Convention Show Team

I really meant to do a nice post with pictures and all.  But with packing to do, it didn’t happen!  The rabbits’ things are packed and I’m working on mine.  It’s looking like I’ll be judging two days and I’m attending three banquets, so plenty of clothing changes will be needed!

Anyway, on to the rabbits…I’m only taking 5, and no sale buns as the ones I had planned to sell towards the end of the show season are already spoken for.  If you’re just really curious, most of these rabbits already have pics up on one of the other pages.  I’m pretty pleased with my entry overall, I wish most of them were more finished, but I think they’re good quality.  I just have to remind myself that I’ve been working on this herd for only about a year and a half now!

Black Sr. Doe – Briony’s Tumbling Dice Yes, she’s old…she showed last year as a senior, and she has had litters (4) and raised them all.  I didn’t really have any plans to bring her out of retirement, but when I weaned her last litter and was holding off breeding her for NDS juniors, she really started to bloom again.  She’s probably got the firmest flesh of my whole entry, and may end up in the fur class.  Take that, Heidi Klum!

Black Jr. Buck – Briony’s Zuma Zuma is a little guy who is subbing in for Gambler who has decided to molt.  He’s out of Bing and Sweet Virginia and a full brother to Midnight Rambler.  He’s flashy and very well marked except for slightly long stops.  I don’t expect him to place, since he is little, but I’d rather hear “lacks maturity” than “molty.”

Black Jr. Does – Briony’s Factory Girl and Briony’s Chasing Shadows There are 98 black junior does, so I’m not expecting much.  Neither of them is quite finished, they’re getting close, but Factory Girl is almost a senior and Shadow isn’t quite prime, so odds are there will be many rabbits who are just having a better hair day!

Blue Sr. Buck – Briony’s Midnight Rambler He’ll actually still be a junior on the day of judging, but he’s already 4 1/2 lbs and keeps getting mistaken for a senior, so I figured he’d be on more equal footing in the senior class.  Plus, he’s started misbehaving like a senior buck.  Hopefully he’ll be on good behavior on the judging table, instead of sticking his nose in the carpet and his tail in the air!

Everyone has a little different way of taking care of their rabbits on long trips, but the goal is to keep them eating and drinking so they stay in condition.  About a week before I leave, I start feeding them up a little…not a lot, just a rounded scoop instead of a flat one.  This gives them a bit extra in case they do go off feed at the beginning.  I also start adding Acid-Pak 4-Way (probiotics plus electrolytes) to their water.  Not only are those good stress ingredients, but it adds a slightly tangy taste and a yummy vanilla smell.

I take my own feed, since I use a local brand; timothy hay, and a couple gallons of my water to ease the transition.  I keep using the Acid-Pak, and since I’m on chlorinated water, they usually do fine.  I also use risers and solid dividers.  Risers keep them cleaner and solid dividers are recommended for Dutch, since a bite can be the end of a show career.  Rabbits are arranged alphabetically, and since I’m a “B,” there’s a good chance mine will be next to one of the opposite sex.  I also take along my own bowls, I chose aluminum since I can’t drop and break them Thursday morning when I’m packing up and having trouble keeping my eyes open

Most of my rabbits do very well on the road, but just in case, I take along some injectable B vitamin (gets them eating) and neomycin sulfate (sold as Dri-Tail in the pet stores) for diarrhea.

T minus 16 and counting…

“In a world where everyone is obsessed with rabbits…”

Cheesy, I know. I’ll miss Don LaFontaine’s movie trailers, but I know I am not the only one feeling the same sense of anticipation he always built. Nor am I the only one doing a countdown! Depending on when each of us leave, we’re somewhere between the 15 and 18 mark, that is, the number of days until the ARBA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. This is the week we rabbit people can’t wait for, and for some of us, our annual vacation.

Explaining this to the so-called normal people in my everyday life isn’t always easy. They know I have a vacation coming up and ask me where I’m going and what I’m going to see. This year, it’s Kentucky, so they wonder about the Louisville Slugger factory or Churchill Downs. I smile and think, “here we go again.”

The answer to this is that I’m not going to “see” anything, except 22,394 rabbits and a bunch of people just like me. It’s more than a vacation and more than a show, it’s entering an alternate reality. We will descend upon the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center and turn it into Rabbit Land. Here, being obsessed with rabbits is the definition of normalcy and if you aren’t, something is obviously wrong with you. For an entire week, I will not be asked why I have scratches on my hands. When I talk about going away to a show no one will gasp and ask, “By yourself?” Not once will I have to decide whether mentioning the rabbits will result in a barrage of questions (“How do you show them? Do they do tricks? What do you do with them all?”). I won’t have to look around before giving advice to friends who call midday about does who won’t breed. The fur on my clothes won’t be embarrassing, it will be accessorizing!  These are my people, they understand me and can speak my language.

Part of the appeal of this is the disconnect from the real world and a haven from it. With this being an election year I am particularly looking forward to no TV for a week. In Louisville, no one will give a scut (look it up) about Sarah Palin or Barack Obama. Of course, there are rabbit politics but in the grand scheme, it’s all very inconsequential. No matter who I voted for, these presidents, vice-presidents and directors don’t have the power to declare war or make decisions that will affect my health care coverage.

For a week, our problems will consist of things like wondering if we entered the right rabbit, if our favorite will get lost in the class, or if we’ll find the perfect one to add to our herd. And for some, dealing with non-rabbit people at home.   They just can’t understand why we can’t find time to call when all we seem to do is stand around and talk all day. We’ll tell them that we see these people once a year, we lost track of time, etc. which is partly true. What is even more true is that if it doesn’t have to do with rabbits or rabbit people, we’re simply not interested.

This will continue until Thursday morning, when we’re forced to remove, in 4 or 5 hours, all the rabbits and equipment we brought in over a 3 day period. It is nothing short of organized chaos and feels like the spell has been broken. We’ll go home to our families and jobs feeling a little more relaxed and like we’ve had our “fix.” Whether this is a binge or rehab, I’ll never know.