The purebred Holland Lop is an extraordinary breed. The most important characteristics that distinguish the Holland Lop from others are its compact, massive body and a bold, beautiful head that is framed with short, thick ears that fall close to the cheeks from a well defined and correctly positioned crown. The Holland Lop, in general, is a well-balanced breed with great width and depth with strong legs and heavy bone. With the added benefit of having an endearing temperament, the Holland Lop is one of the most popular breeds in the world today.
Body
The body should be short, massive, and wide set with a topline that starts behind the head and carries back to a well-muscled body and hindquarter. Equal width, depth, and length with a broad chest is important for proper balance. The equal ratios allows for evenness of body that can be seen when comparing the width between the front legs and hind feet when flipped upside down or felt when transitioning your hand over the shoulder to the hindquarter. The shoulder and chest should not exceed the width of hindquarter.
Head
The head should always appear massive, in proportion to the body, set high and close to the shoulders, and have good frontal width that starts from crown, rounds between the eyes, and ends with a short and round muzzle. The eye of Holland should be bold and deep.
Ears
Ears should be thick and wide, well-furred, and have the infamous, rounded, teaspoon shaped tips. In addition, the ears should hang close to the cheeks from a properly defined and positioned crown; which causes the front of the ear to lay just behind the back of the corner of the eye where the upper and lower lids meet. The length of ear should be balance with the head and be equal to or slightly longer than the jaw in length.
Crown
A beautiful crown is one of the most important attributes of the breed. It should be strongly defined with a ridge that appears to sit on top of the head to help give a more massive appearance. A correct crown should have excellent front to back and side-to-side width and excellent depth consisting of good cartilage and fur. The crown should wrap from one side of the head to the other ending just behind the top of the eyes. No space between the ear and the eyes should be seen when viewed from the side.
Bone, Feet & Legs
The legs are to be short, straight, and thick in appearance due to being heavily boned.
Rollback Fur
Holland Lop fur is to be glossy, dense, fine, and approximately 1″ in length. It should gradually roll back into normal position when stroked in the opposite direction of natural growth, i.e., hindquarters to shoulders.
Color & Markings
Although Hollands come in many colors, they’re only shown in solid and broken (color with white pattern) groups. Please see the HLRSC Guidebook for more details.
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