Handling in Shows

This picture was shown elsewhere with some people saying not to worry as the judge is not holding the weight of the rabbit by the ears..despite how it looks
I disagree due to the rabbits body looking "stretched out" and no one being able to balance a rabbit on their hand...

deleted pic as didn't realise was on this forum too..don't want to cause probs

Can people who show tell me if this is normal practice as I thought it was well known this is not way to hold a bun?:?
Does this happen at all shows?

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From the shows I have been to they appear to hold them like that at the top but at the same time scoop them up from underneath with the other hand and support under the bum and up the bottom half of the spine.

I have never seen a rabbit just held from its ears, but must admit this way of holding them does work better on smaller buns than the larger ones

A friend of mine went to a show once where a rabbit seriously injured it's back and the breeder just picked it up by the hind leg whilst the rabbit was screaming

I don't know how the rabbit was actually injured though, my friend only saw the aftermath

I show one of my rabbbits in pet classes the judge doesnt realy hold the ears its moore like you would hold a baby ,the back of the head is cupped in the hand and the thumb is at the front of the ears. there is quite a Knak to doing it but it doesnt hurt if done correctly. Show rabbits get used to the breeder/owner doing it from babies and it is also a good way to examine them underneath when you do your health checks.

if its the picture from samantha? then ive been to a couple of shows to watch and i asked the judge if the rabbit was comfortable and he assured me that it doesnt hurt them at all.they are scooped up by their bum and supported completley

honeybunny said:

This picture was shown elsewhere with some people saying not to worry as the judge is not holding the weight of the rabbit by the ears..despite how it looks
I disagree due to the rabbits body looking "stretched out" and no one being able to balance a rabbit on their hand...

deleted pic as didn't realise was on this forum too..don't want to cause probs

Can people who show tell me if this is normal practice as I thought it was well known this is not way to hold a bun?:?
Does this happen at all shows?

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only just got on here but how dare you steal it from another site :shock: i'll continue reading now

If buns where being injured by being held in this way do you honestly think this is the practice which would be commonly performed on so many rabbits up and down the country? and not only in this country but in other countries too.

Hugo's There said:

From the shows I have been to they appear to hold them like that at the top but at the same time scoop them up from underneath with the other hand and support under the bum and up the bottom half of the spine.

I have never seen a rabbit just held from its ears, but must admit this way of holding them does work better on smaller buns than the larger ones

Click to expand...

Yes this way of handling is common practice. For as bad as it looks it does not hurt the rabbits. I have stewarded at quite a few shows and seen judges handle rabbits in this way. None of the rabbits weight is taken through the ears it is taken through the bottom hand. The Holding the rabbit in this way stops them twisting their heads and hurting their spines. The judges do not grip the ears tightly they just steady the rabbits head. My own rabbits have been held like this when i used to show and i can assure you they were never hurt.

These judges have handled thousands of rabbits alot of them for many years and i have to say that MOST breeders would go beserk if they thought their rabbit was being hurt.

Things can look alot worse than they are and if you are at a show please ask the stewards to speak to a judge and they will happily show you up close how these rabbits are handled


In fact off topic but at one show i was at a breeder put a cup of tea on top of the cages when this was noticed the judge went mad and stopped the show till he had removed the cup she then got everyones attention and let people know that this was unacceptable behaviour as one of the buns could have been hurt.

And just for anyones information i do NOT breed or show anymore:wave:

Well thanks for your comments..I've never attented a show and was quite upset when I saw the pic

Samantha said:

only just got on here but how dare you steal it from another site :shock: i'll continue reading now

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Is the picture copyrighted?
If it isnt then there is no 'stealing' going on. :roll: When you put a picture on the internet (especially a forum) anyone can do anything with it unless it is copyrighted an even if it is this often doesn't stop people. :lol:

Samantha said:

If buns where being injured by being held in this way do you honestly think this is the practice which would be commonly performed on so many rabbits up and down the country? and not only in this country but in other countries too.

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I understand that holding a bun like this apparently doesn't hurt them and that to become a judge at a show (especially a BRC show) there is a lot of knowledge and experience behind them.
However.....your argument is ridicules. 'Because everyone does it...it must be right' ? Does that make the wire bottomed cages that (some) breeders use both here and elsewhere in the world right? :roll:
I'm not going to go any further on this train of thought though....because I could go on for hours. :lol:

Bluesmum, I don't know if you're familiar with Samatha, but she only comes on to get a rise out of people...some people might call her troll, but I wouldn't be so rude! :lol: :lol:

Bluesmum said:

Is the picture copyrighted?
If it isnt then there is no 'stealing' going on. :roll: When you put a picture on the internet (especially a forum) anyone can do anything with it unless it is copyrighted an even if it is this often doesn't stop people. :lol:

I didn't know that but I was shocked to know one of my pics had been copied like that as I'm sure most other people would be


I understand that holding a bun like this apparently doesn't hurt them and that to become a judge at a show (especially a BRC show) there is a lot of knowledge and experience behind them.
However.....your argument is ridicules. 'Because everyone does it...it must be right' ? Does that make the wire bottomed cages that (some) breeders use both here and elsewhere in the world right? :roll:
I'm not going to go any further on this train of thought though....because I could go on for hours. :lol:

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You're wording that like I'd actually allow one of my buns to be mistreated I can assure you I know this doesn't cause any injury and if it did I wouldn't show.

honeybunny said:

Well thanks for your comments..I've never attented a show and was quite upset when I saw the pic

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I must say the picture in question does not look great, perhaps the angle of the pic. If i was any good at videos i would put one up to show how a bun is picked up this way removing my front thumb to show you the the weight is taken through the bottom hand. but im not very good at it.

abbymarysmokey said:

Bluesmum, I don't know if you're familiar with Samatha, but she only comes on to get a rise out of people...some people might call her troll, but I wouldn't be so rude! :lol: :lol:

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:roll:

abbymarysmokey said:

A friend of mine went to a show once where a rabbit seriously injured it's back and the breeder just picked it up by the hind leg whilst the rabbit was screaming

I don't know how the rabbit was actually injured though, my friend only saw the aftermath

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Somthing like that should of been reported to the british rabbit council and may be was by other show people.

abbymarysmokey said:

Bluesmum, I don't know if you're familiar with Samatha, but she only comes on to get a rise out of people...some people might call her troll, but I wouldn't be so rude! :lol: :lol:

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:thumb:
gotcha!
Not really rising tbh...I just thought the argument she put across was stupid :lol:

Can I just add my opinion of Samantha ..did not come into my OP,,,I was just upset by the pic and wanted show-type people to explain.
I don't want this thread to turn into an abuse one as would like it to continue with comments about the handling at rabbit shows
maybe more picks to explain too?

I dont see why its necessary to restrain a Rabbit in such a way.

But then again I dont see why it's necessary to show Rabbits at all :lol: