Logan County 4-H Rabbit Show small in number big on quality

 

[August 09, 2021]   Tuesday morning marked the first of the livestock shows at the Logan County Fair for 2021. Rabbits and poultry including waterfowl were the stars of the day. Both shows were small so none of the animals had to fight for their moment of fame.

Blue ribbons were handed out all around in the rabbit show with four competitors showing five animals. Rose Catterson, Ariana Hinkle, Regan Titus and Kristina Morrow made up the all-girl competition this year. All four had beautiful animals that garnered many compliments from Judge Jerry Hicks.

The show began with the Doe competition with Catterson and Titus standing side by side. Catterson had two entries and Titus one. The three animals in the show were different in color, markings and size according to their breeds. Hicks talked to the girls about their animals and then passed out the ribbons and announced the winner for the top doe.

The second competition Buck or male rabbit. This time it was Hinkle and Morrow at the judges table with the plaque going to Hinkle.

Logan County Fair royalty Queen Faith Doerr, Junior Miss Grace Carter and Little Miss Aubrey Rogers were on hand to pass out plaques to the top winners.

Tuesday would be the last day of service to their county for the 2020 royals, and Queen Faith said it was a sad and happy day. She also noted that it had been a short night. The sitting royalty play a big part in preparing for the pageant for the next queen. There are rehearsals to attend as well as the night before dinner for all the queen contestants. Then the rabbit show is the earliest start of the week at 7:30 a.m.

This year the rabbits competed before the poultry instead of simultaneously. The royals stayed at the livestock exhibition barn to watch and assist with the poultry also, before heading off to the ribbon cutting ceremony at the main gate at 9 a.m.

At the Rabbit Show, the final competition was the Junior and Senior Showmanship. Because there were only four girls, the judging for the two categories was combined into one event.

The showmanship judging is perhaps the most entertaining part of the rabbit competitions because it is the time when each competitor must successfully flip the bunny on its back. There is a specific method to doing so and it is challenging.

All four of the girls had their personal struggles with getting bunny on his back, but they were also all four successful. The purpose of doing the flip is to check feet, teeth, eyes, and to verify the sex of the animal. Ears are checked while the bunny is still upright.

After all had performed the task successfully, Judge Hicks took some extra time to help all four girls master the art of the bunny flip. He brought all four around to the table at once and explained how to do the task with fewer struggles. He then told each one that it was an art that needed to be practiced. He said that the first few times, the bunny would not like it at all, but after doing it a number of times in succession, the animal would become accustom to the process.

At the end of the showmanship competition Catterson and Hinkle again took the top spots. Catterson won the Junior Showmanship and Hinkle won the Senior.

At the end of the show it was Catterson who took the top slot in Senior Does and Hinkle snatched up the grand in Senor Buck.

Best of Show went to Catterson with Hinkle earning the reserve spot.

[Nila Smith]

[Text from file received from ]