Grand Champions and Legs

Grand Champions and Legs
A Grand Champion certificate can be awarded to any rabbit that has won at least 3 'legs'. Legs are earned through wins at ARBA rabbit shows - any legs earned will be printed by the show secretary and included with your show report.
Below is a copy of a leg one of my Holland Lop does won. The info is hard to read on this copy because I compressed it to fit on the page. You can still see the general layout: below the exhibitor information, the rabbit who won is listed and below that are the awards won. The show and judge information is to the right and below that are the rules about awarding legs. The back of the leg has information on how to get a Grand Champion Certificate and a Best in Show Certificate if you won that award.



A Leg of Grand Champion will be awarded to any rabbit that:
1. Wins first in a class providing there are 5 or more animals exhibited by 3 or more exhibitors.
2. Wins Best of Breed providing there are 5 or more exhibited in the breed by 3 or more exhibitors.
3. Wins Best Opposite Sex of Breed providing there are 5 or more as the same sex as the winner exhibited in the breed by 3 or more exhibitors.
4. Wins Best of Group providing there are 5 or more exhibited in the group by 3 or more exhibitors.
5. Wins Best Opposite Sex of Group providing there are 5 or more as the same sex as the winner exhibited in the group by 3 or more exhibitors.
6. Wins Best of Variety providing there are 5 or more exhibitors in the variety by 3 or more exhibitors.
7. Wins Best Opposite of Variety providing there are 5 or more as the same sex as the winner exhibited in the variety by 3 or more exhibitors.
8. Wins Best in Show providing there are 5 or more animals in the show exhibited by 3 or more exhibitors.
9. Leg for Grand Champion may only be awarded at an official ARBA sanctioned show.
10. Leg for Grand Champion is to be furnished to the exhibitor by the show secretary within 30 days of conclusion of show.
11. Rabbits must be judged by a licensed ARBA Rabbit judge.
12. Only 1 leg of Grand champion may be awarded to the same animal for the same show.
So What Do You Do With Your Rabbit's 'Legs'?
Save them! After your rabbit earns three legs, you can fill them out and send them to the American Rabbit Breeders Association, along with a $4 fee, to obtain a Grand Champion Certificate for your winning rabbit. Many breeders proudly display their rabbit's Grand Champion number near the rabbit's name on websites and other promotional materials.
Here is the address to send in for your Grand Champion Certificate:
American Rabbit Breeders Association
Executive Director
PO Box 5667
Bloomington, IL 61702
A Few Rules About Grand Champion Certificates.....
• Your rabbit must be registered with ARBA before you can obtain a Grand Champion certificate.
• You can register your rabbit and send in for it's Grand Champion Certificate all at one time thru one of the registrars commonly found at rabbit shows.
• At least one leg of the three, must of been obtained when the rabbit was a senior or an intermediate.
• The wins must be under at least 2 different ARBA judges.
________________________________________

Congratulations on your first Grand Champion rabbit! ARBA used to encourage exhibitors to retire their Grand Champion rabbits from the show table to make way for upcoming rabbits to win and earn their own Grand Champion certificates.
I no longer find this statement in the rule book. I don't think it meant that much anyway since everyone always showed their winners over and over. When my kids showed rabbits, these 'constant winners' were frustrating because others rarely got a chance to succeed, but then we realized that this only made us work harder to improve our stock, and what a great incentive that turned out to be!