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Showing Mini Lops
Getting into showing can be overwhelming, and we hope our information will help add ease to the process! We have outlined showing in both 4-H and Open. If you would like to know about showing New Zealand's please reach out to us. We are less familiar with showing New Zealand's but have before.
Many of the people who reach out to us are looking to get into 4-H rabbits so we will start with that! 4-H is for youth only! It ranges from Kindergarten age to one year out of High School.
To show in 4-H you must register for 4-H and join a club. You should reach out to your counties Extension Educator, which is the person in charge of the counties 4-H program.
Here are some links to help get set up in 4-H!
Once signed up, your club or other people from your county can help guide you on how to sign up for specific areas such as the rabbit program. 4-H offers a lot more besides animal classes, so be sure to check out their general project areas too!
Getting signed up for 4-H is fairly county/state specific, so we will not go into too much detail her, but feel free to shoot us an email and we can help as much as possible if you are having trouble.
Signing your rabbit up for 4-H
Specific states and counties might have different ways to sign up, but we will provide a general overview.
Mini Lops are a 4-class breed, which means there are 4 possible classes they can be signed up in. The classes are Senior Buck, Senior Doe, Junior Buck, and Junior Doe. Knowing if they go into a buck or doe class is easy, it is just based on the gender of your rabbit! If your rabbit is under 6 months of age, they are a junior, and anything 6 months or older is a senior.
For most counties, you can show rabbits multiple years in a row (unlike some types of animals that might require they be an animal born that current year). So, for the first year if your rabbit is under 6 months you can show it as a junior, and then the following year and years to come it will be a senior.
Make sure you sign them up properly during the entry period. Entries for show are due by May 15th, but most shows will not happen until the summer. You must find the age of the animal for the date of the show and not the date you are signing them up on.
Requirements for Show
There are several things you want to be sure of before signing a rabbit up to show.
Is this a fair quality rabbit or better? While showing in 4-H is more for the experience, it is still good to make sure the rabbit you are bringing is fair quality or better to properly represent the breed to fairgoers. Lots of people will be seeing your rabbit at the fair, so it is good to make sure they fit the breed description well.
Is my rabbit free of disqualifications? Make sure you do an evaluation on your rabbit to make sure they don't have any traits that could immediately disqualify them. Check the Standard of Perfection for the specific disqualifications of your breed. The most common one I see at fair is rabbits being overweight. Some meat breeds can be underweight too per the breed standard, but more times than not if there is a weight issue it is a rabbit who has gotten too many treats.
Do I have a tattoo in their ear? To be shown, a rabbit must have a tattoo in their left ear. This is so they can properly identify the rabbit, and so they know you are truly bringing the rabbit you signed up. They make tattoo pens and tattoo clamps, both work fine but take some getting used to. You can also usually find someone local who will tattoo for you, either for free or a small fee per rabbit (which I think is valid for their time/equipment). A tattoo can be any combination of letters and numbers. You are not allowed any special characters. In my rabbitry, all our tattoos start with a B giving credit to Bravo rabbitry, followed by a number corresponding to the year, and then some letters to help us identify the bunny. For example, our buck Ghost was born in 2024, and his tattoo is B4GT. Some breeders just do numbers, and some tattoo the whole name of the rabbit. If you are asking someone else to tattoo, please keep them shorter to make it easier.
Do I have a way to get my animal to the fair? You need to be sure you have the days off necessary for the show and check-in. You will also need to go to the fair daily to do chores and check on the bunny. To get the bunny to the fair, you will need a transport cage and containers for feed and possibly water from home. Water does have a specific taste, and bunnies can notice it just like us. Sometimes water from home can help with the stressful transition to the fair for a rabbit, so be sure to pack a jug just in case.
Is my bunny groomed for the show? Your bunny should have its nail clipped before show to keep you and the judge safe. You also want to make sure they don't have any mats in their fur, or really dirty spots. I sometimes notice rabbits are really gross on their belly or by their bottoms, which people tend not to notice until they flip the bunny over (which you do at the show). Make sure your bunny is nice and clean, so they are presentable for the judge!
Here are a few great resources for 4-H'ers to prep for show!
Open Shows
Now let's move on to open shows!
Open show offers both regular open as well as youth. The 'Open' category is for all ages, so adults are welcome to compete. 'Youth' is only for those 5-18 years old. The youth section allows for younger kids to show their animals without having to compete against older people who may have many years of breeding/experience on them. Youth are allowed to enter in the regular open class, but open class adults cannot enter in youth.
Letting youth enter in regular open allows them to compete at a higher level if they would like or help ensure they have enough competition ff there is not enough youth for their breed.
Anyone is allowed to show at open shows. You do not even need to be an ARBA member, though I suggest you do as they have helpful resources, and it supports the hobby!
ARBA shows are great to show at as they have ARBA judges, which means you will have the opportunity to win show legs as long as enough people are signed up. A show leg is a certificate given to a rabbit who has won their class or higher at a show. The leg signifies that a judge recognized them as a high-quality animal.
You do not win any money, at least not at most shows, so legs are what you are after. Once you get three show legs, you are able to register your rabbit as a grand champion. A grand champion is practically the highest honor for a rabbit. Not only do you need three show legs, but at least one of the show legs needs to be given to the rabbit when it is of senior age. This is so you cannot just win all three legs as a junior and make them a champion. They must prove that even after maturity they still have the ability to win as a senior.
You will also only earn a show leg if there are at least 3 other exhibitors in the class and at least 5 other rabbits. This ensures there is proof there was competition, and you weren't only able to win due to low numbers.
What classes can I win?
For four class breed rabbits (like the Mini Lops), you will sign them up a little different than 4-H. Besides the four different classes for sex/age, Mini Lops are also separated into two varieties, solid and broken.
Solid means all one solid color. Broken means a color that is broken up with white. See the images below (left two are solid, right two are broken):
Here are the 8 different classes your rabbit could fall into:
Solid Senior Buck (SSB)
Solid Senior Doe (SSD)
Solid Junior Buck (SJB)
Solid Junior Doe (SJD)
Broken Senior Buck (BSB)
Broken Senior Doe (BSD)
Broken Junior Buck (BJB)
Broken Junior Doe (BJD)
This is for the Mini Lop breed, but some other breeds break them down even farther such as broken down by color group. Mini Lops have too many recognized colors to do this, but each breed is different so if you have a breed other than Mini Lops your classes may be different.
You will have the opportunity for your rabbit to win their respective class. If they win first place (as long at 3+ exhibitors and 5+ rabbits), then they will win a leg.
Rabbits who win their class will then move on for the chance to win their variety. For example, if you have a solid senior buck, they will have the chance to come back and compete against the class winners of the other solid groups.
For the solid variety, there will be 4 rabbits competing. The 1st place solid senior buck, 1st place solid senior doe, 1st place solid junior buck, and 1st place solid junior doe.
From here the judge will choose their overall favorite of the solids. Their first choice wins Best of Variety (BOV). Then he will choose the best opposite sex. So, if he chose a buck to win the variety, he would compare the two does and choose a favorite. Alternatively, if he chose a doe as the overall winner then he will choose a buck to win best opposite sex. Best Opposite Sex of Variety is labeled (BOSV).
The judge will do the same process for brokens. Then he will have the BOV and BOSV for both solids and brokens, meaning we have four rabbits to compete for Best of Breed.
Of the two BOV, only one will go on to win Best of Breed (BOB). Then when a BOB is chosen, one of the two alternate sex will be chosen as Best Opposite Sex of Breed (BOSB).
I know it is confusing! But once you see it in person it all makes sense :)
Here shows the wins that they may earn from least to most impressive:
1st place in their class
Best Opposite Sex of Variety (BOSV)
Best of Variety (BOV)
Best Opposite Sex of Breed (BOSB)
Best of Breed (BOB)
Keep in mind that a rabbit can only earn one leg per show. This means if they win both 1st in their class plus best of another spot, they still only get one leg.
Winning more just helps show you what quality you have! You can also earn specialty points for higher awards if you are a part of your breeds national club.
Most shows have multiple shows per day, so you get multiple judge's opinions and multiple chances to win legs! If you do earn a show leg, it will be emailed to you along with your show results (you usually know how your animal places but show results help you verify exactly their placing, points earned, and helps keep a record for if you ever want to look back).
Finding an Open Show
You now know the process of how to show (as long as you can follow my rambling), but now you need to find a show to enter in.
I like to use the 'Find a Show' tab on the ARBA Website. You can filter by your state or district to find shows near you. Each show will have a location and contact info listed. Most have catalogs posted as well so you can get info such as how much entries cost, any cooping information, when you can arrive, and much more!
You can also join local rabbit breeder Facebook groups and ask on there if people know of any shows or get feedback on whether or not people like the shows (not all are worth the drive depending on the size of show or whether or not breeders with your breed will be there too.)
* If you have made it this far, I applaud you! It is very confusing at first, and I am finding it difficult to explain typed out! *
Differences between open shows and 4-H shows:
- Open shows tend to be more uniform than 4-H shows. 4-H can vary quite a bit between counties and states, but most ARBA shows follow a similar flow.
- At ARBA shows you can earn show legs (as long as your breed is sanctioned and most popular ones are). In 4-H, you might have an ARBA judge, but the breeds are likely not sanctioned meaning it is not reported to the ARBA, and legs will not be won.
- In 4-H you stand at the table with your rabbit. In Open shows you bring your rabbit to the table during its class, set it in an open coop at the table, and then can leave it until it is dismissed. Most breeders stay at the table to watch and hear comments from the judge, but you are not required to stand with the rabbit.
- Some 4-H clubs have limits for how many rabbits you can bring. For example, my county has a limit of 8 total rabbits per kid. In Open shows there is virtually no limit. Sure, some venues have limits on number of people and animals that can be in the space, but most places never hit that limit.
- 4-H is a once-a-year show at your county fair. There are many Open shows throughout the year, with most in the spring and fall.
- Only 4-H members can participate in 4-H shows, but anyone can sign up for Open shows.
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As always, if I missed a question you have or it still does not make sense, please do not hesitate to reach out!!
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