By MONICA SPRINGER

mspringer@gctelegram.com

SUBLETTE -- Hannah Horinek, 10, Hope Horinek, 12, and Kassidy Martin, 10, listened to the judge Thursday as he held a rabbit to demonstrate what the showmanship portion of the show consists of.

Judge Conall Addison showed the 4-Hers the proper way to pick a rabbit up and the right way to flip a rabbit over.

Once the rabbit was on its back, Addison started asking the girls questions.

How many toes are on the rabbit's front feet? And how many toe nails are on the front feet? What about the back feet, he asked, how many toes and toenails are on them?

The girls learned rabbits have four toes on the front and five toe nails; the hind legs each have four toes and toenails.

It was the 4-Hers' first time in the rabbit project at the Haskell County Fair, and they said they like learning about the different parts of the rabbit.

"It's helpful to have a good judge," said Charity Horinek, Hannah and Hope's mother. They weren't sure what showmanship involved, and the family was grateful the judge took time to explain so the girls could improve for next year.

"You learn a lot. It's fun," Hope said.

The girls said they liked being in 4-H and entering projects in the fair.

"There's so many different projects to choose from," Hannah said.

The Horinek girls are involved in photography, buymanship, entomology, horticulture, and arts and crafts. Kassidy also has goats, a bucket calf, poultry and foods entered in the fair.

After the rabbit show on Thursday afternoon, Kassidy showed her three ducks in the poultry show. It's her first year for rabbits and poultry.

Much like the rabbit show, the judge explained to the 4-Hers details about each animal he examined. He explained that poultry should enter a cage head first and should be lifted out of a cage head first, to protect the feathers around the head. Addison explained how to tell what color of eggs hens will produce. Red ears mean brown eggs.

"Each breed has a standard of perfection," Addison said of the rabbits and poultry he judges. He said he looks at the breed, then determines if the animal meets all the qualifications for fur, meat, or show. He looks at the cone, color specification and body type.

For the meat entries, he determines which animal would make a good representative in the super market. For poultry, he looks at the development of the leg, breast and fat.

In the rabbit show, Kassidy received a grand champion for the meat pen of three rabbits. And the Horinek girls also fared well at the Haskell County Fair: Hannah received a grand championship in showmanship and Hope's rabbit was the grand champion of its class.

"It's fun," Kassidy said. "You feel happy when the judge tells you you got first or second."

Other events at the Haskell County Fair on Thursday included a swine show, bucket calf and beef show, and a rodeo including a calf scramble, local team roping shootout and a junior barrel race. The fair runs through Saturday.