Harper and Saige have been showing rabbits for about 3 years now. They have learned a lot, gotten better about knowing what to do, and have had to sort of learn as Baptism by fire, since I am one of the poultry and rabbit superintendents and have to help run the show and be the person who records stuff for the judges. They have to be independent They have met every challenge and I am so proud of them.
They started the morning with showmanship. The kids are required to learn anatomy and gestation, they have to be able to answer questions about body types, rabbit classes, colors in their own breed, and potential rabbit diseases. They need to know a little about feeding and husbandry. They also have to be able to successfully handle their animal, checking teeth, sexing, counting toes and looking for blemishes. I am 100% convinced that this is the most important part of any of these livestock projects. You should know stuff about your project. You should be able to talk about the care and work that goes into having an animal. You should feel comfortable talking to a judge, you should be able to handle the thing you have brought. I will push for kids to participate in showmanship all day long. It also happens to be incredibly out of my youngest 2 daughters comfort zone. They do not love it. I do not know if they see the value of what they are learning. And that’s ok. Someday they will realize what they have accomplished. In the mean time, I will push them to do it! And they did amazing today! The cool part of working the shows is that I get a front row seat to their answers. And they did great! Did they know every single thing? No! But they did a pretty impressive job and Harper only missed a perfect score by a few points. Saige was up there as well!
They were the reserve champions today - Saige was reserve champion rabbit showman for intermediates. Harper was reserve champion senior showman. One heck of a proud mom here!
The girls each had an otter colored mini Rex to show - Harper had a senior buck and Saige had a senior doe. Both the rabbits received blue ribbons. The project was a bit of a bust this year- they only had one litter and the mother didn’t take care of them. We are seriously considering switching breeds, but are still working out the ideas and details on that due to Saige literally loving every single breed and wanting to own them all!
Harper had to leave the shows and go straight to band camp. I honestly feel sorry for her - it’s hot out there and she has been going nonstop for a couple of weeks now. Next week- we can rest!
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