Rabbit show means fun and encouragement at Kane County Fair
Sometimes a rabbit's foot isn't so lucky. As Dallas Meyer flipped over a chocolate-colored rabbit, he found the fatal flaw.
"You get to looking and there aren't enough toenails," Meyer observed Thursday at the Kane County Fair. And just like that, the rabbit's dreams of being grand champion in his class were dashed.
"But he's got a nice, full hindquarters," Meyer said and smiled while sending the young boy who owned the rabbit on his way. And that's the essence of what Meyers tries to bring the animal judging every year he's done it for at least the past eight years. You may not get a ribbon, but you should still walk away with a smile.
"You can only downgrade so much," Meyer said. "You always have to leave them walking away with some encouragement. That's the teacher in me."
That philosophy even seemed to apply to the rabbits themselves as Meyer looked each one over. A particularly feisty rabbit went calm and quiet in Meyer's hand as he gently blew into the rabbit's face. Skilled hands acted as Meyer's judgmental eyes as he checked for shoulder fat, texture and the finish of the rabbits' coats, color markings and a litany of other standards that would make any human beauty contestant feel unworthy.
When it comes down to it, much of what goes into having a quality rabbit is genetics and breeding. However, even the best bred rabbit can look shabby if not cared for.
"Conditioning is both breeding and care for the animal," Meyer said. "A lot of the condition is how they're kept, what they are being fed. The animals up here have really gotten so much better in the past 10 to 15 years. I'd like to take some of the credit for that because I keep pounding all the standards into their heads."
Those standards have been part of Meyer's life ever since he was a boy showing his own rabbits at 4-H events and growing up on a commercial rabbit farm with 300 of the lucky-footed creatures.
On Thursday, the luckiest rabbit in the small class was "Spot" a broken chocolate-colored rabbit raised by Colleen Rice. Rice said she'd been raising rabbits for about four years. The secret to success is "love and attention" to your animals, she said.
"Why did Spot win? Spot is just a really nice rabbit," Rice said.
<div class="infoBox">
<h1>More Coverage</h1>
<div class="infoBoxContent">
<div class="infoArea">
<h2>Stories</h2>
<ul class="links">
<li><a href="/story/?id=394391">Colorado artist satisfies Blackhawks fans<span class="date"> [7/15/10]</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>