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!

I'm BACK!!

Whew! It's been about a month since my last post. This post will be mainly updates.

I have been crazy busy with the end of the quarter. I have been trying to get all my school work turned in and each assignment takes me about 1+ hours. I have been trying out my dream horse lately and I am trying to fix my grades so my dad will consider buying her. I have done all that I can with my grades. I don't have any missing assignments, I've retaken all my tests, and I've done all the available extra credit and there is still one class that is preventing me from my horse.....Math. I've struggled with math my whole life but 8th and 9th grade have been the worst for me. Usually I can manage a good, solid B, but this year it's far below that. I don't know what else I can do. But other than that, I have A's and B's with one C+ That will be fixed as soon as my teacher enters all of this week's assignments. Pray that my dad will understand because I've done my best.

I've also been having misunderstandings with my boyfriend that really affected me. We have worked it all out though and I love him to bits! It was just rumors and serious misunderstandings.

So as I said, I've been trying out a mare, Diva, that is everything I've ever wanted. I've never been with a horse like that. She speaks to me. That may seem cheesy, but only people who truly know horses will understand. My best friend said she thinks its because "We are both Rejected by our Own." By that she means, I go to a school full of city people that don't understand anything about me and I can't find anyone to relate to. Diva is the underdog in her pasture and seeks humans to spend time with instead of a group of horses. It makes sense to me! Ha Ha! We'll see. This is 100% up to my dad now as I have already made my decision. She's the one.

Pretty Girl <3 Diva

I've also been trying to draw more. I will be turning in my reflections drawing tomorrow. Here's my latest drawing.

Wild Horse

And as we all know, Convention is in 2 days!!! I'm SO Excited!!! It's going to be awesome! Here's a sneak peek at the convention bunnies that are on their way to Utah!

Royer's Mushu
Junior Sable Point Buck

4King's Jennie
Senior Black Banded Doe

Percy's XC2
Senior Black Banded Buck

(Top View) Percy's XC2
 

I'm so very excited to get these rabbits! They are going to be huge members of my herd. Each of them will contribute so much to the success in my barn.

Little Miss Adaliene stealing her Mommy's treats...

The vicious guard dogs

Adaliene, Alvin, and Nytro

Nytro

I had to cut out cardboard to cover most of the hutch doors to keep out the snow.

 

There should be more posts soon!! I have so many things so share but this post is already too long!

Rabbitry Cost Breakdown

Today I thought I'd do a Rabbitry Cost Break down for those of you wanting to start a small show rabbitry. I'm almost scared to post this. I am going to do how much I actually spent and how much to expect to spend. I found once-in-a-lifetime deals on most of my things. It's really hard to find rabbitry supplies that cheap. Brace yourselves.

What I spent:
Bucks: $260
Does: $260
Cages/feeders/waterers/carriers: $200

Monthly Costs:
Feed: $18.50 (Annual: $222)
Bedding: Free
Papers: Free

Grand Total: $942.00

This coming year, I plan to get a 12x16 Bunny Barn equiped with an AC ($3,000), many more cages, many misc. items, and many more bunnies. The investment has only just started! I just re-started my rabbitry in July so if you think about it, I have spent A LOT in the past 3 months. Plus I am a Youth breeder so $942 is a pretty big chunk of money for me. I have decided that I are going to try to make the bunnies pay for themselves from now on with litters.

Now What you should expect to pay for your Rabbitry if you don't wait for big deals to come up.

What to Expect:
Small Barn: $2,000
AC: $100-$500
Cages(20 holes): $1,200
Water bottles: $80
Feeders: $50
Cage Accessories: $50
Grooming table/supplies/scale: $60
Carriers(6): $50
Crocks for carriers: $30
Misc.Supplies: $50

Total: $3,670

This is not including the rabbits as the prices fluctuate so much.

These are expensive, FUN rabbits!!!

______________________________________________

Updates

Maybelle's new Litter. 1 sport, 2 banded.

Maybelle's temper has changed completely since she had a litter. She's so sweet now!

Popit feeling lonely now that I weaned her litter.

Popit's babies in their new cage.

Polar is going to live with my Bestfriend on Saturday.

Chex was re-bred on the 25th.

Manda was confirmed pregnant today!

No post is complete without a picture of my baby, Missy! <3

Random Ramblings

I had just finished plowing all day in the field and I got to watch a nice sunset from the gate on Saturday.

 

 

Sugah filling out nicely just like her momma.

 

Popit's baby, Panda. He is so ROUND!

 

My Boyfriend's baby also out of Popit, Polar. He is a baseball! <3

 

Teddy has filled out a lot!

Miss Grumpy Pants... Maybelle.

Manda, She is a wild one.

 

Teddy just loves to have his cage door opened.

 

Just in case you don't know me personally, That's me. haha!

My Wild Child was killing my hay bale. :/

 

My big boy, Grizz will be leaving us soon. :( I will hate to see him go.

Thought this was gorgeous.

<3 Utah <3

RIP Tegan

Well... As the title says, RIP Tegan. Poor Baby. I always looked forward to seeing his cute little hop to the front of the cage everyday. Not only am I heart-broken, but this also ruins my convention plans. I will be getting a  hotot doe from Alberta, Canada. But then I was also planning to bring in another doe from LuvLops. I don't know if I can afford it anymore.

 

Ugh.

RIP Tegan <3

Maybelle

My boyfriend's baby, Polar Bear!!

My dad bought some new zealands. This is Freddy.

Peaches the doe, with her sharpie tattoo.

Daisy doesn't know what to think of the bunny madness.

 

Gorgeous Utah Sunset on our land