On behalf of my father, I would like to thank The North American Lionhead Rabbit Club for accepting two of his Lionhead rabbit paintings for Auction. Thanks to Patsy Brooks for requesting for them and Dawn Guth for getting them to the banquet.
Special thanks goes out to Christine Hutchison for purchasing them and donating them to the ARBA Library. It is a beautiful sign that the Lionheads will make it into ARBA as one of the official breeds and they are here to stay!
Black Tort Lionhead Rabbit
Sable Point Lionhead Rabbit
A huge congratulations to the 2010 National Show Committe, a job WELL DONE!
2010 HLRSC Nationals is about to end as I write this post. Linda and Ron Jinnings of L&R Rabbitry won BEST OF BREED with a broken tort while BEST OPPOSITE SEX of BREED goes to Becky & Allan Ormond of Bunnyland USA!
My good friend Scott Rodriguez won BEST FUR!
Congratulations to all winners and those who have placed well!
Just got news that the 2 paintings my dad sent for the auction helped the club raised some awesome amount! I am happy to hear that everyone had fun bidding! Thank you very much Colleen, Jennifer and Kay for updates on this. Really appreciate it!
Mr. Mark Carson of Iowa won the highest bid with this wonderful piece. Mark is HLRSC Zone 3 Director. Peggy Ross of TX owns it now.
Here's the other wonderful piece that has got a successful bidder too!
And just a little update of the 3 kits. They are going through the uglies right now so are not looking their best.
I am helping my dad to send 2 Holland Lop paintings to be auctioned at Loveland, Colorado in April 2010. It is in conjunction with the 2010 HLRSC Nationals hosted by Hollands & Friends.
We would like to thank Kay Miller for appreciating my dad’s work and allowing us to share it with the rabbit world. We do hope that they will be well received and appreciated.
Have a nice Nationals everyone!
And for those of you who do not have the slightest idea why I am so obsessed with this bunny raising business, check out the video below.
A huge congratulations to Christina HALL and especially her daughter Aislin (the young WINNER) for obtaining Best In Show in Youth with their beautiful Solid Senior Doe, She Bangs!
The Winning Shot!
Handsome Judge, Gorgeous Bunny. BIS Judging!
Fellow Malaysians, please don’t get confused because there are many “Christina”s in the Holland Lop world and this is not the only one that you know! I mentioned just that you know! LOL!
Care's She Bangs
Now, that’s a WOW factor!
And HOLLAND Rules in Youth this year! YAY!
Please notice how this rabbit has got no “FLABS”. Sheer BONES!!!!
Congratulations to Donna Williams for placing 2nd SSD with 1111 right after the winning doe!
Congratulations to Tracy & Jenna of THF Saynora for placing 2nd with SSB Abe & 10th with BSB Jonah!
Congratulations to Scott Rodriguez (breeder of TLR’s foundation stocks) on the following placings:
Ivy Crescent Mason – 2nd Place Solid Junior Buck out of 124
Ivy Crescent Cherie – 8th Place Solid Junior doe out of 124
G.C. Ivy Crescent Rodeo – 6th Place Broken Senior Buck out of 72
Ivy Crescent Natasha – 3rd Place Broken Junior doe out of 62
G.C. Ivy Crescent Firecracker – 16th Place Solid Senior Buck out of 123
G.C. THF Saynora’s Quinson 9th Place Solid Senior Buck out of 123
YAY! To Ivy Crescent Hollands! LOL (Yes, I am biased :P)!
*BOB = Best Of Breed, BOS = Best Opposite Sex, SSD = Solid Senior Doe, SSB = Solid Senior Buck, BSB = Broken Senior Buck
YOUTH
I would also like to congratulate Christina Hall & her daughter Aislin for winning BOB in the Holland Lop YOUTH category with an awesome doe called SHE BANGS! I would also like to thank them for sharing these wonderful photos with me.
Congratulations to the Maki Family for placing 7th.
Congratulations to the Usakowski Family for placing 13th.
This is a REAL ARBA judge judging. Handsome? You BET!
The MASSIVE room just for YOUTHS!
Thanks Susie for this one!
Judging COOPs
Solid Torts awaiting for judging
More Hollands waiting for their turn to shine!
This is another eye opener for local rabbit enthusiasts! This is what a real RABBIT SHOW is and a MASSIVE one at that!
Now, it is time to wonder where is that woman that was boastful about her placing in BIG shows and selling junk at premium prices? There isn’t any trace of her. So what’s up with all the GCs?
This is the 1st time photographs of ARBA Convention are being posted on a Malaysian blog. Thanks to all friends of Tru-Luv Rabbitry especially Teri Reymann for being so gracious/generous in sharing these photos with me. More will be added as Convention is a week long event. The main reason I have requested photographs from my bunny friends is because I would like to share with my fellow Malaysians so that you know how a massive rabbit show looks like and you shall never be HOODWINKED into believing something else that will be fed to you by some quacks EVER again!
I hope you appreciate these photos because they are specially taken for all of you!
Looks familiar? This is the car that you see on the Convention flyers!
Another view of the "mascot" car
Rabbit Product Vendors
More stores at Convention
Purina's booth!
Show are separated into the OPEN and YOUTH section. Here’s are a couple of photos taken of the OPEN section:
Open section - Just look at how spacious it is!
The other OPEN section
Show officially starts tomorrow and therefore, it may seemed a little empty today.
Besides from having all day long conformation judging, there is also Rabbit Conference going on where all the experts give talks about the latest in rabbit care and management in general.
Thousands of rabbits across all breeds gather together. Not to dominate the world (which they already did), but in search for the 1 BEST IN SHOW. Happening from 1st to 5th November 2009 in San Diego, California. This is the mother of all shows where the best from all over US will come together to compete for the top spot. This will also be a week that I will miss most of my bunny friends in US because they are all having so much fun at Convention.
I wish all of them participating in this great event a safe journey and all the best with their rabbits! I can’t wait to get updates from the show!
I am feeling a little under the weather today. Not that I am ill but I am quite sick of what’s been happening all around especially the news. At times like these, I turn to my solace, my blog.
I have seen many photos taken at shows and I realized that I have been talking a lot about rabbit shows but somehow have not taken the time to post photos of rabbit shows. Thanks to my dear friend Teri Reymann of sonshinerabbitry.net. I was able to obtain some photos to share with all of you. I really have to thank Teri for allowing me to have these photos.
Their outdoor shows are equally as impressive as those held indoors. Just take a look at these photos:
Triple Crown show held last weekend
A Judge judging broken tort Hollands
Here are some photos taken at the Washington State Convention:
It could get rather messy but interesting!
Judging tables and coops
Massive isn't it?
Grooming tables are familiar sights at shows
So as you can see, a show is all about bringing people together and having fun. It does not matter where and when it is held, as long as everyone goes home happy after having a jolly good time with friends.
I came home late last night and as I was doing the usual clean up, I placed Truffles up on the grooming table. And I got this photo:
The 1st Malaysia Rabbit Show is to be held tomorrow and I thought it would be nice for him to be in just for the fun of it. Not to win but just to let this little inquisitive rascal have a go at a show. I certainly did not intend to win at all. So I called up Nico and asked if she could register him together for me since I have some errands to do in the morning and afraid I was going to be late for the show. A big part of me wanted my daughter Beth to be there just for the fun of it. Unfortunately I had to leave without her and my wife because she needs her usual nap in the afternoon.
Nico - she helped register Truffles for me
Showing me the butt in disapproval!
The contender: If it wasn't for the heavy molt, Truffles might have lost to this guy!
Little Truffles being naughty and perky!
So here I was passing Truffles over to the officials to be weighed. At 5 months old, he weighs 1.2 kg which was way below the 1.6 kg mark. There he go unto the show table!
From what I gathered, there were only 4 breeders/owners showing Holland Lops. There were roughly 20 Holland Lops separated in 4 groups namely Solid Buck, Solid Doe, Broken Buck and Broken Doe. There were no classes for juniors so Truffles joined the Broken Buck category.
Being Judged by Christina
A very well behaved Truffles with his proud owner snapping this photo
Photo courtesy of RSF
Before I continue with this long story, please allow me to give credit to Beh & Yo Rabbitry, Pet Shack, Pet Lover Centre, Jaanu & her bf, Bebee & her bf, CocoJune & Nico for putting up together this well organized rabbit show.
Down to top 10!
I must say it is a good start for the Malaysia rabbit market in general. I hope next year we’ll have ARBA sanctioned show. But the best part of it all is that I met a lot of nice people and it was all the friends who came. Darma, thanks for making the effort to come. You really helped me a lot today!
Friends are all we need in a show!
We finally met up!
Very proud of the HLRSC t-shirt Aunt Karen bought me! Love it! Always helping me keep my head held up high! I met so many new friends. I hope all of you are reading this now. Thanks for striking a chat with me. Really appreciate it.
So let’s see what I won. Beside the trophies and ribbon, I got free vouchers. Let’s calculate how much I won in cash value (we were shopping after the show). You see, I always believe in sharing the win with fellow friends. So this was how I shared out the winnings:
1) I had $300 myself
2) $150 to Miss Nico
3) Bebee conned me off my $200 (just kidding!)
4) Darma went home with $200 worth of Oxbow product
Please correct me if I am wrong guys! LOL!
I am just too lost for words at the moment. There are so much to write but I just can’t find the right words.
The score card
The judging was long and there were quite a number of nice Holland Lops. I wasn’t too interested in the rest of the breeds so I did not keep track of all that is happening over that end. I was very surprised when Truffles was transferred to the main stage and later announced as Best In Group for Broken Bucks (no junior group). Christina requested the breeder to come forward and so being an abiding person, I followed her instructions and went up on stage. I shook hands with both Kenneth and her and introduced myself. Christina seemed to look surprise to see me. Then the Best of Breed was announced and I did not think of it too much. Then Truffles got called for Best Opposite Sex of Breed. I thought that was the last.
The Winners!
Best of Opposite Sex of Breed
My head almost pop when I heard he got BRIS!!!! That’s Best Reserve In Show baby!
Can someone send me a clearer photo please?
Best In Show. A Broken Tort Senior Doe. I was quite tickled when she gave Christina a little bite while she was judging. And Christina had to give her a little tap on the head.
Glad he poses naturally...
Did not believe I won until I saw this photo!
The win was a sweet one for many reasons. Truffles is the best kit produced in my rabbitry to far. That makes him my own breeding. Winning with my own breeding is something that I would like to practice and it is a principle I would like to stand by. Truffles is only 5 months old and getting a BRIS is super cool! And thinking that I almost sold him earlier really made me felt lucky! Everything happens for a reason! Sorry for all the exclamation marks! Too excited!
Beth was still in bed when I came home. I showed her all the trophies and ribbon while telling her it was suppose to be her receiving them. She just smiled and said “Beth CHAMPION already, YAY!”
That's MINE!!!
All mine!!!
In the end, I just do not know how breeders in the US could withstand all the waiting. My back almost broke!
My boy posing with the "loot"
Enough posing already!
Thanks to Oxbow for the 2 months supply of Hay & food stuff!
I am adding in more details as I recall how this wonderful day went by. I am seriously looking forward for the next rabbit show. Christina mentioned to both Darma & me that she’ll bring along her good friend Randy Shumaker (if I remember the name correctly) whom is an ARBA licensed judge to come over to Malaysia and also hoping to get the show ARBA sanctioned. That would be lovely.
I would like to revisit a few of my past posts here. Due to the daily posts, I believe some of these articles went “off screen” faster than Superman and most people might have missed it.
In the US, rabbit shows are organized almost on a weekly basis at different locations. They have so many ARBA judges to go around and every show is a success. There are definitely no rooms for QUACK judges and no precious time wasted on fancy shows.
Some places in the other parts of the world is about to start having rabbit shows. Most of the organizers of these shows “imported” ARBA judges or at least people who are credible. In my opinion, if you want to organize a show, might as well organize it to the “fullest”. What is the point of spending so much organizing one with nothing significant just to satisfy the little desire of having the credit for organizing a show?
We suppose to be talking about ARBA sanctioned shows with licensed ARBA judges! Not some quack judge that pretends to know a whole loads and get shot up to fame just because he/she is a foreigner. My fellow Earthians (people of middle earth), I urge you not to be intimidated by Martians. We are all the same living being breathing the same oxygen within the same Atmosphere! Don’t be mislead by quacks!
I just want to walk you down great old memory lane through my old post on the Art Of Intimidation. I know most of you shivers in fear even before the big wave hits you, but take heart my dear friends. I hope this post give you a little courage.
Coming back to the title of this post, I would like to share my knowledge on what really matters. What do you think that a breeder is really chasing after in a show? Yes, the trophies are attractive. But behind the trophies, breeders are really chasing for LEGS! Not their own legs but ARBA GC legs. If you have not seen one, here’s the post Have You Seen An ARBA Leg Before?
Yes, this piece of paper is so valuable that when you get 3 of them, you get to GRAND your rabbit. That means, your rabbit is a GRAND CHAMP in ARBA’s record! Here’s another post on Showing Holland Lops.
So now that I have got the rabbits and their owners covered, what about the judge? No one will go to jail for judging under bad credentials but the big word is CONSCIENCE. In this world filled with competition, the feeling of losing gets the best of people or should I say, shows the best of them. Some breeders have been caught cheating too. It is no different from sporting events where sportpersons resort to drugs to push them further. That is how people lose their heads due to competitions. Judges are human too and the only thing to control their actions is their conscience and reputation. I have also written a post regarding as to how impartial a judge should be in Judges In Rabbit Shows.
Tru-Luv Rabbitry remains a small rabbitry dedicated to the breeding of show quality rabbits. For me, being an ARBA and HLRSC member I would not like to stray away from the main reason for showing and I would like to uphold the spirit of showing for ARBA legs for which removed, defeats the purpose of showing. For an ARBA leg to be issued, a show must be sanctioned by ARBA and must be judged by their licensed judge(s) for which removed, defeats the purpose and is equivalent of placing TOM, DICK & HARRY as the judge. In short, YOU and I are judges! There is no need to fly a person miles across the globe to be a FACADE. Any fellow Earthians can be a judge.
FACADES in my opinion are normally used in misleading people. Whatever reasons behind only the card holder knows. But in many cases, facades are used to market JUNKS! I rather be known as the show breeder that does not show than to waste my precious time, putting my rabbits through unnecessary stress and to be used as a tool for others to attain fame and fortune.
Whether we are going unto the show table soon remains a big “?”.
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Tru-Luv Rabbitry: Quality Holland Lops in Malaysia 
