Above is a picture of beautiful SkyLark. I mean, that is she once looked like that! 2 weeks ago I took that picture.... the day after she chewed/butched her coat. Lets just say that it wasn't a minor touch-up, instead it was a major haircut. Her beautiful coat will not recover the length to ever make it to the show table, as I had once hoped, so she will be fully cut down and just wait until late this fall/winter to be bred. I'm rather disappointed, I really wanted just one for my fall show sr. Not so. At least she has had a good fiber diet and didn't come down with wool block or anything serious, but really SkyLark? You just had to put the cherry on top!
Ahh the life of rabbits. Sometimes so joyous, other times quite a challenge of patience and filled with frustration. I'm missing baby faces peeking out of nestboxes right now. I'm missing having even one show coat to stress over and groom meticulously. I'm missing the cute little Jr faces filled so full of fluff you can't see their eyes, as they excitedly wait at their cage doors for kisses and Oats. The next month will be a long wait, but at the same time the excitement of seeing full round bellies on the mamas again before birth and then seeing brand new babies will be so precious and rewarding.
On the fun side! Below I'm going to do a comparison of Ellie and SkyLark at the same age. Just for fun. ;-) I love doing comparisons just to see what the likenesses are in my lines. As you may know, Ellie is SkyLark's Aunt. SkyLark's mom is Ellie's full sister. And I can't tell you how much of Ellie I see in SkyLark. Do you see any similarities? (I'm also partly posting these as eye candy for my depressed spirit over the loss of show coats... Aren't these girls just gorgeous!?!)
FYI, if it doesn't strike you as that noticeable in the pictures, I understand. Pictures change everything. I have felt these does over from nose to toes, in person they are like sisters when it comes to wool density and texture. Other than the fact that Ellie held her coat a full year, and SkyLark cocked an attitude and said goodbye to the tables before she even met them, these girls are both very similar in my opinion. They also compliment each others faults and beauty. Ellie has better "presentation skills" with her wool than SkyLark, although SkyLark just flaunts those furnishings like nobody's business.
Another thing I really notice is the paws. Ellie's have a nice little compact dainty pose. SkyLark looks like she is rooted to the table and ain't gonna budge for nobody. What can you deduct from that? Body type. SkyLark has a troublesome hindquarter that I'm hoping to breed out, where as even though I feel Ellie needs improvement, she definitely is better at this point. With Sno, these girls will be well matched and complimented hopefully with what I see as needed improvements, especially in the hindquarters. One thing I really look forward to in the babies is seeing the development of density and texture because of the difference in the parents, as well as personality. Sno, Ellie, and SkyLark all have very similar personalities, which are calm, easy to groom, and are patient on the showtable. (SkyLark never made the tables, but I know from grooming and posing she has the same traits). Those traits are highly desirable for me in this breed, because it makes the everyday processes so much easier. Stormy, like her mama Jinger before her, has had the most lovable personality in her own way, but could be never considered a patient poser for her life.