"Why do you keep showing your Grand Champions?"
Some breeders have been asked this question many times and here is why I continue to show every and any rabbit, especially my best rabbits, at any given show:
First, the most obvious of reasons: It is not my top goal to get three legs to then retire my Grand Champions from showing. Some show breeders find satisfaction in this as a top goal, while others see "granding" their rabbits as a step on the ladder to their top goal.
Second: My goal is to win Best in Show (and Sweeps but that is another conversation). There is no chance for a rabbit to win Best in Show if it is not shown. Why would any breeder who wants to win Best in Show keep their best rabbits out of a show?
Third: Even though a rabbit has been shown many times before, it could win Best in Show or Reserve in Show on any particular day with a particular judge because of several factors, like it is in near-perfect fur and condition or the other Best of Breed winners just are not quite as eye-catching that day.
If a rabbit has a good consistency for winning at shows, is it not the one most likely to win Best in Show one day?
I remember one of the top breeders of Silver Foxes showing her best buck, who had some like 18 or so legs at the time, at a National Show (and I think he went on to win a few more legs too). I was still new to showing then and could not imagine having a rabbit with so many legs! I never thought the breeder should not have brought him as he was likely to be the winner, instead, I wanted to get a good look at the rabbit that I hoped one of my rabbits would someday be like or even beat! And, of course, I wanted a rabbit from her lines!
I started showing in the autumn of 2018 and I had a buck I bought that became a Grand Champion in late November 2018. During my first year, I was told repeatedly not to bother with putting him on the Best in Show table because a Silver Fox could never win, but I still did whenever I could. He was two years old and had been shown in 43 shows earning 11 legs when he won Reserve in Show. His coat just happened to be in perfect condition that weekend and he won four legs in the five shows. I continued to show him until his retirement when his son began winning over him. In total, he had been in 60 shows earning 16 legs—which is to say, it is not like a winning rabbit always wins due to many factors, but there is no chance at all, if it is not shown.
I have won four more Reserve in Show awards along the way with three different descendants of that first Reserve in Show rabbit, but it was not until this month, August of 2023, that another descendent won our first Best in Show. Every show has a Best in Show competition that some rabbit is going to win, so why should the Best of Breed Silver Fox not be on the Best in Show table? Because it might not win or it has more than enough Grand Champion legs already so it does not need any more? As I see it, a Silver Fox winning Best in Show is more about representing the breed. That is why I continue to show my best rabbits as long as they hold their condition and are winning because the Best in Show competition is about a judge choosing the rabbit closest to the breed's Standard of Perfection on that day. Since that is the goal of my breeding program, I have been and will continue to be competing for the Best in Show award—which is a challenge with a fur breed in the southeast!
First, the most obvious of reasons: It is not my top goal to get three legs to then retire my Grand Champions from showing. Some show breeders find satisfaction in this as a top goal, while others see "granding" their rabbits as a step on the ladder to their top goal.
Second: My goal is to win Best in Show (and Sweeps but that is another conversation). There is no chance for a rabbit to win Best in Show if it is not shown. Why would any breeder who wants to win Best in Show keep their best rabbits out of a show?
Third: Even though a rabbit has been shown many times before, it could win Best in Show or Reserve in Show on any particular day with a particular judge because of several factors, like it is in near-perfect fur and condition or the other Best of Breed winners just are not quite as eye-catching that day.
If a rabbit has a good consistency for winning at shows, is it not the one most likely to win Best in Show one day?
Second: My goal is to win Best in Show (and Sweeps but that is another conversation). There is no chance for a rabbit to win Best in Show if it is not shown. Why would any breeder who wants to win Best in Show keep their best rabbits out of a show?
Third: Even though a rabbit has been shown many times before, it could win Best in Show or Reserve in Show on any particular day with a particular judge because of several factors, like it is in near-perfect fur and condition or the other Best of Breed winners just are not quite as eye-catching that day.
If a rabbit has a good consistency for winning at shows, is it not the one most likely to win Best in Show one day?
I remember one of the top breeders of Silver Foxes showing her best buck, who had some like 18 or so legs at the time, at a National Show (and I think he went on to win a few more legs too). I was still new to showing then and could not imagine having a rabbit with so many legs! I never thought the breeder should not have brought him as he was likely to be the winner, instead, I wanted to get a good look at the rabbit that I hoped one of my rabbits would someday be like or even beat! And, of course, I wanted a rabbit from her lines!
I have won four more Reserve in Show awards along the way with three different descendants of that first Reserve in Show rabbit, but it was not until this month, August of 2023, that another descendent won our first Best in Show. Every show has a Best in Show competition that some rabbit is going to win, so why should the Best of Breed Silver Fox not be on the Best in Show table? Because it might not win or it has more than enough Grand Champion legs already so it does not need any more? As I see it, a Silver Fox winning Best in Show is more about representing the breed. That is why I continue to show my best rabbits as long as they hold their condition and are winning because the Best in Show competition is about a judge choosing the rabbit closest to the breed's Standard of Perfection on that day. Since that is the goal of my breeding program, I have been and will continue to be competing for the Best in Show award—which is a challenge with a fur breed in the southeast!
I started showing in the autumn of 2018 and I had a buck I bought that became a Grand Champion in late November 2018. During my first year, I was told repeatedly not to bother with putting him on the Best in Show table because a Silver Fox could never win, but I still did whenever I could. He was two years old and had been shown in 43 shows earning 11 legs when he won Reserve in Show. His coat just happened to be in perfect condition that weekend and he won four legs in the five shows. I continued to show him until his retirement when his son began winning over him. In total, he had been in 60 shows earning 16 legs—which is to say, it is not like a winning rabbit always wins due to many factors, but there is no chance at all, if it is not shown.
I have won four more Reserve in Show awards along the way with three different descendants of that first Reserve in Show rabbit, but it was not until this month, August of 2023, that another descendent won our first Best in Show. Every show has a Best in Show competition that some rabbit is going to win, so why should the Best of Breed Silver Fox not be on the Best in Show table? Because it might not win or it has more than enough Grand Champion legs already so it does not need any more? As I see it, a Silver Fox winning Best in Show is more about representing the breed. That is why I continue to show my best rabbits as long as they hold their condition and are winning because the Best in Show competition is about a judge choosing the rabbit closest to the breed's Standard of Perfection on that day. Since that is the goal of my breeding program, I have been and will continue to be competing for the Best in Show award—which is a challenge with a fur breed in the southeast!