Kristy and her dressage horse, Toby, during show season 2007.

My family had been involved with raising and showing them when I was much younger, but as my interest in horses grew, it diminished for my rabbits. But here I was, ready to jump right back into the pool.

My younger years! We used to raise blacks, blues & chocolates.

The Foundation Stock

Tom, one of the top breeders in Michigan, showed us several animals to choose from. We brought home three wonderful animals: a black buck (Buster), a blue doe (Tess), and a young, black doe (Panda).

We then visited the Stump's rabbitry and brought home a black buck (Chip) and a black doe (Oreo).

Sadly, none of these animals are still with us, but they live on in their strong impact on my herd. Almost every black or blue in my barn goes back to these beginning animals!

I can't thank Tom and Steven enough for providing me with such excellent beginning stock!

The "Super Litter"

Every Dutch breeder loves finding a new litter containing all showable babies. On May 9, 2004, I experienced such luck when Tess had an exceptional litter of six excellent marked, show quality animals, sired by Buster.

Three of the rabbits were sold at a young age. Then there were the three animals I kept until they were seniors: Blue, Daisy and Priss.

Blue has always been spectacular on the show table, and has the awards to prove it. He has been retired as a breeding buck, and while he still occasionally finds his way to the show table, I mostly focus on his babies.

Daisy, a black doe, had been winning since she was a mere 3 months old and received numerous legs and significant wins, just like her brother. At nearly two years old, Daisy finally got her chance to settle into motherhood and produced some great babies - her most significant being Gwen, a black doe who won 3 Best In Show awards in three different states in 2008.

Priss, another black doe, was a beautiful animal, but could never beat her sister. Priss ended up being sold to breeder Mike Smith, who in return gave me one of her babies, a blue buck named Benny who has been my strongest blue herdsire.

Needless to say, it was a litter to say "wow"about and these rabbits really helped to get my rabbitry established in the Dutch community both through reputation from their successes on the show table to a solid foundation of my first home-bred breeding stock.

And Then Came the Grays... 

The original intent was to become involved in only two varieties of Dutch, and I chose blacks and blues. Of course, that didn't last long! At the National Dutch Show in 2005, I got my first gray. After much pursuit, and over a year later, I purchased two more gray does to establish my lines with. I have established a very qulaity gray line. Personally, I think my grays are my most constantly quality animals.

I got lucky on a gray buck, with a very nice gray of my own in the first couple of litters who became my first gray herdsire, Broer. I no longer own him, as he was replaced by his son, Basil, who is not only very successful on the show table, but is a superior brood buck. I also was very lucky to snatch up an absolutely lovely gray buck (Laddy) from Erik Ladd of Ohio. He has proven to be an exceptional show rabbit and sire.

Grays have proven to be an exciting addition to the barn, as I always seem to be learning something new!

Home | Show Rabbits | Breeding Bucks | Breeding Does | The Nursery
Photo Gallery | Show Results | For Sale | Useful Links