What A Difference A Blower Can Make

In the post two days ago, Betty mentioned that the size of the top winning English Angora before 1989 carried a much shorter coat than the top winning animals today. The reasons given were the breed improvement and the use of blower as the major grooming tool. Here is a good example of the benefit of blower. Here are two pictures of the same rabbit, Chu's Crystal Cream, taken three years apart. In the top picture, blue tort doe Crystal Cream was 5-1/2 months old. She won the first place of the colored junior doe class, went on to win over the senior doe to receive the BOSV honor in the 1987 Portland convention (the BOV was her father Chu's Cosby). There were over 100 colored does in the convention, and she was the best. In 1987, there was no blower. It's an accomplishment to be able to maintain the show coat to 4 or 5 inches with a slicker blush. Three years later in 1990, Betty took Crystal Cream back to the convention in Tampa, Florida. Crystal Cream was 3-1/2 years old, already a grandma and retired from breeding. With diligent grooming using a blower and blushes, Crystal Cream's coat was about 7 inches long with tremendous density. Though it's not the length and density of today's English Angora, Crystal Cream was a sight and feel to be appreciated in 1990. She won the Best of Breed over more than 200 English Angora in the ARBA convention in Tampa and was the reserve to the 4 class. This was the same rabbit. The difference is the blower, with the care given by her mom Betty.