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So how did your rabbit do?
and what does this all mean?
I can guarantee you
will have ups and downs while showing rabbits! At some shows you
will be beaming with pride at your accomplishments on the show table, and
other days you will scratch your head and wonder what you are even doing
there.
Your best rabbit might win his
class one day and the next day be the first one off the table!
Many factors contribute to
your rabbit's placement at each show:
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where your rabbit places can
depend on how he compares to all the other rabbits he is up against at
one particular show. You might show against completely different
rabbits from show to show.
-
'condition' is generally not
worth a lot of points but is often the deciding factor when judges are
comparing two similar rabbits; if your rabbit is slightly out of
condition compared to his competition, he may not place as well as you
expected him to.
-
how your rabbit behaves
while handled can affect his placement - Judges will make several
attempts to correctly pose an unruly rabbit, but they simply do not have
endless time. If the judge cannot get a good look at your rabbit,
chances are, your rabbit will not place as high as he/she could.
Also, your rabbit may simply not pose as well as usual - allowing
another rabbit to look better than yours.
-
although judges use the
Standard of Perfection as their guide, each judge may have a slightly
different interpretation of breed standards. Each judge also has
his or her own way of posing rabbits, and slight variations can lead to
different opinions about the same rabbit.
Perhaps your rabbit did not do
as well as you thought he would - don't form a poor opinion about him yet
- give him some time at a few more shows.
For the most part, a quality,
well-conditioned rabbit should place more often in the top half of the
class than the bottom half. If your rabbit consistently
places near the bottom, it may be time for you to improve your stock!
Sometimes a new exhibitor will
start out just great, with a lot of success at each show, but becomes
frustrated when they start exhibiting stock they bred themselves.
Don't give up if this is your scenario...read our article
How The Rabbit Exhibitor Turns Into the New Rabbit
Breeder for some more advice.
Perhaps you finished out your
first show feeling exhausted and confused.....don't worry, after
you attend a few shows, the routine will become very familiar and easy to
follow. Also, after several shows, you'll find
yourself meeting more and more people - many lifelong friendships have
been developed at rabbit shows!
Your Show Report and Points Sweepstakes
The show secretary will
generate many types of show reports after the show - a complete report
will be sent to your state RBA club (if there is one), plus each
sanctioned breed will get a report sent to them listing all the exhibitors
and points earned at the show.
If you are a paid member of
any of these clubs, your points earned at the show will be put towards
your points sweepstakes. You do not need to send points or show
information to each club yourself - the show secretary will do this.
The points you earned will be
listed on your personal show report, along with all the rabbits you entered
and where they placed in their classes. Your show report should be
available for you to pick up within a month (they are time-consuming to
do), usually at the next local show in
the area or state.
It can be mailed to you if you are not planning to attend other shows in
the area (talk to the show secretary about your options). If any of
your rabbits earned
Legs, they will be included with your show report.
Make a Rabbit Show Binder
The first year we showed
rabbits, we quickly realized that the same shows are held from year to
year at approximately the same date each year. We decided to make a 'show
binder' to keep our show catalogs and show reports organized. A
sturdy three-ring binder works well for this purpose.
After we went to each show, we
wrote notes about the show right on each catalog - including our travel
notes and how long it took to drive there, plus any other notes that might
be helpful later on; how crowded the building was, what kind of food they
had, etc. This binder was really a big help for the first couple of
years, especially since we attended pretty much the same shows from year
to year - and helped us plan for upcoming shows - the next year, we were
able to refer to each show catalog for our notes and travel info.
As we receive show reports, we
also keep these in our Show Binder as a handy reference for how our
rabbits did at each show.
Next Year's Rabbit Show
Once you attend a rabbit show,
usually you are put on that club's mailing list and should
automatically receive a show catalog before the next year's show. If
not, simply contact the club secretary go get one. Sometimes, show
catalogs will be available to pick up at other rabbit shows in the area
too - be sure to browse the entry desk and ribbons/awards areas at each
rabbit show to see if there are flyers/catalogs you can grab - by picking
the show catalogs up, you help save postage the club would have to spend
mailing catalogs!
Here are some final
reminders before you leave the show grounds:
Remember to pick up your copy
of your rabbit's remark card (they are at the writer's table where your rabbit
was shown) Use these to get your ribbons/awards before you leave,
and to keep for reference.
Be sure to thank the show
committee for all the hard work they've done to put the rabbit show on!
Load up your rabbits and
supplies and clean up your area so the show committee doesn't have to!
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A few thoughts on
showing and stress:
Shows can put stress on
rabbits, and some rabbits tolerate showing better than others. After
the show, watch your rabbit carefully for any signs of illness or
stress-related problems. Signs to watch for include; refusing to eat
or drink, sullen, runny nose, diarrhea, and any other symptom that
indicates your rabbit did not tolerate the show well.
If your rabbit doesn't seem
to be eating much, you are generally safe giving him a dose of a probiotic
gel such as Benapac or ProBios -sometimes this will stimulate your
rabbit's digestive system to get working again....hay is always good to
offer too.
Some exhibitors advise
quarantining show rabbits for a few weeks after each show - to protect the
rest of your herd if a disease is brought back from the show. If you
cannot do this, at least keep a close eye on your rabbit for a few weeks,
so you can act quickly if a problem is noticed.
Don't let this advise scare
you - most of our rabbits have tolerated showing very well and none of our rabbits have ever caught a disease at a show, but we
had experienced stress-related problems with three of our rabbits over the past
3 years. If a rabbit of yours has a poor response to showing, you
may want to retire that rabbit from the show table. We lost one of
our best show rabbits to a stress-related response -
read more here
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Have a safe trip home and...
Hope to see you at the next show!
Cathy, Kelly and Jody |
