Warning: Shameless bragging ahead. I promised pictures…I just didn’t promise great ones!
Kentucky was a blast!! I had a really great time, but as always, it was way too short! I judged Polish, which was split between Monday and Tuesday. I didn’t really mind since that meant I got to watch my Dutch be judged. It has been years since I’ve actually been able to watch my rabbits show at Convention and I would have hated to have missed it this time!
My Black Sr. Doe (Tumbling Dice) went up first on one table. She has really come into coat so I just wanted her to place…after all, she has raised 4 litters and had another one in August, which I fostered off, and is pregnant again. Just that she is in show shape is quite an accomplishment! About halfway through the class of 38 I realized she was still up. She was still on the table when placements started, still on the table when the top 10 started, and soon I realized she was sitting in the first place coop. I started sweating bullets when she made the top 5, and was ecstatic when she placed first!! I carried her back, wiped my eyes (hey, it’s been a long haul) and returned to the same table to watch Midnight Rambler in the Blue Sr. Buck class.
Midnight was naughty (as expected) and the judge commented when he first looked at him that he was loaded and ready to spray! He went directly into the holding coops, where he bounded around and demanded attention. I was glad that I’d bumped him up to a senior, because he looked like he belonged in that class. He was my favorite going in, but I almost couldn’t believe it when he placed first as well!
The junior classes were judged, and none of mine placed, which I expected. I was just happy that Zuma didn’t get sent off at first glance, which is quite a feat for a 10 week old buck in a class of 75! The girls lost to some older, more conditioned animals, but after the first two classes, I really didn’t care! I did find out when I got my packet that Factory Girl placed 12th in the fur class…not bad considering she was not my most finished rabbit and I’d tried to sub Dice in fur at check-in. Oh well!
Specials ended up not being picked until Tuesday, so I judged some Polish Monday afternoon and returned to the showroom early to groom Dice and Midnight. I figured anything else would be gravy, but I was hopeful. Luckily, my table was back-to-back with the Dutch table, so I was able to keep an ear open. I did pause in the middle of the Black Jr. Doe class to listen to the Black and Blue specials…I really wanted to do a good job with the Polish and knew it would be better to stop for a second and know what was happening than wonder!
Dice was picked as Best Sr. Black, BOV was a gorgeous and very deserving junior doe I’d had my hands on the day before. And Midnight won BOSV Blue, to a lovely senior doe who went on to win Best Senior All Colors. I definitely felt that two years of hard work and rebuilding had been worth the effort and that I was on the right track with my herd. I was even happier that both of them were sired by Bing. Besides getting a show report, my mom also got instructions to give him some extra treats that night! I also owe a big “Thank You” to Sue Peters, who helped me start back up again with a blue doe who became Dice’s mom and Midnight’s grandmother!
GC Briony’s Tumbling Dice, 1st Place Black Sr. Doe and Best Black Senior
GC Briony’s Midnight Ramber, 1st Place Blue Sr. Buck and BOSV (That look in his eyes? Pure mischief.)
My Dutch friends like to say that a national show recharges the batteries and gets you ready for the next one. I am definitely “charged up” and am breeding like crazy for National Dutch Show in the spring!
