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2024 Ontario Rabbit Shows Schedule

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Below is a listing of upcoming shows in Ontario as well as our neighbouring province of Quebec. This list will be updated as shows are announced.  You can also use the Canadian Rabbit Shows calendar to easily view upcoming Canadian rabbit shows and add them to your own electronic calendars. 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.  You do not have to be a member of any of the above clubs in order to participate in the shows. Simply contact the show secretary to register your entries. All shows are open to public visitors. --------------------------------------------- APRIL DRCBA:   Sun, Apr 21 - Barrie, ON  ARBA : Sun, Apr 28 - Burford, ON - triple show MAY ARBA : Sat, May 11 - Rockton, ON - triple show plus specia

2023 Royal Agricultural Fair Show

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The rabbit show takes place in the Ring of Excellence Once a year, the country comes to the city. That's the tagline that I remember for the Toronto Royal Agricultural Winter Fair as it was advertised when I was a kid. RAWF is a large indoor fair with tons of crowds attending, international horse competitions, all sorts of agricultural displays, vendors, farm animals, as well as food and animal competitions.  Scope of this event, all held indoors at the gorgeous historical CNE Coliseum building, built in 1921 The Royal rabbit competition runs under the Dominion Rabbit and Cavy club rules, a Canadian rabbit breeders association older than ARBA. While the rabbit show itself might not be the biggest one in Ontario based on the number of entries, it is quite the event to experience given the grand venue and never ending crowds of onlookers.  Helen being a wonderful demo bunny Helen and her wool after the shave This time I only brought 3 angoras. Two entered in the show and one to shave

2023 Komoka ARBA Show

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One of the perks of showing at Komoka, professional photo for all competitors. This year's theme was year of the rabbit.  Komoka is the unofficial season ender show for ARBA competitions in Ontario. It is always a big and well ran show. This year as always, there were 3 open shows plus multiple breed specialties. There were 6 judges booked for this event: Danielle and Justin Lowe from IN, Chuck Pelham and  Penny Jackson from MI,  Tom Schweikart from PA, and Jodi Hartman from NY. I was very excited at the opportunity to be able to show under some new to me judges. When the show entries closed, 600 rabbits were entered and the organizers scrambled to find 2 more judges at the last minute to help the show run in a timely manner. Ontario's John Richter and Mark Stewartson graciously stepped up.  The showroom towards the end of the day after some people had already left This show ended up being utterly insane for me, mostly due to the number of animals and different breeds I brought

The Tip of the Iceberg

The Tip of the Iceberg  Written by Al Roland, 1996 Part I: Ready Made Through out my years of showing rabbits, I have found three main types of competitors.  The first type is the buyer, they are the individuals who go to shows with stock they have purchased and take credit just like anyone else if they win.  If they lose they will often try to buy the rabbit that won, this is, after they have ridiculed and run the judge down for doing a poor job.  They will boast that this rabbit owned by them was “Best of Breed” three weeks ago and that the judge does not know a good rabbit when he/she sees one. Many people will buy a grand champion and a month later it will not resemble the same rabbit. I don’t mean to ridicule the person who goes out and buys a good rabbit and later shows it and perhaps makes it a grand champion, you note I said makes, for the person does have a great deal to do with making it a grand champion. Let's discuss how they made it a grand champion.  In the first plac

2023 Spencerville ARBA Show

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Wrapping up the best in show judging in the dark Despite of being only a couple weeks before convention, this turned out to be a big show. Over 400 rabbits competed, four judges judged, and we were there till dark.  The English Angoras had a very nice showing. We had a few people interested in the breed and showing who came out to watch and help out. We had a ton of fun. Despite of it being a busy day, all of the judges were very generous with their explanations for what they were seeing and answered our questions. I'm so happy to see that we are growing a nice little community of friendly and kind hearted exhibitors in this breed.  Show A English all lined up For English Angoras, I brought two colored senior girls, Electric Zero Hour (Black) and her sister Electric Zanzibar (Lilac). Both sisters haven't shown since the Rockton show where they were just little babies. Good ol' Mr. Bermah Maurice joined us (in his 4th coat at this point) to help fill classes. We had a total

Angora Breeders

This is a list of rabbitry prefixes or rabbitry names you may have come across in your pedigree or have heard mentioned including the names of the breeders behind them. Some of these breeders are still actively breeding, some have retired from breeding or have passed away. Here is who they are. While some specialize in only one breed of angoras, some breed or have bred multiple angora breeds. A Angora Gardens Christine Auclair , QC B Bermah Josee Maher , QC C Chu Betty Chu, CA Constellation Julie Gordie, FL Cuddle Bunnies Melissa Hunter Cracovia Beatrice Putowski, NY D xx E Electric  (that's us!) Marta Wajngarten , ON F Flowers Kimberly Flowers, FL Fuzzybutts Robin Olson, NC Fuzzibutts Melissa Deitrich, DE Farfelu Shannon Carter, ON G Golden Coast Cora Gabriel, BC Greenleaves Ana Ederich, OH Glamz Gaby Gilbeau,  H Happy Hops Holly Faubert, AB Hunneshagen Brenda Hunneshagen, NY Heart Felt Hare Debbie Mccormick, VA Hunnibunnies Natalia Vera, OH I xx J xx K xx L Lonesome Pines Penny S

Angora Rabbit Breeds

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(This article is under construction. Published in it's early state to provide a quick reference guide.) While there are a number of different angora rabbit breeds around the world, here in North America we have 5 distinct breeds of angora rabbits: German Angora, English Angora, French Angora, Giant Angora, and Satin Angora. Note that while there are other breeds which do produce a fuzzy or wool coat, those breeds are not classified as part of the angora family of breeds. Only breeds created and maintained specifically for fiber production are. While traditionally every ARBA recognized breed has it's own parent breed club, all of the ARBA recognized angora breeds are governed by a single parent club, the National Angora Rabbit Breeders Association or NARBA for short.   GERMAN ANGORA Photo credit:  Bangor Daily News photo by Ardena Hamlin, previously published in the Weekly, shared from the IAGARB blog Mature size: 5.5 - 12lbs Distinguishing features:  elongated body type, face