ACGRC Articles, Judging

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JUDGING
by Glen Carr

Our President, Danny Long, contacted me the other day and requested that I write something from a judges perspective about Checkered Giants for our bulletin. I haven't written anything for our bulletin for many years but being asked by my dear friend, Danny, I agreed to oblige his request.
As many of you know, after raising and showing Checkered Giants for over 45 years, I reluctantly decided to "give them up" as they say in the fall of 2002. Danny came to the house and picked up my few remaining animals after the ARBA Convention in Peoria, Illinois. I also decided at that time that I would refrain from judging the "big" Checkered Giant shows mainly because I didn't feel that I could adequately handle them in a safe manner for both them and me. I held to this decision, not judging an annual or a convention since. However, over the past couple of years I've been honored to judge several Checkered Giant shows with entries over 100 and have judged them at many local shows as well.

I quickly found that not having them in my barn to look at on a daily basis made judging them more difficult and more time consuming. My failing recall may be a factor as well. Checkered Giants should never be hurriedly judged! Each animal must be given adequate time to move freely on the judging table to be able to display its type and markings. So, it is a challenge for me each and every time I judge them.
The first step in my judging procedure is to make certain that the entire class is present at the table. I examine each animal for DQ's immediately, not allowing the animal to run until I've handled and checked it over completely. I concentrate only on finding any DQ's, white spot in the butterfly, snotty nose, dark toenail, missing toe, missing testicle on bucks, broken or bobbed tail, short ears (under 5 3/4" on seniors only), underweight, to name the most commonly found.
I release the animal, step back and evaluate its overall type. I view the animal as being pure white, not giving any attention to markings at this point. After allowing adequate time for the animal to move, I've assessed its overall type, length of body, arch, roundness, length of limbs, width of hindquarters, track (carriage of the back legs), I then evaluate the overall markings. I make certain there are no marking DQ's, blue spots on blacks, breaks in the spine/tail, connected markings, excessive spots on the head are the more common.
I conclude my initial evaluation with a look at the depth and cleanliness of color, the quality and condition of the fur, and the flesh covering of the animal.

In smaller classes, 10 or less, I spend little time placing the bottom five and spend more time placing the top five. No one cares much which animals place in the lower portion of a class. In large classes, I attempt to sort them into thirds. The animals that might make the "top five" in one third, animals that have some good qualities but not up to the quality of competition, in the middle third, and in the bottom third, those animals that just can't compete. Again, I spend little time with the bottom third, some time with the middle third, and devote much time to the top of the class. I've observed many judges over the years spending (wasting) too much time trying to deal with a large class in total, moving and examining inferior animals over and over and loosing their concentration on the better animals. In every instance, I attempt to give precise reasons for my placements on every animal, the major faults and the best attributes.
Picking specials is rather unique with our breed. It is important to understand the procedure. A best of each age group is required to be selected, junior, 6-8, and senior, both colors combined. I prefer to select these winners first. I feel it is important to move each of the animals in each category again or as needed. No matter if I know one or more of the animals will not win, I nevertheless allow it one more opportunity to compete (move). This helps the exhibitor to do their own judging! Selection of the best and best opposite sex of each variety is next. Lastly, I announce the best of opposite sex and conclude with the winner of best of breed. I feel it is very important to begin the selection of specials with no predetermined winners. After many hours of judging some animals may not be as great as you originally thought or vice versa. An old time judge told me years ago that the last class winner before picking specials had an advantage because it was the freshest winner in the judges mind. There is some truth to his theory. I've seen judges do a really nice job picking class winners only to "choke" when picking special too quickly or with predetermined decisions. I feel it is imperative to be deliberate, taking whatever time necessary, when picking the specials. It is the most critical part of judging the breed.

On another completely different thought, I'd like to share my observation of the breed from a judges point of view. I won't go back the 50 years that I've been associated with them but offer my views over the past 10 or 15 years. The positives: 1) overall quality has vastly improved. In the specialty shows there are more really nice animals than inferior animal. The depth of good animals in the classes has increased. 2) more style! more show off, have spirit, and display plenty of daylight. 3) markings have greatly improved. Seldom do we find stray spots, missing or connected markings. Cleanliness and balance of markings is the norm these days. 4) color, especially the blue, has improved back to what I remember it was some 40 years ago. Blue color can't be too dark! I remember a blue owned by Bud Block of Michigan in the early 60's that I had to really look closely to be sure it wasn't a black. The eyes were slate blue and the body was such a beautiful dark blue contrasting with the white. I digressed here.
Things to perhaps improve upon: 1) Size/bone. A judge shouldn't have to go to a scale to determine if a senior animal meets the minimum weight very often. Weight is determined by bone structure, length of the body, and fullness of the body. Many Checkered Giants have one or two of these qualities but all three qualities are not found in great numbers. Shortness in body length is probably the main culprit. It is less difficult to have a tall, well arched, flashy, fine bone, animal than one with excellent length of body with a wide deep loin, full hindquarters, medium/heavy bone, weighing well over the required minimums and still displaying arch and daylight underneath. Herein lies the challenge. We don't have an ideal weight for our breed but certainly the minimum weight of 11 pounds for senior bucks and 12 pounds for senior does shouldn't be considered ideal. The very name, Checkered Giant, refers to a larger than normal breed of rabbit. New Zealand's, considered an average size breed may weigh up to 11 and 12 pounds respectfully. Wow! I digressed again. Sorry.
There is nothing more beautiful than a 13,14, and even a 15 pound buck or a 14, 15, and even a 16 pound doe that carries well off the table and displays all the qualities desired in our breed. These are true giants
In closing, just for the record, these are just my thoughts and opinions and are not necessarily in agreement with some breeders and judges. Danny made me do it!! Enjoy the breed and the and challenge of breeding and showing them. I look forward to judging them once in awhile.
Glen Carr