Toronto English Angoras

This weekend we travelled to the little town of Spencerville located near Ottawa for a triple ARBA show. This was such a fun show for so many reasons. Amy Jones, a fellow EA breeder who I bought my first ever Angora from came out to show for the first time with a few of her young babies. We had a lot of fun talking about the little ones who were all out of the same dad as my BonBon girl. I also finally got to meet Josee Maher from Quebec who I got the beautiful Maurice from. Julie Martin was also there, although not showing any EAs, and so was Livia Delattre from Quebec who's stunning Tort doe took home the Best In Show award for all 3 shows at Komoka last year. Livia brought a beautiful colored Jr doe to show. There were many wonderful conversations about our rabbits and lots of great advice kindly shared by Julie and Josee.  I travelled to the show with 5 contenders:  Electric Wario, 9mo old black buck Electric General, 6mo old black buck BerMah Maurice (bred by Josee), REW buck

  This was only a small single show but it was a super fun event. Judge Tom Schweikart from Pennsylvania took time to answer many questions and gave wonderful explanations for what he saw in the animals. The atmosphere was very intimate and relaxed with lots of joking around and lots of laughing. This show was held as part of the Brooklyn Spring Agricultural Fair and we were surrounded by lots of other fair events, livestock shows, and numerous food trucks were only a 2min walk away from our tent. Lots of people from the fair came by to check out the rabbits and naturally the Angoras drew in lots of attention.  We had 8 English Angoras shown by 3 exhibitors. Electric Unicorn, a Senior White buck, won Best of Breed and Best of White Variety earning his final leg to qualify him for his Grand Champion title. Best Opposite Sex of Breed went to Electric Cinder, a Black Junior doe who later went on to also win in the youth handlers class.  Best Opposite Sex for White Variety went to Electric

  The first ARBA show of this year held at the Rockton Fairgrounds just outside of Hamilton was a great success for our breed. We had a total of 4 exhibitors come out (including myself) which is possibly the biggest turn out for this breed in years. All 4 of us are new to showing and we all had a great time. I am looking forward to seeing everyone and their rabbits again next month and keeping fingers crossed we might see a couple of extra faces.  Between all of us, we had 11 English Angoras out on the judging tables: 3 Jr Whites, 1 Sr White, 5 Junior Colored, and 2 Senior Colored. I am happy to say that the Best of Breed winners for all 3 shows plus the Breed Specialty were all Electric rabbits!  Show A (11 competing) Judge Don Havlicek (MI) Best of Breed: Electric Wanda (Jr White doe) Best Opposite: Elora's Elway (Sr Colored buck, sire of Electric Xerox) Show B  (11 competing) Judge Mark Stewartson (ON) Best of Breed:  Electric Unicorn (Jr White buck) Best Opposite: Electric Xero

This list will be updated as info becomes available. Rabbit shows in Ontario are held under one of two organizations. The American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) which is an international organization that has shows across the world, and the  Dominion Rabbit and Cavy Breeders Association (DRCBA) which is a Canadian organization that puts on shows in Ontario.  For a listing of upcoming ARBA shows in Ontario you can use this search page (shows will only show up once they have been officially sanctioned):   https://arba.net/show-search/  The parent club for all ARBA shows in Ontario is the  Ontario Council of Rabbit Clubs (OCORC):  https://ocorc.weebly.com The individual shows are organized by smaller local clubs or by independent show organizers. There are currently 4 of these local clubs: KWRB - Kitchener Waterloo Rabbit Breeders Club FCRBC - Forest City Rabbit Breeders Club (London area) SORBA - Southern Ontario Rabbit Breeders Club  EORFC - Eastern Ontario Rabbit Fanciers club  Fo

How big do they get? That is one of the most common questions I am asked by people new to the breed. An English Angora in a full show coat can be a very impressive sight and from that sight, one can easily conclude that these must be large sized rabbits. However they are not. Underneath that massive coat, a properly bred English Angora should have a short, tight, and compact body. Their heads are supposed to be broad with a wide and flat face which can add to the illusion, suggesting that there should be a large body behind that broad face.  English Angoras are considered a medium size breed. The ARBA standard for the English Angora calls for adult males to be 5 - 7 lbs and adult females 5.5 - 7.5 lbs. Keep in mind that this includes the weight of that impressive show coat which can weight around half a pound. Once you shave off all that wool, they can look surprisingly small, even shockingly small to some people who are used to imagining these animals as giant balls of fluff.  The wor

  Finally! After waiting for over a year, the rabbit shows in Ontario are resuming! Over 400 entries came out to this much awaited event. Exhibitors travelled from Quebec, Michigan, and even the East coast. There were 3 main all breed shows plus multiple breed specialty shows. Judges for the shows were as follows: Show A: Bryan Shirk, MI Show B: Jeremy Watmuff, MI Show C: Kyle Jacobucci, NY Specialty: Joe Colucci, OH Montecristo saying hello This was a super fun event and a wonderful learning experience. I only brought two 10wk old babies, Electric Melody and Electric Montecristo. They were not at all competitive at this age but it was very helpful to hear what the various judges saw in them as their strengths and weaknesses. I can't wait for the next show in the spring by which time I will be able to bring some older and more competitive rabbits.  Angora staging section English Angora specialty show judging While I didn't bring home any prizes, it was still a victorious day fo

ENGLISH ANGORA BREED STANDARD Weights: Sr Bucks 5-7lbs Sr Does 5-7.5lbs Jr Bucks 2.75-5.5lbs Jr Does 2.75-6lbs Summary of points in order of importance: 25 - wool density 20 - wool texture 15 - body 12 - length of wool 5 - general condition 5 - head 5 - ears 5 - feet and legs 5 - color 2 - eyes 1 - tail GENERAL TYPE (Total of 33 points out of 100) BODY - 15 POINTS The body is to be short-coupled and compact, with a full chest and full round shoulders, to balance with the hips. Hips should be of good width, with only a very slight taper to the shoulders. Shoulders are to be of good depth. Top line should rise from behind the ears to a high point over the hips, then round down to the base of the tail. Flesh is to be firm. The animal should resemble a round ball of fluff when properly posed.  Faults: Long, rangy, or narrow body. HEAD - 5 POINTS The head is to be short, broad, and balanced with the body. It is to be close set to the body, with dense bangs and side trimmings. The head is to

Only specific colours and patterns are officially recognized in the ARBA English Angora breed standard. Only these colours, also referred to as varieties, can be shown at an ARBA show. Here is a list of all the recognized English Angora varieties and their corresponding genotypes. English Angoras compete in two classes, either the White Class or the Coloured Class.  WHITE CLASS POINTED WHITE (Himalayan) The body is to be pure, clean white. Marking color is to be Black, Blue, Chocolate, or Lilac. Color is to be on the nose, ears, feet, and tail. Toenails must be colored.  Eyes: pink iris, red pupil Faults: Markings extremely faded; stained or creamy coat.  DQ: Absence of any marking. White spot in any marking. Smut on the usable portion of the pelt. Any Tan Pattern marking appearing in the marking pattern.  Genotypes: Black Pointed White                 aa B_ c(ch)_ D_ E_ Blue Pointed White                 aa B_ c(ch)_ dd E_ Chocolate Pointed White       aa bb c(ch)_ D_ E_ Lilac Pointed