On the Day of Judging every breed club needs "runners". These are the folks that help bring rabbits up to the judging table and back to their coops. The person working behind the table with the judge is called the "Ramrod". They control and hand out the coop ticket (bottom portion of a coop card). The coop ticket has both the coop number and ear tattoo number. The cage aisles are set up by class (Solid Senior Buck; Broken Junior Doe) and at the aisle end is posted a sign such as "Coops 126-217".
Special Delivery - Taking the rabbits to the Judging Table
The Ramrod hands you a coop ticket, locate the correct coop, double check the ticket against the rabbit's tattoo ear number and the coop number in the other ear. Once in a while an owner will have mixed up rabbits/coops, so you want to make sure you are bringing up a rabbit completely matching the ticket. Keeping track of the large classes of Hollands is work enough, without having mix-ups added.
It is possible that an ear number change made it to the paperwork but not to the coop cards which are printed out and stapled to coops well before people check-in and make ear number changes.
If the coop is locked, tell the Ramrod. They may decide to send a runner to the cage again after a short period of time.
If the coop says scratched, again tell the Ramrod. They will check if the rabbit is indeed a scratch on the paperwork and the ticket just didn't get removed before showtime.
When delivering the rabbit to the show table, place the ticket directly on the coop you put the rabbit in.
Return to Sender - Taking the rabbits back to the Coops
After an animal is judged and ready to go back to its' coop, the ramrod will motion you over for pick up. Once again, take the coop ticket making sure it matches the rabbit, BOTH the ear tattoo and coop number before heading off with it. You can weave the coop ticket in the cage wire by the dish as a courtesy to the exhibitor that lets them know the animal has been judged and returned.
Handle with Care
A very important thing for anyone carrying rabbits at convention, take special care removing and depositing our precious cargo. DO NOT, DO NOT, pick up a HL by the scruff of its' neck. Be very careful that the hindlegs don't catch on the cage doorway as some animals splay their hindlegs out when being picked up. Sometimes our breed gets stuck into smaller coops with smaller doors and removing them is tricky. As much as our HL's aren't happy to be in a convention coop, they aren't too pleased to be removed either. Make sure the animal is aware you are taking it out of the cage. Do not grab it from behind unawares. That can set them off and make it even more difficult to bring them out. Pick them up as you do at home, sliding a palm behind their front legs and scooping up the hindend with the other hand. If a rabbit continues to splay its hindlegs, I've even turned them upside down and backwards/hindfeet first. Hold them close against your body for support and make them feel secure. When taking them back to the coop, set them in backwards, don't allow them to leap into the coop as once again, they may catch a foot/let on a doorway or take a tumble.
Hint - Wear an apron. Preferably even an extra apron so that you keep a nice clean one dedicated for use with your own animals only.