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Thursday, April 22, 2010

Rabbit Etiquette #1

I'm not sure if I've covered these topics before, but I'm going to do it again anyway, because I think it is worthwhile.

Rabbit Etiquette Tip #1 is: Be a good sportsman

It seems like more and more I'm hearing and seeing instances of people just being POOR SPORTS in all breeds. Winners doing an IN YOUR FACE smug dance and just generally being a butt. It makes it hard to want to congratulate someone that is spouting off the win record of every rabbit in the barn loudly or makes purposefully snide comments to other exhibitors. It's one thing to be excited, but when you win a class, is it super necessary to do a fist pump with a YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS while madly shaking your butt? A first BOB, a first BIS- these get a free pass to dance all you want to. :) A particularly big win is different than winning a class of three, where you own all three animals lol.

I'm not saying "oh don't ever show excitement at all! You must be wooden and boring." Just make sure your celebrations are of happiness and not the desire to rub it in everyone's face that you just won yet again. After all- the very next show you could be the one at the bottom of the class, watching someone else do the "BOOYAH" dance.


On the same token though, people, be gracious losers too. Snatching your rabbit off the table and stomping off like a storm cloud isn't exactly any better than the dancin' fool up above. I've been shocked at how many places exhibitors don't congratulate each other- at all. I got a very strange look for clapping for the breed winner once and an even stranger look because the winner didn't belong to me. I watched someone I traveled with heartily congratulate some youth kids on a win over their own child and then get rewarded with a suspicious look and a cold shoulder.

I know I've been guilty of giving no congratulations myself, not with a malicious intent,but usually just lost in my own thoughts about a particular animal or breeding to fix whatever trait the judge didn't like. It seems like with the woolies we throw the animals on the table and take them off so quickly that you don't have TIME to clap for group or breed winners, you're in that GO GO GO GO GO zone of trying to remove the animal. That's really no excuse though.

85% of what makes a breed enjoyable is the people you show with, the least we can all do is congratulate the winners and make it easy to be congratulated. Save the pouting and the Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah dances for home.

EDITED to add:
Apparently some people feel like they know who I am "talking" about in this post. I wanted to add this is not aimed at one person and is triggered by something I saw in Kentucky, from a breeder who's name I don't know, in a breed I don't own. A fellow exhibitor saw me noticing and mentioned that it was nothing compared to what happened at THEIR home shows. So I'm sorry to anyone who has been offended by this blog- I'm not sure if they are referring to the pouting or the dancing part, so we'll just make this a blanket apology.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

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