending my first one:

first-show-experience-t5766.html

And really cool rock!

I know! I LOVE rocks. Both Colliepup and Queenpup had seen it on the ground, and neither one bothered to pick it up.

SCORE for Mom! :twisted:

That sounds like so much fun! Congrats on your wins.

One day, I will get to a show.

It was! I am still smiling.

I highly recommend attending a show. The people are awesome.

Congratulations!!! Your rabbits travel in style....food, water, hay and TOYS! Love your setup, especially the curtain rings, very clever!

Oh, pshaw. I am one of those Show Breeders that cares only for profit and has no feeling for my animals.

They also had horse cookies, but the pics were taken after I got home because I forgot to bring my camera, so they had eaten them already.

I'm really glad they had the toys. When my Beveren buck was freed after getting his leg caught, he immediately picked up his two whiffle balls connected by a shower curtain ring and started playing with it. I knew he was okay when I saw that.

I will have to steal the curtain ring idea, and I am interesting in the little bottles you have.

The rings worked really well, and kept the hay clean and off of the rabbits. I bought the bottles from a vendor at a show. They have flip tops for top filling.

I am so glad you had a very good judge, I had one a while back, and there is so much to be learned, as there is almost nothing written on Rex, it's those old breeder/judges that have all the knowledge stored up.

Both of the judges were great. I have a special affection for Judge A because of his sense of humor. He makes exhibiting fun, and if he is at a show, I enjoy watching him judge all breeds.

I sure would like to know where to get a line that is competitive on the table after kindling, I feel the need to have some more Rex brought from the West Coast around Convention time

Nigella actually had an "oopsie" litter while I was at the CA convention. Unfortunately, Firstpup did not see any clues so she lost the litter on the wire.

She did not have the burden of raising the litter, but boy did she put the width on afterwards. :shock: She forgot to add depth, though. :roll:

Also, she was 16 days prego at the show- the first doe I have exhibited during pregnancy.

From the underside, that rock looks like a piece of Amber.

It is definitely stone, though. Amber is another favorite of mine. Being of Danish descent, I have quite the collection. It is very popular in Denmark, and the raw amber can be found on beaches there.

Curtain rings! Very smart!

:nerd:

Looks like you had a wonderful day Ah now I can't wait until my show in two weeks </3 I love your rexes!

Yup! I don't blame you- they are such fun! Do you still have any Rex?

Also, there was a lovely young lady (and her wonderful mother) there who raises Mini Lops, and as enticement to join RT, I mentioned you. She knows you from FB. Her user name is Mae's Mini Lops.

It's great to hear of judges teaching. There are some really bad ones, but there are some really great ones that will teach you a good thing or two

I have found the majority to be very nice and helpful. Maybe I'm just lucky, or it is my winning personality!

I was wondering all day how the show was going.
I sure wish I could have made it.

I certainly wish you had, but what a proud day for your son and family!

So far I have had the pleasure of meeting Skymya (she doesn't post much, but I sold her some Rex), my Sistah OAF, who will again be visiting from Texas in July, and Caroline (who also breeds Rex) and I shared a hotel room for the CA Convention. She is great, and we have a similar sense of humor, but she isn't as nuts as I am. And now finally SyP who is a very nice man!

So I have four notches on my RT belt!

I'm looking forward to meeting Hoodat face to face in July when I pick up OAF from her convention in San Diego, instead of just doing a "drive by rabbiting" and invading his backyard to drop off rabbits.

Congrats on the 6 legs. way to go.

Thanks! Pity I didn't have outside competition for the Rex, but at least with the family signed up with ARBA I qualified for the Legs anyway. I think there were 17 Woolys there though, so those were really nice wins.

That sounds like an AWESOME day!!! So glad you had a good time!!!!!!

Twas. I' still very cheerful because of it.

good good

Thank you, thank you.

Well done.

Love the rock too.

Thanks.

The rock sits here on my computer table so I can admire it constantly.

 

[Miss M]

Glad you had such an awesome time!

Love the rock... I think it's petrified wood.

 

[Mae's Mini Lops]

I still love the shower curtain ring idea!
I didn't know you all won 6 legs! Great Job!!
Show A is one of my all time favorites too

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Hi Mae!

:welcomewagon:

I'm so glad you decided to join us!

Yep... six legs! Of course, four were gained just competing against myself, but the blue buck won his first couple competing against other breeders, so all is good.

 

[SyP]

I really enjoyed it, and look forward to attending many more "Backyard Shows"! I am going to join the KCRBA and volunteer my time in the hopes to have many more such events.

That acually sounds like a good idea, as it looks like Bakersfield will be having 3 shows a year, I will be attending more shows there. The judges were pretty helpful, even asking a lot of are noob questions, they seemed more then happy to take the time and give as much advice to us on how to improve the breed, we recorded the comments of the judges with a cell phone so we can play it back as a reference.

I also have to say thanks MSD for letting me know about the spreading around different exibitors to show all the rabbits helps get more legs on your breed, since I was the only one there with Palominos.
:lonergr:

 

[trinityoaks]

I am interesting in the little bottles you have.

Those look like the small Lixit bottles that came with my two Rex does early last year.

And congrats to MSD and family on a great show outcome!