Sunday, September 18, 2005
Convention Entries
Today is the day I enter my rabbits for ARBA Convention. I have a few vague ideas about which rabbits to take, but I have a lot of work to do today.
There's much time between now and Convention and a lot can happen. As I reflect upon my choices for Holland Lop Nationals, I realize that I didn't take that time lapse between entries and the show into consideration nearly enough.
For example, a 4 1/2 month old buck named The Nature Trail's Rio wasn't all that impressive (just nice) and had no legs at the time I sent in my Nationals entries. I simply overlooked him. Between then and Nationals, though, he had a BIS and other nice placements. He was BOSV the day after nationals. Obviously, I didn't make a good choice in not entering him.
I have several (many) rabbits in horrible fur right now. Actually, the worse the fur, the more I should consider taking them! They are the ones who are most likely to finish between now and Convention. Some that have open coats may cling onto them until Convention, but I can't be sure. My rabbits who look great right now are the ones I'm most suspicous of. They are probably the ones who will blow their coats about 2 days before Convention. My barn will be a cloud of fur flying on about October 20, I just know it!
One of my strategies this year will be to not just take my personal favorites. I plan to take all of my rabbits with good conformation. Holland lops are like fried chicken - everybody has their favorite piece. I may favor Hollands with certain sets of strengths, but the judges I get may not.
I am also going to try not to underestimate my rabbits. I do believe my nicest rabbits have a chance to at least place in the upper third and I can be satisfied with that. I will be thrilled if I can get one rabbit into the top ten.
Another strategy is to make sure I enter at least one rabbit for every class. Even though I may not know which solid junior buck will be strongest nearer Convention, I'm hoping that at least one of my 9 contenders will be good enough to take. I can change the ear number at the last minute, but I can't add a rabbit from an entirely different class.
I will be checking today to see if there might be more than one rabbit in each class. I know I'm going to enter 3 broken senior bucks, for example. I know which three I hope will be in shape by then, but I will be thrilled if any three of my herd bucks are able to go.
I will also be entering all of my sale rabbits. They are all presales and will be scratched. If you've purchased rabbits from me at a national show before, you know I'm a stickler about that.
If you haven't entered your Convention rabbits today, happy decision-making. I know exactly how you feel!
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
"Holland Lops Of Distinction"
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/blog/BLOG
¶ 10:48 AM
There's much time between now and Convention and a lot can happen. As I reflect upon my choices for Holland Lop Nationals, I realize that I didn't take that time lapse between entries and the show into consideration nearly enough.
For example, a 4 1/2 month old buck named The Nature Trail's Rio wasn't all that impressive (just nice) and had no legs at the time I sent in my Nationals entries. I simply overlooked him. Between then and Nationals, though, he had a BIS and other nice placements. He was BOSV the day after nationals. Obviously, I didn't make a good choice in not entering him.
I have several (many) rabbits in horrible fur right now. Actually, the worse the fur, the more I should consider taking them! They are the ones who are most likely to finish between now and Convention. Some that have open coats may cling onto them until Convention, but I can't be sure. My rabbits who look great right now are the ones I'm most suspicous of. They are probably the ones who will blow their coats about 2 days before Convention. My barn will be a cloud of fur flying on about October 20, I just know it!
One of my strategies this year will be to not just take my personal favorites. I plan to take all of my rabbits with good conformation. Holland lops are like fried chicken - everybody has their favorite piece. I may favor Hollands with certain sets of strengths, but the judges I get may not.
I am also going to try not to underestimate my rabbits. I do believe my nicest rabbits have a chance to at least place in the upper third and I can be satisfied with that. I will be thrilled if I can get one rabbit into the top ten.
Another strategy is to make sure I enter at least one rabbit for every class. Even though I may not know which solid junior buck will be strongest nearer Convention, I'm hoping that at least one of my 9 contenders will be good enough to take. I can change the ear number at the last minute, but I can't add a rabbit from an entirely different class.
I will be checking today to see if there might be more than one rabbit in each class. I know I'm going to enter 3 broken senior bucks, for example. I know which three I hope will be in shape by then, but I will be thrilled if any three of my herd bucks are able to go.
I will also be entering all of my sale rabbits. They are all presales and will be scratched. If you've purchased rabbits from me at a national show before, you know I'm a stickler about that.
If you haven't entered your Convention rabbits today, happy decision-making. I know exactly how you feel!
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
"Holland Lops Of Distinction"
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/blog/BLOG
¶ 10:48 AM
