Saturday, January 28, 2006
Triple Crown in Spartanburg, SC
The big news is that I granded two does! Yeah! I just have one more to go and I'll be caught up - at least until some other does turn senior. Lexus just turned senior earlier this month, so she granded very quickly like her mom, GC The Nature Trail's Mercedes, 14 legs. Unlike her mom, she will be going into production with just 4 legs. But she has one thing her mom does not have - a BEST OF BREED! I'd say that's a pretty nice way to end your show career, granding with a Best of Breed.
It is possible that Lexus will return to the show table in the future, of course, but it will not be her main job. Her job now is to produce a fourth generation of The Nature Trail's rabbits, and, hopefully, a third generation of grand champions.
[By the way, Lexus is out of the buck I purchased at the auction at Nationals last year - Audrey's MAC.]
The Nature Trail's Jo-Jo ended her string of second places with a BOG and a BOB. She will also become semi-retired to breeding with four legs, also including a BOSG and a BOS - a full set with one of each!
GC The Nature Trail's Rio earned another couple of legs bringing him to 10. One leg was a BOSG and the other was a BOG. Rio will now become semi-retired. In the future, I will probably only show him if he happens to look good and be 4.00 or under when I'm deciding who to take to shows.
I'm not going to keep him on a diet long-term in order to keep showing him. If he's happiest at 4.02, so be it. He dropped down to 3.10 this week and you can really tell it. I don't like to see him like that. His best weight really is 4.00.
Apparently I only figured out how to keep his weight between 3.14 and 4.00 without factoring in the effect of traveling. He does go off feed in the car. I just realized that today. I always think of him as a buck that will eat anytime, anywhere, and that's apparently not true.
So, he'll be giving up the double cage to The Nature Trail's Bear. Bear has 8 juniors legs and a string of second places to Rio. He's up to 4.02, so I'll put him in the exercise cage to see if that helps him burn off those extra two ounces. I won't put him on a diet like I did Rio because he's got all of the time in the world to drop those two ounces. I'm in no hurry. I don't want to see what Bear looks like at 3.10!
Now for the report on the juniors. I showed The Nature Trail's Navaro for the first time and he was BOS under Doug Sprague! Yeah! I was really, really excited about showing this little buck. I've had my eye on him waiting for him to get old enough to even try to show him. He's just 3 1/2 months old. He placed 3rd out of 11 for Owen Yates, which is also very good for such a young fellow. Navaro is a linebreeding to GC Camelot's Merlin. He's a product of Spice, a Merlin daughter, and Merlin himself. Oh, and Navaro was named the Best Junior by Judge Doug Sprague.
The Nature Trail's Latifa got a leg her first time out, too. She didn't get beyond that point, but that's not a bad way to start a career. Latifa is out of GC The Nature Trail's LaForge and Mtn's Daphne, 2 legs. Alison, would you please get Daphne granded? I know she can do it. That would really help me on my all-grand champion pedigree project!!!
The Nature Trail's Baron got two legs. He's got a really promising head coming in and he's just 4 months old. Last week was his first show. He came in second place then. I am certain his head has grown just since last week! Baron was also named the best broken junior by Owen Yates.
All told, my bunnies earned ten legs. Congratulations to Gary & Susan Smith for earning a BOS and Best Junior award under Owen Yates with their otter. I always enjoy seeing friends win and I always love to see an otter do well on the table.
The show was a small one - we missed a lot of breeders from the region. I hope you'll all plan to make it next year. It's such a fun show because it's just Netherlands and Hollands.
I had a lot of help getting my rabbits on and off of the table. Thank you to everyone who helped keep me straight and out of trouble!!
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
Holland Lops Of Distinction
Precious Pet Rabbits
Pet Rabbit Care Information, Quality Pet Rabbit Breeders, and Rabbit Fun ¶ 8:47 PM
It is possible that Lexus will return to the show table in the future, of course, but it will not be her main job. Her job now is to produce a fourth generation of The Nature Trail's rabbits, and, hopefully, a third generation of grand champions.
[By the way, Lexus is out of the buck I purchased at the auction at Nationals last year - Audrey's MAC.]
The Nature Trail's Jo-Jo ended her string of second places with a BOG and a BOB. She will also become semi-retired to breeding with four legs, also including a BOSG and a BOS - a full set with one of each!
GC The Nature Trail's Rio earned another couple of legs bringing him to 10. One leg was a BOSG and the other was a BOG. Rio will now become semi-retired. In the future, I will probably only show him if he happens to look good and be 4.00 or under when I'm deciding who to take to shows.
I'm not going to keep him on a diet long-term in order to keep showing him. If he's happiest at 4.02, so be it. He dropped down to 3.10 this week and you can really tell it. I don't like to see him like that. His best weight really is 4.00.
Apparently I only figured out how to keep his weight between 3.14 and 4.00 without factoring in the effect of traveling. He does go off feed in the car. I just realized that today. I always think of him as a buck that will eat anytime, anywhere, and that's apparently not true.
So, he'll be giving up the double cage to The Nature Trail's Bear. Bear has 8 juniors legs and a string of second places to Rio. He's up to 4.02, so I'll put him in the exercise cage to see if that helps him burn off those extra two ounces. I won't put him on a diet like I did Rio because he's got all of the time in the world to drop those two ounces. I'm in no hurry. I don't want to see what Bear looks like at 3.10!
Now for the report on the juniors. I showed The Nature Trail's Navaro for the first time and he was BOS under Doug Sprague! Yeah! I was really, really excited about showing this little buck. I've had my eye on him waiting for him to get old enough to even try to show him. He's just 3 1/2 months old. He placed 3rd out of 11 for Owen Yates, which is also very good for such a young fellow. Navaro is a linebreeding to GC Camelot's Merlin. He's a product of Spice, a Merlin daughter, and Merlin himself. Oh, and Navaro was named the Best Junior by Judge Doug Sprague.
The Nature Trail's Latifa got a leg her first time out, too. She didn't get beyond that point, but that's not a bad way to start a career. Latifa is out of GC The Nature Trail's LaForge and Mtn's Daphne, 2 legs. Alison, would you please get Daphne granded? I know she can do it. That would really help me on my all-grand champion pedigree project!!!
The Nature Trail's Baron got two legs. He's got a really promising head coming in and he's just 4 months old. Last week was his first show. He came in second place then. I am certain his head has grown just since last week! Baron was also named the best broken junior by Owen Yates.
All told, my bunnies earned ten legs. Congratulations to Gary & Susan Smith for earning a BOS and Best Junior award under Owen Yates with their otter. I always enjoy seeing friends win and I always love to see an otter do well on the table.
The show was a small one - we missed a lot of breeders from the region. I hope you'll all plan to make it next year. It's such a fun show because it's just Netherlands and Hollands.
I had a lot of help getting my rabbits on and off of the table. Thank you to everyone who helped keep me straight and out of trouble!!
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
Holland Lops Of Distinction
Precious Pet Rabbits
Pet Rabbit Care Information, Quality Pet Rabbit Breeders, and Rabbit Fun ¶ 8:47 PM
