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Competitors starting to set up fist thing in the morning
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Every first two weeks of November, the country comes to the city to celebrate agriculture at the Toronto Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. The Royal is the largest combined indoor agriculture fair and international equestrian competition in the world! It is a huge event held at the historic Exhibition Place grounds downtown Toronto. The Royal is predominantly known in the city for its many horse and performance dog events but it also includes various large and small livestock competitions, including a rabbit show. The rabbit show at the Royal is organized by the Dominion Rabbit and Cavy Breeders Association. DRCBA was founded in 1909 and is essentially the Canadian version of ARBA.
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| Angora and wool spinning demo area |
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| Judging tables before the start of the show |
I did not bring any of my rabbits to compete as all have been shaved already but I did come out to volunteer and help with clerking duties. A show clerk is the person who assists the judge at a judging table and writes down the results of the competitions. If you ever have a chance to help your local club with clerking, I very highly recommend it! It is the best seat in the house to see all of the competition up close and personal and learn the many different intricacies involved in judging the different breeds. The DRBCA shows are run more similarly to the final competition at the ARBA convention where multiple judges are responsible for judging a select group of breeds. I was stationed at the commercial/utility breeds judging table with ARBA judge John Richter. I had a very fun time but it meant I did not get to see any of the Angora judging which was at a different table. I do know that BerhMah's MyMy (Maurice's sister) handled by Mary was picked as Best of Breed while BerMah's Morel handled by Julie was picked as Reserve of Breed. Congratulations to both ladies! This is one thing that the DRCBA does differently from ARBA. They pick the two top animals shown within the breed regardless of gender, and the same with the other tiers of the competition while in ARBA, a top animal is picked and the runner up is always picked to be of the opposite gender.
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A cute moment from a French Lop doing airplane ears
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| By lunch time more members of the public were arriving |
The show was a lot of fun and the venue was mind boggling with how much there was to see and buy. Especially since the rabbit show is held on the final day of the fair, many vendors are more willing to bargain and offer discounts. If you are a horse person, this place would be shopping paradise for you. There were many educational presentations and tons of vendors, big and small. The rabbit show was held in it's own ring which made for a very grand atmosphere. At the end of the show, the winners were awarded many beautiful and elaborate ribbons, and had the honour of having their names added to a number of perpetual trophies which remain on displayed at the Royal.
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| Awards ceremony |
This truly is a must attend show for any rabbit lover or competitor. It is probably the closest we will ever get in Ontario to experiencing a fraction of what the ARBA convention feels like. That being said, I do wish there were some rabbit vendors present. Like with all Ontario shows I have attended so far, there were none.
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Winners got to take pictures on this impressive stand.
One of the best of breed winners, Holly the Holland Lop. |
