Little Jasper - My Ben Son

What an awesome day!  Xcaliber’s Jasper won Best in Show under Allan Ormond.  I cannot tell you how thrilled I am by this win.  Although I have won a few Best in Shows before, this is my very first All Breed Best in Show in Colorado.  Winning under a wonderful Holland Lop judge makes it even better.  However, what makes it simply the best is to point out that this little buck was one of my only babies I was able to get out of CN’s Ben before he died unexpectedly.  Just like his sire, Jasper has an AWESOME body.  Allan Ormond even commented that he has the “most firm and rock hard body” he has seen in years!  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  That’s so great to hear!  That’s exactly what I was hoping to produce out of Ben! I’ve got a few does already bred to Jasper. I am really looking forward to seeing what he’ll produce for me.  Hopefully- he’ll be able to pass on his rock hard body.  His first litters are expected to arrive around June 10^th.  I am really looking forward to see what he produces with Xcaliber’s Xing.  She has an awesome head, ear and crown that will complement him nicely!  Watch for nestbox news!  I think I’ll take Allan’s advice and go breed him to a few more does. LOL.

It was an overall wonderful day for Xcaliber Hollands.  I received news that Xcaliber’s Xander who is living in Iowa with Kandy Reif also won Best of Breed.  That’s great news because it now makes him a grand champion. It’s always a wonderful feeling to hear about rabbits I’ve sold doing well on the show tables.  To make the weekend complete, I also learned that Xcaliber’s Indiana “Indy” who is residing in Louisiana with Angelle Kraemer ended up winning 3 legs this weekend. That’s awesome!  Indy also went on to win Reserve Best in Show. How cool is that? 

Promising Start

It is so nice and warm here today.  I think the high is expected to be in the 60s.  This is especially nice after the last couple weeks.  We experienced record low temperatures in Colorado the beginning of February. It was so cold that school was canceled for two days.  Yikes!  The rabbits seem to be taking the bouncing temperatures of this winter pretty well.  A few of them are in a funky molt.  I don't think they know what to do with their coats. 

The 2011 show season is off to a wonderful start exceeding my hopes and expectations.  So far this year I have won Best of Breed a total of 5 times, Best Opposite Sex of Breed 4 times and Reserve Best in Show once!  I am so excited to see my newest crop of juniors starting to do well.   I am just starting to show the babies that were born in September and October 2010.  

Within the past week, I went through the babies that were born in November and December.  It was a challenging time culling the herd to make room for the newest batch of pre-juniors.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the number of promising solids. Although, brokens will always be my preference, I do have a lot of promising solids that will be making their debut in the upcoming weeks.  I was also taken back to find a couple of really nice solid blacks and two solid blues. From breedings in November and December, I discovered that one of my herd bucks CN's JD carries dilute.  I am ecstatic to be finally getting blue torts.  I also have been breeding more does to Xcaliber's Damon.  His babies are really looking awesome. The few litters I did get out of Ben before he died also look promising. I have not gone through his babies too critically yet but in handling them I am happy to find one or two that have his firm flesh condition and short type.

I had a 3 week break of not having any does due.  In the upcoming weeks, I have several does that are palpated positive.  I love having babies.  Nothing is cuter than a baby Holland Lop.