Page 12 • Country Acres | Saturday, January 21, 2023
Rabbit Ra arewards bb bb
PHOTO BY JAN LEFEBVRE
Sally Larson gives Hunter, a New Zealand buck, a head scratch Nov. 29 at Larson’s Rabbitry near St. Joseph. Hunter became a grand champion after winning Best of Breed at three shows and since then has won the award another 18 times.
Larson family aims to be master breeders BY JAN LEFEBVRE STAFF WRITER
ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – When Sally Larson attained two rabbits in 2008 for her 4-yearold twins, Kallie and Courtney, she launched a new lifestyle for the Larson family. Today, Larson’s Rabbitry houses 160 rabbits – New Zealands, Belgian Hares and Florida Whites. Hermes, a Holland Lop, and Oliver, a Mini Rex, live there as well. The twins show New Zealands and Belgian Hares. They used to show Holland Lops but sold the herd when they graduated and moved from home. Larson shows those breeds as well, but lately she has added Florida Whites to the rabbitry, which look like smaller New Zealands. “But, do not call them that,” Larson said. “Breeders do not like that.” Rabbit breeding is serious business, and breeders are protective of their breeds. Every Larson rabbit has a pedigree and is officially regis-
tered with the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA), which means that the Larsons know the parents, grandparents and great-grandparents of each rabbit. The Larsons have gold star rabbits as well. “It takes years for people to start producing gold star rabbits,” Larson said. The reason is that all rabbits in a gold star rabbit’s pedigree (parents, grandparents and great-grandparents) are registered through ARBA and are grand champions. “Everything we breed now with New Zealands will be gold star rabbits because we will only breed from them (gold stars),” Larson said. “We have 17 gold star rabbits in the barn right now. Anything born from this point on will automatically be gold star.” So far in their rabbit showing career, the twins together have 32 homegrown grand champion rabbits and Larson has 31. However, they are not resting on their laurels. When a rabbit wins a show, it receives what is called a leg. If a rabbit wins Best of Breed
at three different shows (three legs), the rabbit is considered a grand champion. A breeder with 50 homegrown grand champions is considered a master breeder by ARBA, which gains the breeder a lot of respect and makes rabbits of that breeder more valuable. Each breed has its own national club that lists the top breeders with the highest showing points across the United States, and that means master breeders are the ones who make the list.
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PHOTO PH SUBMIT SUBMITTED
Hermes, a Herme Holland Lop owned by the Larson family, is n now retired. He won m many awards at sh shows including in agility ag competitions where he becam became a national grand champion.
WWW.BONGARDS.COM CAJan21-1B-MS