Monday, September 19, 2005
Promoting Showing Rabbits As A Hobby
People enter and leave our hobby for the same three reasons: rabbits, lifestyle, and people. We may be tempted to think that people get into rabbits just because they love rabbits and get out when they have accomplished everything they want to or lose interest in rabbits or their lives cannot accommodate rabbits any longer.
But I think in reality, people get into rabbits because someone shared their enthusiasm with them, showed them the ropes, helped them get started. Think for a second about who helped you get started. I can name several names very easily: Mary & Garrett Justice and Tracy Lukeman, among others. I bet you can name folks quite easily yourself.
People get out of rabbits for various reasons, some rabbit-related and lifestyle-related, but also because of interpersonal strife.
I want to stop here and mention why we care if people get into rabbits and stay in rabbits. Our hobby needs people to stay alive and it needs new people to stay vital.
I use to belong to a church that had a Sunday School class that wasn't that open to new people. They started when they were young marrieds and stayed together for year and year. As they got older, only a few people about the same age were permitted to join (sure, it was technically open to everyone, but that wasn't the reality). Now the average age in the Sunday School class is over 70. How many years will it be until that Sunday School class does not exist at all?
And do you really want to compete with the same three people month after month, year after year, decade after decade? Of course you don't! And it is simply no fun to come to the table and find that you are the only exhibitor or that there are not enough rabbits for a leg (sometimes, even at the BOB level).
So, what can we do? First, you can do what Garrett did to me. Just ask people if they are interested in showing rabbits. I went to him for pets and had never even thought about showing. But he brought up the subject and gave me an ARBA application form with my rabbits. It was several months before the idea had percolated enough in my brain to make me want to find out more. But he had planted the seed and it had taken root.
Next, Mary was kind enough to sit with me and talk with me during my first show. She gave me pointers ("please don't indicate whose rabbits are whose - the judge is not suppose to know"). Keep an eye out for new people. Introduce them around. Make sure that they do not feel alone in a crowd.
I think the most important thing that all of us can do for new people is give them some slack. We get use to the routines of entering rabbits. We sorta know which shows are coming up when. We're plugged into the community and hear discussions about what's going on. We understand the basics of showing rabbits. But all of this is new and VERY overwhelming to a new person.
I saw a young lady, very new to showing, at a recent show who was totally bewildered. Then folks started fussing at her for not getting her rabbits up and lecturing her on how she should have let them know about changes (there had been errors, not her fault, in the paperwork). I thought she was close to tears at one point. Were I she, I think I would have given up rabbits in that very moment. I'm sure she found the rabbit world not the warm, friendly, welcoming place I believe it often is and always should be.
The very same information could have been given to her in a much friendlier, more instructive and helpful way.
So, invite people to join us. Help new people learn the ropes. Give folks some slack, especially when they are new. Teach and encouarge instead of scold and complain. And value the new folks and all the other folks in rabbits. They are the ones who make your hobby worthwhile.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
"Holland Lops Of Distinction"
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/blog/BLOG ¶ 9:18 AM
But I think in reality, people get into rabbits because someone shared their enthusiasm with them, showed them the ropes, helped them get started. Think for a second about who helped you get started. I can name several names very easily: Mary & Garrett Justice and Tracy Lukeman, among others. I bet you can name folks quite easily yourself.
People get out of rabbits for various reasons, some rabbit-related and lifestyle-related, but also because of interpersonal strife.
I want to stop here and mention why we care if people get into rabbits and stay in rabbits. Our hobby needs people to stay alive and it needs new people to stay vital.
I use to belong to a church that had a Sunday School class that wasn't that open to new people. They started when they were young marrieds and stayed together for year and year. As they got older, only a few people about the same age were permitted to join (sure, it was technically open to everyone, but that wasn't the reality). Now the average age in the Sunday School class is over 70. How many years will it be until that Sunday School class does not exist at all?
And do you really want to compete with the same three people month after month, year after year, decade after decade? Of course you don't! And it is simply no fun to come to the table and find that you are the only exhibitor or that there are not enough rabbits for a leg (sometimes, even at the BOB level).
So, what can we do? First, you can do what Garrett did to me. Just ask people if they are interested in showing rabbits. I went to him for pets and had never even thought about showing. But he brought up the subject and gave me an ARBA application form with my rabbits. It was several months before the idea had percolated enough in my brain to make me want to find out more. But he had planted the seed and it had taken root.
Next, Mary was kind enough to sit with me and talk with me during my first show. She gave me pointers ("please don't indicate whose rabbits are whose - the judge is not suppose to know"). Keep an eye out for new people. Introduce them around. Make sure that they do not feel alone in a crowd.
I think the most important thing that all of us can do for new people is give them some slack. We get use to the routines of entering rabbits. We sorta know which shows are coming up when. We're plugged into the community and hear discussions about what's going on. We understand the basics of showing rabbits. But all of this is new and VERY overwhelming to a new person.
I saw a young lady, very new to showing, at a recent show who was totally bewildered. Then folks started fussing at her for not getting her rabbits up and lecturing her on how she should have let them know about changes (there had been errors, not her fault, in the paperwork). I thought she was close to tears at one point. Were I she, I think I would have given up rabbits in that very moment. I'm sure she found the rabbit world not the warm, friendly, welcoming place I believe it often is and always should be.
The very same information could have been given to her in a much friendlier, more instructive and helpful way.
So, invite people to join us. Help new people learn the ropes. Give folks some slack, especially when they are new. Teach and encouarge instead of scold and complain. And value the new folks and all the other folks in rabbits. They are the ones who make your hobby worthwhile.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
"Holland Lops Of Distinction"
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/blog/BLOG ¶ 9:18 AM
