Basics of Evaluating the Dwarf Hotot

In this post, I am going to go over the basics of evaluating the Dwarf Hotot. I decided I didn't want to do a detailed series that breaks down each section of the rabbit, but I may consider doing those occasionally. It would just take a lot of posts to explain how to evaluate a whole breed and I would rather focus the majority of my posts on Little Rascal's Rabbitry.

So without further ado, lets evaluate a Hotot!

So I'd like the start with the weight. For senior bucks and does, the maximum weight is 3 lbs. Anything above 3 lbs is an automatic disqualification. The ideal weight for seniors is 2.5 lbs. For junior bucks and does, the maximum weight is 2.5 lbs and the minimum weight is 1 1/4 lbs. If your junior is above 2.5 lbs but below 3 lbs, it can be shown as a senior. But if your junior does not make weight at 1 1/4 lbs, the rabbit does not weigh enough to be shown.

Seniors are not allowed to be shown in Junior classes.

 

Next, I'd like to talk about the head. "The head should be bold, with good width between the eyes. Muzzle should be well filled and round in all directions. The head should be attached to the body with no visible neck."-ARBA Dwarf Hotot Standard of Perfection

 

A very very nice example of a Dwarf Hotot head.

 

Next I would like to talk about shoulders. Shoulders are the biggest fault among the DH breed. It takes a lot of work to fix shoulders. Personally, I learn from seeing so I will post a picture of bad shoulders and good shoulders for comparison.

 

Narrow/Pinched Shoulders. Notice that they are not as wide
 as the hind quarter.

 

Perfect Shoulder Width. Notice that they are evenly wide
with the hind quarter. (4King's Rabbitry)

Next, let's talk Hind Quarter. The hind quarter should be very round. The hips should not be pinched/chopped off. An easy way to tell if a rabbit will have pinched hips is to flip them over onto their back and look at their hocks. If they are shaped like a V, the rabbit will have pinched hips. If the hocks are straight, like this |  |, the rabbit will not be pinched, rather it will have a full, round hind quarter. Examples:

 

This rabbit has very nice shoulders, but his hind quarters are
chopped off/not as round as the buck below.

 

This is the same picture I used for shoulders, but this rabbit's HQ

is very round and thick. Over-all this buck is just solid as a brick.

(4King's Rabbitry)

As you can tell, I judge the majority of the body from the top view which is why I stress always taking top view pictures when evaluating.

Now I would like to talk about body length.

 

Notice that this rabbit has extra length between her front and

back legs when posed. This is a big give-away on a rabbit

that is long in body.

 

Notice that this rabbit is short and compact with no extra space on
 his body.

This is just basic judging of the Dwarf Hotot. I couldn't get too specific or this post could go on forever. I y'all enjoyed this post! Thanks for reading!

How to Pose the Dwarf Hotot Properly

I decided today that I would start off my 'Posing and Evaluating' series with proper posing of the Dwarf Hotot as you can't possibly evaluate a Hotot without the proper pose. I know that at the Utah shows, many of the judges like to hold the head down on the table like a Mini Rex. I find this to be incorrect. I found that it makes the Hotot's shoulders look extremely long and awfully pinched. It also creates the appearance of a long neck. As the standard states, "The head should be attached to the

body with no visible neck."

 

This doe is posed properly. Her front feet are in line with her eye and her back toes are in line with her hip. Her head is also in the middle of her body.

 

In this picture, I have drawn lines to explain this easier. The vertical line on the left shows how their front feet are to be lined up with their eye. The vertical line on the right shows how their toes are supposed to be in line with their hip. Then the horizontal line show how the head is supposed to be about in the middle of the rabbit's body. 

 

 

Proper posing is very simple, it just take some getting used to.

 

Now I would like to show you some bad examples of posing. Some of you may recognize my "guinea pigs" in these photos. These photos are all months old and many of these rabbits have been sold to take place in someone else's program. Please keep in mind these are bad poses, not bad rabbits. I'll explain what is wrong with each pose.

 

#1: This doe is stretched out too much. She is insisting on stretching her neck out therefore, making her shoulders look severely long. To correct this, you would lift her head to the middle of her body and make her hold it closer to her body.

 

#2: This doe has the same problem as #1. She is stretching her neck out making her shoulders appear extremely long. You would correct it the same way as #1.

 

 

#3: This doe is stretching her neck out, just not as much as #1 and #2. All you would need to do is hook your fingers under her chin and lift/push back gently. This will make her hold her head correctly, therefore creating a compact animal.

 

 

#4: This beautiful buck was very well trained for posing, therefore I had to force a bad pose out of him. Lol! This buck's head is also stretched out creating long shoulders. You would correct it the same way you correct #3's pose. Make sure when you are correcting head placement, you also move the front feet back in line with the eye once the head is correctly placed.

 

 

#5: This buck was also a natural poser. His head is too far forward and his front toes are not in line with his eye. To correct this pose, you would hook your fingers under his chin and gently lift up/back. This will place to head close to the body therefore, creating a compact, blocky animal.

 

 

 

I hope this helped everyone learn proper posing of the Dwarf Hotot. It's always a good idea to start posing babies at a young age (4-6 weeks) so you can easily get a nice pose out of them at a later age. Plus the judges will appreciate it! 

 

Thanks for Reading! Have a fantastic day!

 

Next Post

 

~Evaluating Shoulders on the Dwarf Hotot Rabbit~

 

 

So Many Updates!

Here comes another long post! I've had so many updates to give you all, I just haven't had the time to make a post. So let's just get right to it!!

First of all, CoNvEnTiOn! As most of you know, my buck, XC2 was stolen at convention 3 days ago and still hasn't been found. BUT, Patty Percy is so generous and said she would send XC2's handsome brother to me if we can get transport. The transport is coming along nicely. So far, this bunny is going to be traveling to shows from state to state to get here. States he will likely be passing through are Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and then finally to his home in Utah. John Mingus was reading our posts about transport last night and he commented saying "I think this bunny will be forever known as Percy's Traveler." Hopefully we can get transport arrangements done so this pretty guy can get to Utah. But we also got two more beautiful bunnies! JC's Mushu and 4King's Jennie. These two are happily munching on hay in their cages. I love them both so much!

Jennie, She loves to sit at the front of the cage and watch everything going on. I think she's getting used to those crazy chickens that are running under her cage. haha

 

Giant hay pile for Jennie. She won't go hungry! haha

 

Handsome little Mushu

 

His pretty Coloring <3

Second, we have done some barn remodeling. We put up a little 6'x8' blue tarp to keep snow and rain off the bunnies. We also re-mounted the top hanging cage and set up the slanted board to catch manure. It works great! Hopefully I can do a barn tour video again soon. These pictures were taken on the 30th. It's changed a little since then. I've moved around and added a few bunnies. I apologize that they are sideways. My computer wouldn't let me fix it. haha

 

The blue tarp and cardboard "wall" in the back that keeps out wind and snow.

 

It looks really messy because I had just barely sprayed out the cages so the whole bottom half was soaked. Oops. Plus all of the fall leaves and hay that got scattered about in the wind.

 

The new white board. This will help me keep track of things easier. Right now, all I have written is bible verses. I will eventually write down dates. lol!

 

Maybelliene's sweet babies are growing fast! Hopefully I'll have the two bucks sold soon. Addy is staying with me for sure. She's looks exactly like her momma.

 

Addy

 

Nytro

 

Well that's all for this post! Have a great day!