4-H Showmanship

[PolishRabbitmama]

My daughter is entering her first show in Feb. With the state fair ARBA sanctioned. I was wondering if you had any tips on helping her show. I got the florida showmanship standards and today I showed her what needs to be done. She's only 9 yrs old but she loves her rabbit and would eventually depending on if he won at the fair and got a leg or 2 is thinking about starting a small rabbitry. But that depends on how well he does at show. So any tips for a new show person?

 

[woahlookitsme]

Is she going to perform actual showmanship where she has to pose the rabbit and talk to the judge about what breed it is and show the judge disqualifications?

If its just a regular show then there's not too much to prepare for. She will just have to listen or watch for polish to go up on the tables. She will set her bunny in the coop for whatever variety or color she has and stand back to watch and listen to comments that the judge gives. One thing she shouldn't do is point out her bunny to the judge. They aren't supposed to know

 

[PolishRabbitmama]

She's doing both! She's doing actual showmanship and they're judging the rabbits.

 

[majorv]

She'll need to read up on the Polish breed and what their standards are. She should also probably know how much her rabbit weighs, in case he asks.

 

[RabbitGirl101]

Ohh I Love showmanship! I'm not sure what your state showmanship standard makes you do. My state is a non-verbal presentation and lots of questions at the end. I would say practice, be confident and study!

Practicing:

Pose your rabbit everyday, I usually pose my showmanship rabbit everyday for 5 minutes to 2 hours. Then I will practice handling (football hold) once a week (every other day until you are able to do this step fluently) I would recommend reading the showmanship guide before attempting the steps so your daughter is getting exactly what the standard calls for. Then I would practice examintation every day/other day until confident and then I would do it weekly.

Confidence: This can really affect the presentation given, it can also affect how your rabbit responds to you. Don't be afraid of hurting the rabbit. Unless you are very tough on the rabbit, you won't hurt the rabbit, if you are bothering them they will let you know. (My lionhead, if I accidentally pull on her wool, will nudge me with her head to let me know that I bothered her, my back up showmanship rabbit bites me to let me know he is irritated)

Studying: Study anything and everything. I had no help when I first started but one question led to another. If your daughter has any questions about her rabbit, have her write them down then look them up when you get the chance. Make sure to know the basic stuff, like what is the most important thing for rabbits to have (water) How many toenails do the rabbits have on the front and back foot ( 4 toes and a dew claw on the front and 4 on the back) Different textures of fur ( satin,rex, normal, wool) Know that rabbits can have flyback, rollback or standing fur (silver fox is the only breed with standing fur). Know how many breeds are recognized, ect.

Studying really helps with the question part of the presentation.

If you arent already, I would recommend joining ARBA, and also purchasing the Standard of perfection. Study your rabbits standard and know the history. Know some of the different breeds standard. Read the book that comes with the membership.

I also recommend buying the youth rabbit project guide by Ellyn Eddy (I believe that is her name). It has a section on showmanship (along with questions) That are very helpful! You can purchase it on bunnyrabbit.com


If you have any more questions feel free to ask I love showmanship, I was actually excited to see this thread, I like knowing other people are interested in it too Let me know how your daughter does ---(I will be competing at states in January as well, so I am studying and practicing daily as well)

 

[PolishRabbitmama]

Ohh I Love showmanship! I'm not sure what your state showmanship standard makes you do. My state is a non-verbal presentation and lots of questions at the end. I would say practice, be confident and study!

Practicing:

Pose your rabbit everyday, I usually pose my showmanship rabbit everyday for 5 minutes to 2 hours. Then I will practice handling (football hold) once a week (every other day until you are able to do this step fluently) I would recommend reading the showmanship guide before attempting the steps so your daughter is getting exactly what the standard calls for. Then I would practice examintation every day/other day until confident and then I would do it weekly.

Confidence: This can really affect the presentation given, it can also affect how your rabbit responds to you. Don't be afraid of hurting the rabbit. Unless you are very tough on the rabbit, you won't hurt the rabbit, if you are bothering them they will let you know. (My lionhead, if I accidentally pull on her wool, will nudge me with her head to let me know that I bothered her, my back up showmanship rabbit bites me to let me know he is irritated)

Studying: Study anything and everything. I had no help when I first started but one question led to another. If your daughter has any questions about her rabbit, have her write them down then look them up when you get the chance. Make sure to know the basic stuff, like what is the most important thing for rabbits to have (water) How many toenails do the rabbits have on the front and back foot ( 4 toes and a dew claw on the front and 4 on the back) Different textures of fur ( satin,rex, normal, wool) Know that rabbits can have flyback, rollback or standing fur (silver fox is the only breed with standing fur). Know how many breeds are recognized, ect.

Studying really helps with the question part of the presentation.

If you arent already, I would recommend joining ARBA, and also purchasing the Standard of perfection. Study your rabbits standard and know the history. Know some of the different breeds standard. Read the book that comes with the membership.

I also recommend buying the youth rabbit project guide by Ellyn Eddy (I believe that is her name). It has a section on showmanship (along with questions) That are very helpful! You can purchase it on bunnyrabbit.com


If you have any more questions feel free to ask I love showmanship, I was actually excited to see this thread, I like knowing other people are interested in it too Let me know how your daughter does ---(I will be competing at states in January as well, so I am studying and practicing daily as well)

Thank you! We've decided to just do showmanship at the local county fair and do the regular ARBA sanctioned show at the state fair. She'll be able to sign up with ARBA at the state fair as well. She's practicing every day. The only thing she is having trouble with is flipping him and football hold.She knows what order everything goes and we need her to start talking she is a bit shy with strangers.