How To Pose Your Holland Lop For The Show

The Holland Lop's conformation will be best displayed when the rabbit is posed properly.

Exhibitors should work with their rabbits before showing - get the rabbit used to handling, posing and being examined.  This effort will pay off at the show tables in that your rabbit will be easier for the judge to pose and evaluate.

While training your rabbit, frequent but short periods seem to work well - and don't expect your Holland Lop to hold a pose for longer than a few seconds.  Some naturally pose without a lot of manipulation, indeed, you are lucky if you own on of these rabbits, but most will take some work.

How To Pose Holland Lops

Holland Lops are posed uniquely as a compact-type rabbit, but unlike most other breeds, they are to be sitting up with their weight on their hind end, and lightly resting on their front feet.  They should not be pushed down on the table like the commercial-type breeds.  To work on posing:

• Allow your rabbit to relax and calm down a bit before you start working with him.
• First, you need to tip the rabbit back so he has his weight on his hindquarters.  To do this, you can either place a finger under his chin and gently lift up and slightly back, or you can gently grasp his head on either side of his eyes and lift up and back. 
• It may help for you to place your other hand behind the rabbit to keep him from backing up and to help keep his hindquarters square.
• Keep the rabbit's body square - hind feed under his hips, front feet under his shoulders, his head up, and his topline (the 'line' from the shoulders to the loin area, which then continues downwards to the ground) from the shoulders to the loin area should be horizontal or only slightly higher at the shoulder area.
• You must let go - yes, you should not have to 'hold' your rabbit in a proper Holland Lop pose!  You are simply encouraging the proper pose, not holding the rabbit in a pose.  Hollands that never achieve the proper pose may lack the necessary breed conformation.
• You'll learn to quickly and gently manipulate your rabbit with both hands in order to achieve a nice pose.  Don't overdo it - just a little practice here and there is all that is needed.  Patience and gentle handling is the norm!

Examples of Holland Poses

The agouti Holland Lop above, is sitting a little too high up in the first picture, creating a steep slope from his shoulders to his loin area.  You can also see that his hind feet are placed too far forward - almost even with his front feet.

In the second picture, he is crunched down too far - he needs to be sitting up more, with his head up, with his weight on his hindquarters - you can see how his position makes him look like his shoulders slope downwards, a fault he really doesn't have!

His legs and feet are squarely placed where they should be in the second picture, now if he popped his head a bit higher, he'd be posed nicely.

Here I've got a picture of some Holland Lops, all posed differently - all three have faults but I'll only point out some of the major ones that affect the 'pose'. 

The middle Holland is what is commonly called a "carpet muncher", a rabbit that naturally clings low to the ground and refuses to pose upright, despite a lot of persuasion.  He lacks the depth and the 'sit-up attitude' necessary for good Holland Lop conformation.

The first broken black doe is posed well, and her pose shows the few minor faults she has.  Despite her stocky, compact look, she does have a little too much length to her mid-section, creating a long look to her back.  Her hindquarters slope at too much of an angle instead of falling from her loins down to the ground.  This girl truly seems to have no neck, which is desired, but her head mount is a bit too low-believe me, her head doesn't go any higher.

The last doe has a very nice upright pose, strong loins, and full hindquarters - can you see how her topline is short, almost straight across from her shoulders to her loin, then gently rounds over her hips and falls vertically to the ground?  This rabbit has a nice shape and her head mount is nice - she appears to be a square with a head on it. 

Now, just because you've worked with your Holland Lop, don't expect outstanding poses every time he or she is on the show table - so many factors can make your rabbit temporarily forget all you've worked on - the way different judges handle him or her, show noises such as loudspeakers, etc., may startle your rabbit, or he or she may be pre-occupied with the neighboring rabbits on the table!  Don't give up or become disappointed - Holland Lops are a challenging breed but well worth it!