It’s been a very busy fall for me! Besides working full time and taking on the regular (full) slate of shows, I’ve started school full-time and participated in out-of-state weddings and baby showers. How do I do it? You’ve got me.
The show season started with a double in Abilene, most of mine were still pretty young but I won BOS in both shows with a young blue SB who got his second and third legs. Rick won BOB in both with a cute black JD and went on to win RIS!
The next weekend, I judged in Washington. I spent a lot of my time in my hotel room doing homework, but had a great time. There was a good Dutch entry, and I also judged nice groups of Dwarfs and Hollands and got to “meet” some Facebook friends in person!
Next, I packed up to judge in Brockton, MA. I love shows in New England, they seem to have (at least) one every weekend, and are a tight-knit group. This trip was extra-special for me as I got to see Wayne MacKinnon, one of my Dutch mentors for the first time in many years. I’d gotten back in touch with him via Facebook (ironically, I received his friend request the day I left Massachussetts in April) and invited him to the show.
When I was a youth breeder attending my first National shows, Wayne was the top breeder and I was totally in awe of him. I was introduced to him by a mutual friend and was happy to be allowed to help water his rabbits as he put them away. For whatever reason, he took me under his wing and was one of several Dutch breeders who cheered me on to the ARBA Rabbit Queen title in 1997. At the Portland convention in 1998 I was helping water his rabbits and he showed me a beautiful black junior doe and asked what I thought of her. “Wow!” pretty much summed it up! I was later in the breed booth when another breeder (who was first on the list to look at his sale rabbits) came up and told me he’d tried to buy her but was told she was mine. Mine?!? I happily accepted my first black, paid much too little for her, and named her Aphrodite. She was my first Best in Show winner and convinced me that no, blacks weren’t boring! For the next several years I enjoyed getting to know him more, got some more excellent rabbits, and soaked up everything he would teach me about Dutch. He had a lot of influence in shaping my idea of a perfect Dutch (deep, smooth body) as well as being a great example of generosity and sportsmanship. Several years ago, he stopped raising rabbits due to health reasons. I hadn’t seen him since, so was thrilled when he came to the show.
Of course we talked rabbits, and he taught me again that one can be both competitive and generous. He’s the kind of person who can express something kind of deep with a dry sense of humor. I can be guilty of wanting to keep everything good, but he reminded me that you can’t hoard your line and that it’s better to share the good attributes of your line. I wished I didn’t have to judge and could’ve spent more time with him, but enjoyed watching him give advice to a youth breeder, the next generation. Wayne also brought me a very special gift: his show jacket. He said it had a couple of patches on it I might like to take off and use. I asked him if he was crazy, there wasn’t any way I was taking it apart! Back when I started raising rabbits, everyone had a show coat, usually a lab coat. White or blue, short or long, with our names over one pocket and sometimes rabbitry names or awards embroidered on the back. We bought patches for our breed clubs, our local clubs, and Conventions we attended and occasionally received them as awards, so the coats were like a wearable personal history. I saved up my Christmas money to buy my first, and my second was awarded to me as the ARBA Rabbit Queen. So receiving his was an honor, sort of passing the mantle, and moved me to tears. It does have a couple of really neat patches, one of the first ADRC patches and a New England Dutch Club patch, but they’re staying put. It’s a little big on me, but I plan to roll the sleeves and wear it at Nationals. Not only is it something I’ll treasure, but something that reminds me that being a good influence lasts longer than your involvement in the hobby. Plus, I hope it brings me some of the same good luck on the tables as it brought him!
The next weekend was our State show. Friday night is the Dutch specialty, which is usually fairly small but a lot of fun. I won BOB with a Tort JB – my first BOB since getting back into the variety! Yes, he does have a little collar drag, but it was a small show and not a lot of Convention rabbits were present!
The next day was the all-breed show. I won BOB with Luxury, a Black JD who I call my “butterface” doe – she has kind of a narrow head and blaze but everything behind is very, very nice! (You know, “everything looks good but-her-face?”). Her parents both have nice heads, so I’m not quite sure what happened. But I love her compact body and gorgeous stops, so she’s staying around. On Sunday, she even took 2nd RIS! It’s the third year in a row I’ve had a Dutch in the top three at State!
The next weekend was spent with Convention preparations…a post soon to follow…
