ones. It was bitter-sweet as we may not see some of these breeders again as this was the final show for this long-standing club.The group did a wonderful job putting on the show and everything ran very smoothly and efficiently. We started at 10:00 am on Saturday and finished up and were at a group dinner by 7:30 pm. The show drew over 450 rabbits with breeders from South Dakota, Washington, Idaho, Montana and maybe others.
It was an especially good show for us as we finally had some Cinnamon competition! There were 19 Cinnamons entered in the shows on Saturday and 18 entered on Sunday. We were also fortunate enough to have the Cinnamon Rabbits Breeders Association president Ray Hall be one of our judges. This was quite a gesture on behalf of the club to fly him in from Missouri for this show.
There were 7 or 8 different Cinnamon breeders and Ray thought this was the largest showing of Cinnamons in a show in a very long time. Our largest class was 8 Senior bucks. We are quite the hodge-podge of breeders and were excited for who ever won!
We also had special guests Ellis and Rose Houseman visit the show and attend the group dinner. Ellis is the developer of the Cinnamon rabbit breed.
We enjoyed having Ellis evaluate our rabbits personally. It is an undescribable experience to hear the breed developer telling you what great rabbits you have and how proud he is to have you continuing his breed.
I also spent some time with Rose, Ellis' wife. She is a very wise women. She told me she didn't have the same love (or obsession) with rabbits that Ellis did, but went to all the shows to support him and their children. Through the rabbits, she talked about the friendships she has made that have lasted a lifetime. The people she met were people she would have never otherwise been able to meet. She also talked about the traveling...seeing places she would have never traveled to except they held ARBA Conventions!
For Rose, showing rabbits was much more than putting rabbits on the table. I think this is something we can all take to heart.
Aside from all the talking with friends and sharing, we did show a few rabbits! Of course we took several Cinnamons and won the Junior doe class in all 3 shows. We also won a BOSB with our Senior Buck in Show C. The others placed well and we were very happy with the comments and having the competition.
We also took several Mini Lops and won a couple of classes as well as a BOSB. As things would have it, Lisa D and her daughter also attended the show! If you see her daughter Deb, ask her about her swimming pool of soup!
We only took 3 Mini Rex. The opals did ok...it is time for these gals to be bred. Our little junior broken blue doe
did very well. She won her class in all 3 shows and won BOV in one show. She is a KT bunny and as sweet as can be. She won 2 legs in Montana.
It was a very strong turn out for Mini Rex with over 100 in each of the shows. I was very impressed with the Himi Mini Rex. They were gorgous in body, fur and points. Also very nice and not as common to see were Lilac Mini Rex owned by Dorianne of MT. She won a BOBO with one and it was impressive as well.
The "biggest" win was with my English Angora doe, Akiko. She was the only Angora and of course took BOB. But, she also received RIS in Show A! I was very happy to say the least. The Angoras have proved to be a learning experience -- but a very pleasant one.
