Tracie Greer, Director at Large

My first involvement with rabbits came in 1997 when by brother started raising feeder cattle.  He got a cow, so I wanted a bunny!  I later joined 4-H, raising and showing Dutch, Mini Rex, and Californians.  I kept my involvement fairly local throughout my childhood because I was always busy feeding cattle, working in the family business, showing horses, and being very active in my FFA chapter.

I sold out of the rabbits and cattle right before I went to The Ohio State University in 2002.  Spring of 2006 I started raising Californians and Mini Rex, and thankfully my neighbor took care of them during my final year at OSU!  After graduation, I started heavily breeding Californians and soon had a herd of over 300.  I spent most of my weekends showing all over the tri-state area with my 4-H kids, and I became much more involved with the OCRSC and OSRBA in addition to three local clubs.  I soon sold out of the Mini Rex, but later added Havanas because of their rich color and amazing fur structure. 

Shortly after meeting my now husband, I took him to the local show where I was superintendent, and I helped him pick out his own pet bunny.  Now I have to share my barn with dozens of those striped Dutch bunnies, but we do enjoy showing against each other and traveling to the big shows together, although it gets a little cut-throat at times!

My active involvement with the OSRBA Youth sparked my next fancy of raising cavies.  We had a hard time coordinating animals to practice with during our summer sessions, so I bought a couple different breeds just to practice with.  Cavies are so cool that I started breeding and showing them at all the shows I could, and a year later I have over 50 cavies of several different breeds.  I keep a diversity of breeds for educational purposes, but my true passion is with Roan Abyssinians and Tan Americans.  I have slowly converted several rabbit cages to cavy cages, and the ratio of cavies to rabbits has steadily increased…

On a professional note, when I’m not spending my free time with the OSRBA Youth or travelling to shows, I am self-employed as the third generation entrepreneur of our family real estate company, currently focusing on residential property management.  I also help out on the family farm, raise Paint horses, and I’ve learned to fix about anything with a wrench, wire nuts, and a sledge hammer.