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​Understanding a show rabbit (trying!)


What we look for when assessing a potential Mini lop or Lion lop show rabbit?
​
Over the years we have often been asked for our opinion and guidance regarding the type of a mini/lion lop.
So we have made this document that we hope you will find useful.
When assessing the rabbit try to look from all angles, step back from the table, look from above.
All the best judges do, as you see a better overall picture.
You also get to notice subtle moult line, or if additional grooming is required.
There are many parts that make up a good show rabbit.
Below has been broken down in to sections to help you better understand what to look for.
Remember nobody has the perfect rabbit, some rabbits you could consider 'part' rabbits, in as much as they could be used to help work on improving your breeding programme in areas of weakness.
However, it is not a five minute fix and may take several generations to get all the parts to gel.

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 NO AMOUNT OF POSE TRAINING WILL HIDE FAULTS FROM A JUDGE WORTH THEIR SALT!
A well formed rabbit will sit/pose correctly with little handling.
To some extent one can train a rabbit to pose which is ideal as some are fidgets. However, no amount of training an animal to sit a certain way will make it appear good to a judge. Owners, stewards and judges can sit mini/lion lops so high/short that the front legs are tucked inside the back legs! A rabbit that naturally sits well is one that has all the 'parts' in the right places i.e. it conforms to the standard.


Breed description;
TYPE
- Bold thickset and firm. The body should be short, broad and well muscled with little visible neck. The well-muscled rump is short and well rounded. The chest is broad and deep with curved sides where it meets the shoulders, which are broad and strong. The front legs are thick, short and straight. The hind legs are short, strong, powerful and carried parallel to the body. The tail is straight, strong and well furred. A small dewlap is permissible but not desirable.

TYPE; Shoulder/Chest
If the rabbit is a 'table hugger' it is resting low to the table which means it is likely to be long and or low in the shoulder. The low shoulder is most likely the result of the upper arm bone (humerus) being too short. A low shoulder can give a dipped profile from the side. Remember you don't want to see a gap between head and shoulder. If the rabbit is sticking the head out it is normally down to this. Alternatively, a very short shoulder gives the appearance of a long neck. You should also check to see if there is nothing wrong anatomically such as a deformation of the spine (available information can be searched on the internet; Lordosis, kyphosis and scoliosis)
The body should start right behind the head with little or no apparent neck. Imagine a cob loaf with the two circles of bread making the loaf, this is what you need to see, hence the term a 'cobby' rabbit. A broad chest is desirable, you want those front legs sat nicely apart like a square with the front and back legs on the four corners. Forcing them apart just gives a splayed appearance to the front legs and they do not sit well, often are unbalanced and sometimes tilt.
Front limbs should be strong boned (thick bone - not just fluffy coat hiding thin bone) Often evident from a young age (once the eyes are open) when you are looking for a square body with wide feet. Front limbs not so long they sit too high, nor too short they have no front elevation. Long legs gives a long front foot, giving the appearance of a weak (long) ankle.
​

TYPE: Hindquarters (HQ)/Rump
You don't want to feel the pin bones (hip bones) instead you want to feel a rounded rump that is well covered in muscle. A poor rump is a hard trait to breed out. However, sometimes environmental factors can effect the condition of the rabbit such as pregnancy, stress, illness or poor diet. No amount of feeding up will improve a genetically bred poor rump but may make a rabbit fat! When a rabbit is sat and you run your hands along the body you want to feel for good substance and a smooth transition from the ribs to the hips. If you find that the hips are larger or that there is a hollow between the body and hips this is undesirable.
A pinched HQ is immediately evident when you sit the rabbit and the back feet will form a \ / shape when looking from above or if you could see through the bottom of a glass table. You will often see part of the foot protruding out from the side of the rabbit rather than tucked neatly and parallel to the body. A well formed HQ will have parallel feet set wide apart, thus l  l rather than close together | | giving a narrow HQ which is not as wide as the shoulder.
Picture
Left the rear feet are parallel, short and wide with a good width between them indicating thick bone and a compact body type. 
Right by comparison, long thin feet but also set too close together indicating a long, narrow body
.
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​An easy and quick way to determine this is to place the rabbit on it's back and have the rabbit pull in it's rear legs/feet. To accomplish this you can either gently push the outside edge of your hand on their abdomen just above their legs or gently tap the feet. You are looking for broad, short feet that lay parallel with a good width in between. 
A correctly sat rabbit will have back legs tucked under its hip. Front legs will be placed under the eye. Also remember that a narrow rabbit (it's shoulder and hips may be in proportion) will look deceptively long in the body.
Breed description;
HEAD, CROWN & EYES - The head is bold, broad and well developed. The profile of the head is strongly curved with a good width between the eyes, full cheeks and a broad muzzle. The eyes are bold, bright and large. The basal ridge of the ears should appear prominent across the top of the skull to form the crown. 
Ears - Should be broad, thick, well furred and rounded at the ends. They should be carried close to the cheeks giving a horseshoe like outline when viewed from the front. The inside of the ears should not be visible from any angle when carried correctly. 
Head/Crown/Ears
Good width across the head from ear to ear. Best position for the ears to be as flat to the side of the head and as close to the eye as possible without hanging over or in front of the eye. If the crown is short in width over the top of the skull the ears stay too high on the head and you get those helicopter or A line ears that will never hang perpendicular to the head, commonly called a pinched or tight crown. Try putting your fingers on the crown, to feel the gap between the ears. You may notice a difference in a litter, the further apart the gap the better.
Below are examples of a good crown width and position giving perpendicular and flat ears.
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A false dwarf (bigger, longer body, longer ears/feet) could have a good crown, however sometimes the ears will start much higher on the head (tight) but the weight of the longer ears drags them down. Remember the gap!
Below left is Titan a TRUE dwarf mini lop with a good crown
                                                                                                Below right is Titans brother, a  FALSE mini lop. Note the longer ears.
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Picture
Picture
The good position of the crown means the ears should hang perpendicular but also be as close to the eye as possible without covering it. Don't confuse this with a slipped crown which can allow a rabbit to tilt the ears forward, giving a false appearance of the crown being in a better position than it is. Alternatively, the ears may hang perpendicular and the crown have good width but be too far away from the eye.
Depth of crown is the width of the actual crown that forms the shape of the ear. Look from above at the head and observe the crown width, if evident, to see how wide it is from front (behind the eye) going back towards the back of the skull.  
Below left a slipped crown, note how the ears are also folded this is due to a narrow crown.
                                                                                                                           Below right 
a slipped crown and a little tight/pinched.
Picture
Picture
A narrow crown will make ears fold, so the deeper the crown the wider/flatter the ear. The crown may be placed in the correct position and may foster correctly hanging ears, but if narrow or folded are uncharacteristic of the breed. A good head has width between the eyes. A good trick is to imagine a triangle joining the nose with the eyes. The line that goes between the eyes needs to be wider than the lines going from nose to eye.
Coat - The coat to be dense and of good length, rollback with an abundance of guard hairs / Lion Lop- often with a finer flank line of slightly longer fur running down the length of the rabbit to the tail extending in a line to the groin. Legs and pads to be well furred. A small amount of extended fur around flanks is permissible on under five months exhibits.
The most important aspects are good condition, clean and roll back. Rollback fur is longer and has a thick undercoat and will “roll back” into place when brushed against the fur from tail to head. A rabbit without moult or a moult line will place better. In recent years more emphasis has been placed on a thicker Fur breed style of coat and if you have a Fur judge that is judging lops you may find that too much is given to the coat and other points are disregarded!
Lion Lop - Mane/Chest - The mane should be between 5-7.5cm (2-3in) in length extending to a ‘V’ at the back of the neck, falling into a fringe over the crown with longer fur on the chest to form a bib.
Lion Lops; Single manes can do well as U5's generally because they may have a better coat that a lot of double manes and still have the full mane and bib. However, once they moult to their adult coat they lose most of the mane. However the aim should be to produce better coats in the double mane, an area a lot of exhibitors can still struggle with, but it is achievable! Lion Lop breeders should not be put off by introducing a good coated mini lop in to the breeding programme to improve such qualities. 
​Below left 
an adult Lion Lop with good coat and plentiful mane and bib.
Below right 
an adult single mane Lion Lop with good coat but hardly any mane remaining and no bib.
Picture
Picture
The rabbit below was finishing a moult and still shows some unwanted flank fur which should have been stripped out for showing. Our aim is to breed rabbits that do not hold any flank fur however on most double manes you will notice the longer flank fur reappears as they moult. Had he been better prepared we were told he would have gone Best in Show rather than just Best Lop!
Stripping the flank fur is a simple procedure and allows one to tidy up the coat during a moult and is only achieved as it is fur ready to come out.
Picture
Rest of the breeds description (in red = Lion Lop)
Colour and Pattern - Any colour or pattern accepted by the Breeds Standard Committee of the British Rabbit Council apart from the broken pattern.
Condition - The exhibit should be in a perfect state of health and bodily condition, free from all soiling, particularly on the feet, ears and genital parts. The coat should reflect the overall good health of the exhibit, which should appear alert and vigorous.
FAULTS - Long coat on ears and body, excessively short or long mane. Body too long; head not sufficiently characteristic of the breed; pimpled or damaged ears; poor ear carriage; ears folded; crown not developed; fly back coat; large dewlaps in does; rear feet not parallel to the body; light soiling of feet, ears and genital organs; bare pads; fur slightly soiled or matted; long toenails; lack of vitality.
DISQUALIFICATIONS - Complete lack of mane. Maloccluded or mutilated teeth, over weight limit, deformities and mutilations, deformation of the teeth, feet bowed or bent, white toe nails in coloured exhibits, white nose on butterfly pattern, crooked tail, any discernible illness or disease, blindness or partial blindness, incorrect eye colour,any parasitic infection, much soiling, matted coat, sore pads (where skin is broken or scabbed); any evidence of irregular preparation for exhibition including trimming and dyeing. 
Contacts
e: debacus@hotmail.com

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Lucas. All rights reserved worldwide.
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  • Home
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    • Lionheads
    • Miniature Lop Torts & Points
    • Miniature Lion Lop - Torts & Points
    • Running on
    • Otter, Miniature Lop SEMI RETIRED LINE
    • Orange, Mini Lion Lop RETIRED LINE
  • Breeders articles
  • Owners Articles
  • Contact
  • Izzy's page
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  • Understanding a show rabbit