Tale of Tails Yanish is a friendly and somewhat heavier-silvered junior buck, who surprised me by reaching eight pounds before he turned five months old. His sire is also on the large side and my buck with the most legs, GC Carrot Garden's Astro Man, and his dam is my doe with the most legs, GC Funck's Zinfandel.
West Georgia Rabbit Club Triple Show in Carrollton, Georgia, on October 3, 2020
Yanish was taken to his very first show a week ago Saturday as I am writing this post, where he was picked for first place in junior bucks in the first show. I was very excited about that as we had ten junior bucks with more than enough exhibitors for him to earn his first leg. Then I was surprised by the judge picking him for Best of Breed! Not just his first leg, but also his first title win.
With such a great start out of the gate, I was a bit disappointed that the other two judges in the following shows were less impressed with him, although he still did well with third of nine in Show B and second of nine in Show C. I am very happy to see the competition is tougher now because the Silver Fox as a breed in this area has improved so much.
When I placed Yanish on the Best in Show table, I had far lower expectations. In this judging, each rabbit is a different breed so the judge decides on the rabbit closest to ideal for its breed. Yanish had more against him than for him in this judging: his age; his silvering although even is on that heavier-side; because of the rarity of Silver Foxes, some judges are not familiar with them; and there were several rabbits from other breeds that could have been more ideal to their standard of perfection. I did not think he could win anything, but he did: Reserve in Show!
It was quite a shock! I am not sure it has really sunk in even yet. His sire, Astro Man, had just won my first Reserve in Show earlier this year in March. His dam was given an Honorable Mention by a BIS judge in April of 2019. (Speaking of his dam, Zinfandel was in good form for this show as well. She won first place of eight senior does in all three shows with a Best of Breed win in the third one.)
A breeder friend and I had planned for breeding one of her smallish does with Astro Man, Yanish's sire, to bring some size to the doe's offspring, but earlier in the week after weighing Yanish and giving him a good look-over, I suggested that she might want to consider Yanish instead. Once she saw him at the show, she began considering it. Once he won, she was absolutely sure. Although Astro Man has a record of many legs and was proven, Yanish has greater potential in some areas, plus she would be picking up his dam's line as well. However, Yanish was also just under five months old and unproven...and a bit not sure what he was supposed to do with the doe once she was introduced to him. However, he finally got the idea and we witnessed two fall-offs. Another first for Yanish.
It was such a big day for him and I cannot wait to see what his kits will look like!
Sixth District Convention in Knoxville, Tennessee, on October 6 and 7
Just six days after his first show, I was taking Yanish to a Rare Breeds Show on Friday night. He took first place in his class, but there was only one other junior buck competing against him. However, he then was awarded Best of Breed, his second title win and leg.
I was cautiously hopeful for the three shows on Saturday, but apparently, all three judges were pleased with Yanish. He won first of the five junior bucks in all three shows and Best of Breed in Shows B and C also. Yanish will have five legs in all as a junior.
At this point, Yanish only needs a few more ounces so he can be registered and one leg as an intermediate or a senior for his Grand Champion Certificate. It is very likely that for his next show in mid-November he will be entered as a senior because of his weight, so he will have more competition.
