This year the meeting of the IG Englische Widder, the international English Lop interest group, took place at our home, Franziska and Sören Sprenger’s, in Orlamünde, Thuringia. A whole weekend from 4 to 6 August full of culture, good food and, of course, English Lop rabbits.
It began on Friday in glorious weather with coffee and cake in our allotment garden. The real start had actually been a day earlier, though, because dinner (pulled pork) had been in the smoker since Thursday afternoon. Sören, always keeping a watchful eye on the core temperature of the good 30 kg of pork shoulder and on the coal level in the firebox, dutifully spent the night in a tent right in front of the smoker.
The first guests arrived in the afternoon, and more followed until late in the evening. Some had journeys of almost 800 km behind them! In the meantime the pulled pork was ready after almost 30 hours in the smoker and was waiting on a long table, together with other regional specialities, to be eaten.
By candlelight and late in the evening, new breeding friends came to the IG meeting for the first time and brought red-eyed white English Lops along for us to look at. They were able to spend the night safely in the show cages we had set up beforehand and recover from the long journey from Frankfurt am Main.
In the evening the first guests set off for their accommodation at the nearby hotel and inn “Kains-Hof” in Uhlstädt.
In good company, and with the odd cocktail, the first social evening went on into the early hours of Saturday.
After a generous hotel breakfast, on Saturday we set off on tour in a hired bus. First stop: Heidecksburg in Rudolstadt.
Heidecksburg in Rudolstadt is the most magnificent 18th-century Baroque palace in the Free State of Thuringia. On a guided tour we visited the stately living quarters of the former princely family. The ornate wall decorations, the original furniture from the time of the last monarch and the breathtaking ceiling paintings are just a few of the palace’s highlights. Afterwards we also saw the special exhibition “Rococo en miniature”.
After a hearty meal at the Thuringian dumpling hotel “Goldene Henne” in Arnstadt, the Bach town, and a short break, we headed for the third and last stop of the Saturday.
Last stop on the cultural tour: the “Tobiashammer” technical museum in Ohrdruf.
Built more than 500 years ago, the water-wheel-driven forge is, after extensive restoration, one of the most valuable industrial monuments. Five large drop hammers that still work today, a rolling mill, a stamp mill, grinding works and annealing furnaces are driven there by 4 oversized water wheels.
After the tour of the old hammer works, we first sat down at the laid coffee table in the cosy café of the hammer museum. Here again there were regional delicacies, e.g. gooseberry cake and LPG cake.
A special attraction awaited us after coffee: one of the largest steam engines in Europe. The barn alone that houses the 305-tonne, 12,000-horsepower steam engine is a highlight.
Unfortunately it started to rain in the afternoon, but that didn’t bother us on the way back to the hotel.
In the meantime, more IG members and guests had arrived at the hotel, some of whom, unfortunately, had been unable to join our cultural tour for work reasons.
Markus Tyborski also brought 6 English Lops in white, black-and-white and agouti-and-white from Bad Saulgau. The animals were put into the show cages and looked after first of all.
Afterwards we had dinner together in the conference rooms of the hotel “Kains Hof”, followed directly by the annual general meeting.
We were a large group with many guests and were also able to welcome new members to our ranks. The chairman of the IG, Phillip Fritz, presented us with an award for “hosting the 29th English Lop meeting”.
At the annual general meeting Phillip then gave his annual report as 1st spokesperson. He described the highs and lows of the past breeding and show year. Frank Lettau gave his report as treasurer of the IG and explained the cash book and the current balance. Next, Hans-Günter Flath spoke as 3rd spokesperson about breeding and showing within the IG. The focus here was, among other things, on the German national buck show and the various state shows. Hans-Günter put his post as 3rd spokesperson up for election, as for personal reasons he can no longer carry out the role. He nominated Franziska Sprenger as his direct successor. The IG discussed the proposal, and in an open vote Franziska Sprenger was unanimously elected 3rd spokesperson.
Rene Karpf then gave his report as Swiss breed spokesperson on breeding work in Switzerland.
Meanwhile, the young stock census list went round, in which members listed the youngsters they had bred per colour variety. Hans-Günter and Phillip then evaluated the list together. It is good to see that the colour varieties dark-grey-and-white and chinchilla could be saved from being struck from the standard. At the same time, however, some colour varieties have declined. The Thuringian colour, otherwise the most strongly represented variety, has also declined. The breeding of some colour varieties partly rests on the shoulders of individual breeders, for example Thuringian-and-white with Korbinian Schmidt. If these breeders drop out, the colour variety is lost too.
This is where we need to start and do even more to promote our beautiful breed.
This year’s newsletter was again well received by all members. Next year, too, many members should take part again and send show reports, photos and articles to Franziska Sprenger, so that we can once again put together a comprehensive newsletter.
On Sunday at 10:00 the stock assessment took place in our garden. Even before that, some members and guests had gathered at our rabbitry and looked at the hutches. The hutches for our English Lops are relatively large; the upper ones can’t be reached without a stool. The dimensions of 1.20 m wide, 1.30 m deep and 0.70 m high, plus a large resting shelf and a wall-mounted bowl fixed high up, met with the visitors’ approval. English Lops are active; they romp around their hutch a lot and make very good use of the resting shelf.
New at this year’s stock assessment was that judges from outside our IG membership were also among the invited guests.
Our colleagues Horst Rohowsky (chairman of the Thuringian judges’ association), Joachim Kapp (training officer of the Thuringian judges’ association) and Herbert Sillmann (judge and chairman of the Thuringian club association) joined us to find out about the current state of English Lop breeding.
Hans-Günter started the stock assessment with an adult blue-and-white doe of Franziska’s and went into the various physical and colour characteristics.
Next on the table was an adult Thuringian-coloured doe (also Franziska’s).
After that came the white English Lops. Here it was nice to be able to compare the different breeding lines of Julia Manka and Markus Tyborski.
Finally the broken animals in black-and-white and agouti-and-white were assessed. The mantle marking is very well developed in Markus’s animals, and the body shape and coat of the youngsters shown were also convincing.
Afterwards there was a lively exchange among the guests and judges.
In the meantime the charcoal grill had been lit, and the smell of bratwurst drifted through the rows. After a hearty lunch and more good conversation, our guests left us and set off for home.
We look forward to seeing you again next year in the Black Forest, and before that at the national show in Leipzig, and thank you for the lovely hours with us in Thuringia.
With warmest breeder’s regards,
Sören and Franziska Sprenger