What do the girls in this family do for fun????

Go to RABBIT SHOWS of course!!!!

It's weird I know.

But for some reason we really like it.

The girls are members of ARBA. American Rabbit Breeding Association. At the shows all you do all day is sit around with other rabbit people and talk about rabbits. And look at rabbits. And get your rabbits looking spiffy. And then "show" your rabbits. Which basically means you put them on the table in their category and the judge judges them... And unless you are a rabbit person you would have NO IDEA what the judge is even looking for.

But it is fun. If you like rabbits. And sitting around all day staring at them. Which we do.

Actually, Kassidy really only likes it a little. She is the least excited of the hree of us to stare at rabbits all day. Here is what she does when it is not her turn to show her rabbit...

Aside from the ARBA shows there is 4-h for the kids. In rabbit 4-H you do two things.

1) Showmanship- where the judge could care less about your rabbit. The judge cares about how you handle your rabbit and your knowledge of rabbits and your showmanship skills.

2) Quality- Where the judge judges your rabbit same as with the ARBA show.

So we spent Saturday doing ARBA at the State Fair

The judge judging Justine's rabbit, Hank. (you know from Dr. Quinn?)

Our fellow rabbit friends and our trusty 4-H leader, or rabbit guru as I like to call her (in the middle), who will hate me for posting her picture!

And then we spent Mon with the girls actually showing their rabbit where they are judged on their knowledge and handling of their rabbit. That can always be very stressful for the girls.

I remember when they were so little and I saw these older girls "show" in front of a judge. I thought it was really so interesting and what amazing skills it was teaching these girls. So I was thrilled when my girls chose to be involved. We have learned so much about breeding, and showing, and death, and business choices, etc.... It has been really interesting.


Rabbit friend and Justine in the middle of being judged.

This is Justine's most favorite rabbit. She is a stinker poo and has even bitten but she loves Justine. And Justine really loves her. It is one rabbit we will never get rid of. She is a Holland Lop. She started Justine's "love affair" with that breed. They are cute but can be tricky to breed. Justine just spent a lot of hard earned money on a buck and doe that are good quality to see if we can raise some good show bunnies. It will be a challenge but I am proud that Justine isn't just taking the easy way out and is really sticking to her guns on which rabbit she really wants to work with even though it may be hard.

It was cute because Honolulu (the rabbit in the picture) is always the rabbit Justine uses for her showmanship. The rabbit also will never "pose" like it suppose to unless it is time for the show. Then she has never failed Justine. During this show the judge had them all trade rabbits to test their handling and knowledge of another rabbit. Honolulu would not pose for this other girl who had to handle her. She would not do it! She is a stubborn old gal. But when Justine got her back she posed again for Justine. She also kept trying to get to Justine when she was not the one working with her.

Each breed of rabbit has a differnt "pose".

So this day was especially exciting because for the first time ever, Justine took 2nd place (Reserve Champion) of the whole rabbit fair. It was a thrill. She works hard and has loved this hobby for a long time, so it was neat to see her achieve such a great goal.

Champion and Reserve Champion

Both adorable girls!

Kassidy's favorite part of the fair is letting the people pet the rabbits and ask her questions. It is a great asset to the rabbit barn to have people willing to talk to the fair goers and let them pet a rabbit.

A Tri Rex- Tri because they have three colors. They are always a hit!

I was really proud of Justine in regards to these ribbons. She received them because her two bunnies took best of breed and best opposite of breed. The three bunnies that were being shown in that group were all hers and so she would have won no matter what. No one else had bunnies to compete against hers. She told me later she wished they wouldn't give her ribbons when it was a situation like this because there was no one to even compete against.

I was glad she had the maturity to understand that she really didn't earn those ribbons. She basically received them out of default. In a world where we hand out trophies and medals just for participating and we don't want to hurt any ones self esteem I was glad she had the understanding she did.

The gentle giant bunny. A Flemish Giant. They can get up to 20 lbs. Amazing.

This is Logan the wolverine. He is a chocolate Netherland Dwarf. He only received a red ribbon because he is having the worst hair day I have ever seen on a rabbit. He is "blowing his coat". (Shedding) Bad.

Kassidy bred this buck and the doe Justine has in the picture below all by herself. This rabbit (Emmet) won first First place in its category and was told he had lots of potential! You got potential little rabbit! Too bad we had already agreed to trade him for a rabbit named Toasted Marshmallow.

The doe (Delilah) won second place! It was just a great day! Justine is keeping this rabbit. Since it was one of Kassidy's babies, Justine had to take care of Kassidy's rabbits for quite a while to earn the rabbit. Sisters!

And for all my friends who think it is weird to take pictures of food! This one's for you! Nothing is better than fair scones and honey butter!