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Travis Knight

tjknight627@yahoo.com

D3 Newsletter
A focus on fur and type –
What a wonderful showing D3 had in Reno!!! Congratulations to
the winners and special thanks to all who worked so hard to We obviously have the Standard of Perfection to rely on, but
make this convention so enjoyable. when it comes to selecting animals to “show, keep or cull” it
takes HANDS ON experience to make those decisions. How do
you get hands on experience? You need to “calibrate” your
The D3 big winners in open:
Jennifer Forst BOSV Chocolate hands. What I mean by this is get your hands on good rabbits
Josh Adams BOSV Lilac and remember how they feel. You can pull out rabbits from your
Tracy Mercer BOSV Lynx barn that have won variety or breed lately and handle them
Allyse Sullivan BOV Sable before moving on to evaluate young animals in your barn. If you
are new and don’t have a few winners to rely on, ask the variety
Holly Buderus BOSV Smoke Pearl
or breed winners at local shows if you can handle their rabbits
and have them explain to you how they select to win. It is always
The D3 big winners in youth:
Alex Kindseth BOB with an Otter Senior Doe helpful and fun to have experienced breeders come to your barn
Breana Sullivan BOS with a Black Senior Buck or meet up at a show and look through some of your rabbits.
Emma Forst BOSV Blue Even experienced breeders get “barn blind “and should depend
Lexie Ignaszewski BOV Castor on outside opinions because they know “this rabbit is the
Addison Bates BOSV Chinchilla granddaughter of my national winner” for example – and maybe
Macie Micek BOV Lilac she is nothing more than a cull rabbit to most. Some like to post
Brook and Brady Cronce BOB Lynx winner pictures in their barn with the idea of constantly keeping
Breana Sullivan BOV Sable that “winning look” in their mind as they handle rabbits.
Breana Sullivan BOV Smoke Pearl
Macie Micek BOV Tort As for type versus fur, we have not developed fur lines and body
lines as some do. We definitely have lines that are better in one
trait versus another, but in general we have been working on
Sierra Knight was the recipient of the NMRRC scholarship. Sierra
is studying kinesiology at Grand View University in Des Moines, multiple traits as we select animals. I do believe that a breeder
IA with a career goal of being an athletic trainer. Sierra also plays at any level should have a few defined traits they are working on
at any point. Our first major trait that we selected against was
goalie on the varsity soccer team.
pin bones. Lately, we have paid more attention to the high point
being moved back away from the center of the body, more over
The Midwest Mini Rex Club has hosted two very successful
specialty shows recently. At the NTOP Show in Lincoln, NE, there the hips. In our barn, that meant we were keeping some
was a specialty the Friday night before the double show. There oversized animals. Now we are working on finding animals in our
were 100 open rabbits and 40 youth rabbits in the specialty. At barn with the proper profile that don’t mature at 6 pounds!
the NCIRF Show in Fort Dodge, IA, there were 115 open rabbits
and 49 youth rabbits in the specialty show. With these strong If you are buying new rabbits or selecting rabbits in your barn,
showings, there is momentum to increase the numbers of “calibrate” your hands. You need to be able to feel your next
specialty shows in D3 next year – watch for details!!! winner!! Interact with others in the breed and talk and share
war stories. It keeps this hobby fun, real and centered around
the people. Words on a page cannot replace the one on one
Macie Micek had a great showing at the NTOP show in Lincoln.
She won the Youth Specialty Show and youth double Best in interactions and being able to feel your next winning rabbit.
Show with her Lilac doe “Florida” that she raised. This is the
same doe that she won BOV with at Convention. Please let me know if you have D3 news or issues you would like
to share!!

NMRRC Publication Quarter 1 January-February-March 2020
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