04/14/2023
Chatter House Rabbitry
Borrowed from another post but thought some could use to better understand
Rabbit SHOW LINGO
ARBA - American Rabbit Breeder's Association. For short, you can either say it as a word (eg, Arba), or you can pronounce each letter (eg, A-R-B-A). People say both, it doesn't really matter either way. ARBA is the basically a national club for all things rabbit. It's like the AKC but for rabbits. They put on rabbit shows, and allow registration of members, rabbitries, and rabbits. As stated on their website, ARBA is, "an organization dedicated to the promotion, development and improvement of the domestic rabbit and cavy." They have over 23,000 members! If you are interested in becoming a breeder, or showing rabbits, it is highly recommended that you join ARBA. To learn more about ARBA, go to www.arba.net.
Standard of Perfection - A book revised and published by ARBA every 5 years. It has a 'breed standard' for every recognized breed of rabbit and cavy (guinea pig). Each breed standard has a description of the ideal animal of each breed, as well as faults and disqualifications. It also has a glossary, pictures of each breed, a list of general disqualifications, and pictures of deformities such as malocclusion. If you are in 4-H or FFA, or if you want to raise and show rabbits (ESPECIALLY if you want to breed), you should buy a copy of the most recent Standard of Perfection. This can be purchased on the ARBA website (www.arba.net).
BOB - Best Of Breed. The rabbit that is declared by a judge to be the best show quality of all the rabbits of its breed at the show. There is a BOB of every rabbit breed at the show. The BOB is eligible to compete for Best In Show.
BOSB - Best Opposite S*x of Breed. The rabbit that is declared by a judge to be the best show quality of all the rabbits of the opposite gender of the BOB winner. If the BOB winner is a buck, BOSB is a doe, and vice versa.
BOV - Best Of Variety. The rabbit that is declared by a judge to be the best show quality of all the rabbits of its variety (color). All the BOV and the BOSV winners compete against each other for BOB and BOSB.
BOSV - Best Opposite S*x of Variety. The rabbit that is declared by a judge to be the best show quality of all the rabbits of its variety (color) that are the opposite gender of the BOV winner. All of the BOV and BOSV winners compete against each other for BOB and BOSB.
BIS - Best In Show. The rabbit that is declared by a judge to be the best show quality of all the rabbits in the show. All the Best of Breed winners of each breed are eligible to compete for Best In Show. Can be a buck or doe of any breed and color.
RIS - Reserve In Show. The rabbit that is declared by a judge to be the second best show quality of all the rabbits in the show. Can be a buck or doe of any breed and color.
BISS - Best In Specialty Show. A specialty show is a show specifically for one breed or a group of breeds, such as lops or angoras. The rabbit that is declared by a judge to be the best rabbit there is the BISS winner. Can be a buck or doe of any color.
Open - A show in which people of any age can show their rabbits.
Youth - A show in which only people 5-18 years old can show their rabbits. Youth must always bring their rabbits up to the table to be judged, parents or other adults cannot. Animals that are owned by an adult, or co-owned by an adult and a youth are not eligible to compete in ARBA sanctioned youth shows.
Show A, B, C, etc. - Different shows on any given day. In each show, the judges are changed or switched around between breeds so that no judge judges the same group of rabbits twice.
Single show - When there is one show in one venue in one day.
Double show - When there are two shows in one venue in one day. In each show, each breed is judged by different judges.
Triple show - When there are three shows in one venue in one day. In each show, each breed is judged by different judges.
Fault - Something undesirable about a rabbit as described in the Standard of Perfection. For example, in Holland Lops, you want to have a wide hindquarter. If the rabbit has narrow hindquarters, that would be a fault. Every rabbit in the world has faults, but some have more or less than others. Better quality rabbits are the ones with less faults. Each judge has a different opinion, and although each judge judges rabbits based on the Standard of Perfection, there is plenty of room for interpretation and personal opinion.
Disqualification (DQ) - A serious imperfection of the rabbit (a DQ is even lower down than last place). Any injuries, infections, parasites, or diseases (in the judge's opinion) are DQs, as well as breed-specific DQs. In Holland Lops, an example of a DQ would be if the rabbit carries its ears above horizontal.
Excellent/Very Good - A part of a rabbit that is very similar to what is described in the Standard of Perfection.
Good - A part of the rabbit that is similar to what is described in the Standard of Perfection.
Fair - A part of the rabbit that is fairly similar to what is described in the Standard of Perfection.
Poor - A part of the rabbit that is not similar to what is described in the Standard of Perfection.
Type - How a breed is supposed to look.
Typey - A rabbit that looks a lot like how its breed is supposed to look.
Comment card - a slip of paper that the judge's clerk will fill out for each rabbit in the competition. It will have your basic information and your rabbit's basic information. The judge will have the clerk fill out the rabbit's place in the class, and often the clerk will write the judge's notes on each rabbit's strengths and weaknesses, using the words 'Very Good, Good, Fair, or Poor' for parts of the rabbit's body. Some shows do not have comment cards.
Leg - An award that a rabbit gets for winning any class (eg, BOB, BIS, RIS, BOV, Best SJD, BOSV). The more legs a rabbit wins, in general, the better quality the rabbit is. To win a leg from a class, there must be at least 5 rabbits entered in the class under at least 3 exhibitors. A rabbit can only win 1 leg per show, but can win multiple if it wins classes in Show A, then Show B, for instance. A rabbit can win no more than 2 legs as a Junior. If a rabbit wins 3 legs, and is pedigreed, it is eligible to be a registered Grand Champion.
Grand Champion - A rabbit that has won 3 legs or more, and is registered with ARBA.
Junior - An age of rabbit. In both 4 and 6-class breeds, Jrs are 3-6 months old. In Holland Lops, Jrs are 3-6 months.
Senior - An age of rabbit. In 4-class breeds, Srs are over 6 months old. In 6-class breeds, Srs are over 8 months old. In Holland Lops, Seniors are 6 months old.
Intermediate - An age of rabbit, in 6-class breeds only. Intermediates are 6-8 months old.
4-class breed - A breed that is shown in 4 groups by gender, age, and sometimes weight: Junior Buck, Junior Doe, Senior Buck, and Senior Doe. Holland Lops are a 4-class breed.
6-class breed - A breed that is shown in 6 groups by gender, age, and weight: Junior Buck, Junior Doe, Intermediate Buck, Intermediate Doe, Senior Buck, and Senior Doe.
Broken - A rabbit that is white with solid patches.
Solid - A rabbit that is not a Broken color.
SJB - Solid Junior Buck. This term applies to the Lop breeds - most other breeds do not use this abbreviation.
SJD - Solid Junior Doe. This term applies to the Lop breeds - most other breeds do not use this abbreviation.
BJB - Broken Junior Buck. This term applies the Lop breeds - most other breeds do not use this abbreviation.
BJD - Broken Junior Doe. This term applies to the Lop breeds - most other breeds do not use this abbreviation.
SSB - Solid Senior Buck. This term applies to the Lop breeds - most other breeds do not use this abbreviation.
SSD - Solid Senior Doe. This term applies to the Lop breeds - most other breeds do not use this abbreviation.
BSB - Broken Senior Buck. This term applies to the Lop breeds - most other breeds do not use this abbreviation.
BSD - Broken Senior Doe. This term applies to the Lop breeds- most other breeds do not use this abbreviation.
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