Starting to show part I

So you've been raising rabbits for pets for a while now and have decided you want to show. How would you proceed to do that?

First of all DON'T sell anything. Bring a few of your rabbits to a couple shows and see where you stand show wise. I say a couple because judges opinions can vary a little bit and too get the best idea of where you stand it's best to get a couple different opinions. Don't worry if you don't place well hardly anyone wins First when they're first starting out. Listen to what the judges are saying about your rabbits; are their ears to long? What are their shoulders like? Are the pinched or undercut? What about their fur. The only way to see how a show works and what it takes to place in a show is to go to a show and experience it first hand.

Ask breeders that raise the same breed as you to explain what to look for in a rabbit, or how they choose what they keep and what they sell. Most will be more then willing to help you out.

Look online, there are plenty of articles about how to evaluate some of the more popular breeds. Check out websites of people who often win in shows and see what their rabbits look like.

By now you should be getting an idea of what to look for in your breed which will help you evaluate your own stock more efficiently. This is why you don't sell everything first, who knows you may have a diamond hiding in the rough and you may have sold it if you didn't take the time to learn how to properly evaluate your rabbits.

Now that you have a basis to evaluate your rabbits on, it's time to sort through your herd. In order to be competitive in shows, who can help your breeding project and who will harm it. Start by finding everyone with the negatives you heard from the judges at shows they're not going to help much. Don't be upset if you don't have anything show worthy everyone has to start somewhere, and starting with a clean slate can be a very good thing (unlike how I started with complete crud and eventually worked my way up).

Just remember doing well in shows does not happen overnight, it takes hard work, lots of time, and making the right decisions with your herd. Everyone makes mistakes and no one will judge you poorly if you don't have the best rabbits when you're just starting out.