Since she started showing rabbits about a half-dozen years ago, Aryanna Minemyer has learned a lot. When she took her rabbits to last year’s fair, “I was more prepared. I kind of knew what I was doing, especially with my market rabbits.”

Her years of hard work and lessons paid off.

“Last year was the ray of sunshine,” Minemyer said. “My rabbits did really well in everything for each show.”

One of her rabbits, named Ghost, was named the Grand Champion Market Rabbit at the 2019 Park County Fair. Last year’s reserve champion also got his start at Minemyer’s home, as he was her rabbits’ baby.

Minemyer currently has 11 rabbits — six adults and five babies. All of them are New Zealand rabbits, with the exception of one lionhead rabbit and another that is part New Zealand and Champagne d’Argent.

“The white New Zealand is the number one market rabbit,” Minemyer said. “A judge will overlook another rabbit for one of these guys because they have more meat on them.”

Judges are looking for market rabbits that are “round and nice and full,” she explained.

Motioning to her grand champ, Minemyer recalls how the judge said, “You could bounce a dime off of his back, which is what you want.”

Minemyer started raising rabbits when she was 11 or 12 years old.

“It was basically just something to start out with,” she said. “My mom used to show rabbits … so I started out with rabbits and just kind of kept going with it.”

The 17-year-old is now entering her senior year at Powell High School, and she spends a lot of time caring for her rabbits.

“They’re super docile, which is really nice, and they’re pretty easy to handle,” Minemyer said. “If you ask a lot of people, they’re kind of one of the harder animals to show just because there’s a lot to remember, but they’re pretty friendly.”

She has two breeding pairs, and usually she has kept the babies to show at the fair, but started selling bunnies last year.

At her family’s home, Minemyer has a shed just for her rabbits, where their cages are neatly arranged.

“This setup is designed specifically for rabbits and what I do,” she said. “I’ve just learned how to kind of manage them.”

Minemyer has gone to rabbit clinics and learned what to look for in rabbits, how to handle them and how to do showmanship.

“There’s just so much to learn,” she said. “And I’ve had years when I’ve done really well, and years where I’ve forgotten stuff.”

With the Park County Fair just around the corner, Minemyer is getting ready to take both her rabbits and horses to the fair.

Minemyer is a barrel racer and is the Cowley rodeo queen. With everything that has been canceled or postponed in 2020, she is thankful to still have the chance to participate in the fair and rodeos in the area.

“I’ve been lucky enough that we have the Big Horn Circuit,” Minemyer said. “So I get to do all of those rodeos and Cody Nite [Rodeo], which is nice.”

While 2020 “has definitely been different, I feel like I’ve kept pretty busy,” she said.