I think if I had to sum up features to look for in a Holland Lop, in one word, it would be short. Ideally you would like to see short ears, short muzzle, short body and shoulder, and short legs. A short, cobbie rabbit is ideal.

You would want to look for a short ear, because longer ears might be a tip off, that the shoulder and/or body may grow longer with age. A short body adds to the square or boxy shape you are looking for in a Holland.

The short legs are an indication of thick, heavy bone. You can see this, particularly in the hind feet, by noting their length related to width. A short, fat foot is a very good indication of good thick bone.

The short shoulder would rule out a late start, or a flatness, dip or space right behind the head. The head should appear as though it is sitting right on the shoulders, with no visible neck, or shoulder space. A wide shoulder is something else to look for, so that the animal is as wide at the shoulder, as they are at the hip.

When the animals are sitting comfortably, and not forced into a position, their flesh should feel firm and smooth to the touch. You should not be able to feel bones sticking out. There should be enough flesh in the midsection, so that you do not catch on the hips when you run your hand over their back. You should not be able to feel the disks in their backbone through the flesh.

The lower hindquarter is a tough thing to evaluate for most. Ideally, that firm flesh feeling should run all the way down the animals back, rear-end and meet the surface they're sitting on. The way an animal is posed, can play a big part in how their lower hindquarter feels. Since a Holland is to be posed, with most of their weight on their hindquarters, and sitting pretty high, it would make them more likely to meet the resting surface. Some bucks in particular, seem to have very little flesh in the very lowest area of their rear, so they seem to be more rounded and less fleshy in that area. This is not a good feature. You would want to lean toward an animal that has a bit more flesh in that area.

So, what we're looking for here is a short, stocky, small but fleshy animal. Wow, lots of requirements. To top it all off, and probably the most important to many, is the size and shape of their head. I mentioned the length of muzzle earlier, and this is important to achieve that smashed look to the face. A longer muzzle, tends to be more pinched and appear more snipey, [to coin a couple of over-used phrases]. A nice, wide, squared off muzzle is ideal. The space between the eyes is important, to achieve a wide enough face for the effect. It is desirable to not be able to see the eyes if looking head on at them.

To enable the ears to lop properly on this wide head, the crown must be equally wide and well placed. Ideally, the crown should sit squarely on top of the head, to let the ears hang loosely and flat on either side of their cheeks. More often than not, the crown is a little slipped, or more toward the back of their head than in the middle. This causes the ears to bell open a bit to the front, rather than laying flat to the cheeks. Most of them have at least enough control over them, to move them about if they're upset. They seem to be able to move them forward, back and some up and down as well. If the crown is wide enough, and the crown is set close to the center of the head, this doesn't deter too much from their overall appearance and has a lot to do with their temperament. The more nervous, flighty animals are more likely to move their ears around more even if they do have decent crowns. It has been my experience, if you have to compromise on the fault in the crown and ear control, it is better if they control toward the front or up, than to pull them back, because the judges, for whatever reason, seem to dislike and fault heavier for that trait. With this in mind, it couldn't hurt to look for a rabbit that is a bit laid back. This type of temperament can, but doesn't always, get passed on to it's offspring. Sometimes a truly beautiful animal will not be considered for higher than a class win, because of it's table manners. Generally speaking, this is more temperament than learned behavior.

First and foremost, make sure you check the obvious things on an animal. It's teeth, it's genitals and it's eyes. Check the bottom half the eye for cloudy areas. Watch for squinting of the eyes, because it may mean they have a problem with the eyelids, that might lead to eye spots later. Check for any redness, or crustiness around the genitals, or in the ears. In the ears it might be an indication of ear mites. On the genitals it might be a sign of disease. Also, check for a split penis in bucks. Make sure the teeth are properly aligned, as well, with the top overlapping the bottom completely. Hollands are wonderful animals and very addictive. Make sure you are really sure before shopping for one, because you will probably end up with many. Best wishes, until next time.

Jaylene