Much needed update!

I've done something bad. Nothing along the lines of a felony or even something needing minor punishment. It's just that I haven't blogged in a long time. For over a month actually which sort of ruins my whole 2011 goal. I've actually been thinking about it for a while and there are so many things I need to tell you. Even though it looks like I have a grand total of 11 followers. Hopefully, fellow breeders come across this every once in a while. That would make me happy.

I realize that I had started a genetics series and I do plan on finishing it. I think the reason I stopped for a little bit was because I dread the C gene and I really didn't want to get into it. So, never fear, I will continue that series once I get everyone up to speed as to what's going on.

It seems like we wait so long

for the annual PaSRBA Convention show in February. We all anxiously await the final few days before we can finally pack up the bunnies and just go. It's a much needed break for many people, or at least my mom and I since we only make one show a month. Plus, who wouldn't enjoy thousands of rabbits all under one roof and the hundreds of people who own them. It's a great experience for the novice or even the most experienced breeder. Often, it's where those high and mighty breeders win

their breed with their most prized possession. It's the sort of show where you only hope to do well against some of the toughest competition on the East Coast. Never in a million years (okay, never in several years) would I believe that I would be one of the breeders to claim the Best of Breed title at this prestigious show.

That's right! I am very proud to announce that my very own Locket's Xora took Best of Breed in the Youth Saturday show! For those of you who don't really know all my rabbits by name I guess I'll have to introduce you. Xora, at the time, was only 3 months old. She is an orange jr. doe out of Roseart's Grizz and Naragon's Xena. When Xora was born, I was in the midst of a permanent sell down. I decided that the best decision at that time was to sell the entire litter as well as the dam. So Xora was sold at 8 weeks old. She wasn't going to be picked up or a few more months so she sat patiently in the barn, growing up and turning into a beautiful little doe. I'd pull her out once or twice a week and slowly I began to realize the mistake I had made in selling her. I kept thinking about whether or not I wanted to cancel the sale. It'd mean making the new owner very unhappy and me loosing a large sum of money that I'd planned to put towards my Netherland Dwarf Nationals fund. But after showing her to a friend I was told to keep her. So I reluctantly sucked up the courage to cancel the sale.

I felt completely relieved after I did. I felt like I had made a really good choice because for being an orange, she was a phenomenal doe and would benefit my herd significantly. Plus, PaSRBA Convention was that weekend so I'd really be able to test the waters and see how well she'd do against the notorious tort class. Right before the show I decided that she was too little to show, barely being over jr. weight

. So I decided to just take her to show my friends. On the way to the show, however, another friend told me that spending $5 wasn't going to hurt me and that I should just enter her anyways to get comments. Well, I need to personally thank this person because hadn't it been for them...I never would have had the opportunity to win my first Best of Breed at such a huge show. The morning of the show I started taking her around to my friends, like planned, to get comments. One who said "I'd like to see the doe that beats her for 1st place." I really didn't want to hear that to be honest because I didn't believe, personally, that she was nice enough to beat out an entire SJD class. And again, I was told that she would take her class. Then again, that people were talking about how this girl was going to win. Was she really that nice?

Well slowly but surely the judge moved through each jr. doe. Using her colorful eraser method to mark which rabbit would leave next. Of course, the code was not something an exhibitor could decipher so I anxiously awaited to see when she would be placed. There was somewhere around 25 does so it was going to take awhile. She made it past the "No Placement" part and into the "Honor Group" which meant the judge wanted to see her later. I remember what the judge said when she grabbed her out of the coop for the first time. "Whoa!". My friend kept giving me excited looks from behind the writer's table as she moved towards the top of the class. Back and forth, back and forth between two does. Mine and a tort doe. I wouldn't be all that surprised if the tort doe took the class. But when she finally made her decision and picked up the tort doe to be called for 2nd, my heart jumped. I heard h

er mumble something about the doe being "a beast" as she carried my doe over to the writer to be called for 1st. My stomach did something crazy and all of a sudden I realized I had achieved the biggest accomplishment for my rabbitry thus far. Taking 1st place with an orange jr. doe. A colored doe. It would be a while before she'd go up for variety so after being congratulated I put her back in her cage and happily skipped along my way to go tell my friends. You can only imagine the high I was on. And Facebook already knew! Maybe 2 hours later I ran into the youth room to find out if variety judging had started. Sure enough, they had been waiting on me to put her up. Oops!

So the judge carefully looked over all the solids and all the brokens. All the class winners waited at the table with the rest of the exhibitors waiting behind them. I stood by with my camera just sitting quietly. The judge said "Surprisingly, I really do not know who is going to win this time. I really don't." Well that's good right? At least she hadn't already picked something out in her head. I was happy to hear that I might have a chance. When the judge announced that her best solid was the Jr. Doe I almost flipped. I mean, my jaw dropped. My doe beat the Sr. class? It took maybe 2 seconds for it to click before I was absolutely speechless. My friend looked at me and said "Told you!" and I just sat there in disbelief. As the clapping faded for the solid variety winners so then announced the broken winners. And as soon as the clapping subsided for a second time the judge began to tear up as she thanked everyone for allowing her to judge her favorite breed. I'd never seen a judge get emotional about judging before. It made the moment even more heart warming when she announced the solid doe as the breed winner. I thought to myself "Well, good try!" as the first thing that popped into my head was a tort solid sr. doe. When my friend realized that I hadn't realized what the judge said she called out my name and said "That's your doe, Laura!" I immediately jumped to my feet and said "Wait...MY doe?!" I had no idea what to think as my jaw dropped for a second time and I thew my hand over it in astonishment. I don't even think I heard the clapping as I floated through the crowd to where my doe sat on the table. The judge looked at me and said "Congratulations! She's a beast!"

The next 10 minutes were filled with pictures and a constant return of thank you's for all the congratulations I kept getting. The area cleared and I congratulated the Best Opposite of Breed winner who was also a colored jr., an opal! I'm sure she was just as thrilled as I was.

The whole day I just replayed that moment over and over. Still not believing that my little doe won the whole darn thing. I mean...a colored. junior. doe. Out of over 150 animals! It doesn't get any better than that. Nothing could ruin my day. For only wanting to show her for comments, I sure ended up with more than I could ever ask for. And just to think that I had this girl sold.

So without further ado, I present to you Locket's Xora.

If she is never remembered by anyone else, she will go down in history in my book for being my first Best of Breed with a homegrown rabbit and for being a huge milestone in my colored project. I never imagined having this nice of a colored rabbit within my first few generations. I will by no means let this lead me to believe that I have achieved the best of the best. But I believe that everyone deserves to share such a wonderful experience especially if it's the first.

She now lives in the biggest hole in the barn and is just as spoiled as ever. Her next show in NCRBA Convention where she'll be shown as a now 4 month old jr. I'm hoping she'll continue to do well. I would love to grand her!

I want to thank everyone that supported me that day in helping me believe in myself. I remember telling someone after they complimented me that I wasn't ready to hear that my doe would win. And honestly, I'm still not comfortable with it. I've always looked up to all the big breeders out there and envied them when they took home the BOB rabbit. I never imagined it would be me.

Well this blog turned into more than I had expected so I guess I'll save the rest of the updates for another day. That's all for now!