I have our local county fair this week (entries tonight! eek! so much to do to prepare!). I'm mostly just entering to let people in town know that there is now someone who raises the larger rabbits. I'm pretty sure that since I took my hiatus from rabbits for college, the only breeds in town have been rather small (Netherlands, Holland Lops, Dutch, Thrianta, Dwarf Hotot, Lionheads, and lots of crosses), but at least 4-H leader approached me earlier in the year saying they'd been getting a lot of questions from people wanting large breeds. So, I'm entering Hyllus and Chela to represent my New Zealands, Lavender and Dazy to represent my Californians (my daughter might get to show Dazy, but he might be a little big at almost 8 lbs for a 4-year-old), Loki and Chip will represent my rexes (red and broken blue). I'm still debating if I want to also send one of my rex does, since my seniors are mostly past their prime (Sadie is still fairly firm in flesh), and the two junior does would both have to be entered since they live together. It might be nice to enter one of my black otters, too, since it's such a pretty color, but Duke is in the best condition, and being broken, it doesn't really show how pretty the color is. I don't want to enter too many since in the past, cage space has been tight at the fair. I pre-entered for seven cages, but who knows if anyone actually paid any attention to that.
And then, I'll be entering a few of my rabbits in the SW Washington Fair the 20th/21st. This will be my daughter's first chance to see an ARBA-sanctioned show (albeit a fair). I'm hoping to get good remarks on my rabbits, but I don't expect much, especially since my Californians are suffering for their markings with the heat. The rexes should do all right since most of them are coming into their junior prime, although I'm not sure what to expect for Duke. My main goal with this show is to get a good idea on how my rabbits measure up with rabbits in the area...and maybe keep an eye out for some more rabbits (I REALLY want to get some tricolor and chinchilla rexes).