What is the "Standard of Perfection?"
The rulebook every Holland Lop is measured against — and the reason you'll see terms like "show quality" and "broken" on this site.
The Standard of Perfection (SOP) is the official guidebook published by the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) describing the "ideal" version of every recognized rabbit breed. Each breed's section is written by that breed's national specialty club — for Holland Lops, the Holland Lop Rabbit Specialty Club — and adopted by ARBA.
At an ARBA-sanctioned show, a licensed judge compares each rabbit to this written standard — not to the other rabbits in the room — and scores it out of 100 points. Breeders use the same standard as a roadmap for choosing breeding stock, which is why the language of the SOP shows up throughout our site.
This page is a plain-language summary for education, not a reproduction of the official text. The complete standard is published in ARBA's Standard of Perfection book, available at arba.net.
Developed in the Netherlands by breeder Adrian de Cock, who crossed French Lops with Netherland Dwarfs — later adding English Lop influence — to shrink the classic lop-eared look into a compact body. ARBA recognized the breed in 1979, and it's since become one of the most popular breeds in the country, prized for its size, "teddy bear" look, and even temperament.
The 100-point schedule
Notice where the weight sits: 84 of 100 points go to overall type — not color. A correctly built rabbit will always outscore a beautifully colored one with poor type.
| Category | Points |
|---|---|
| General Type | 84 |
| Head, Ears & Crown | 42 |
| Head | 24 |
| Ears | 10 |
| Crown | 8 |
| Body & Bone | 42 |
| Body | 32 |
| Bone, Feet & Legs | 10 |
| Fur | 7 |
| Color & Markings | 4 |
| Condition | 5 |
| Total | 100 |
Color and markings are worth just 4 of 100 points — structure and type make up the vast majority of a Holland Lop's score.
Weight & age divisions
Holland Lops are divided into classes by age, not size — one of the smallest lop breeds recognized by ARBA.
Senior Bucks & Does
6 months of age or older. Emphasis is on correct proportion and heavy muscling within this weight, rather than a single "ideal" target weight.
Junior Bucks & Does
Under 6 months of age. A rabbit may never be shown in an older — or younger — age class than its true age.
Built short, thick, and heavily muscled
Body
Holland Lops are a compact breed — short, thick-set, and heavily muscled rather than long and rangy.
- Broad, well-filled shoulders and chest
- A smooth topline, with shoulder depth nearly equal to the depth of the hindquarters — no dip behind the shoulders (breeders often call this dip a "shelf," and it's one of the most common faults in the breed)
- Hindquarters that are broad, deep, and well-rounded down to the lower portion
- A small, simple dewlap is acceptable in does
Bone, Feet & Legs
Legs should be short, thick, straight, and heavily boned for the animal's size — this is what gives a correct Holland Lop its "chunky" look rather than a delicate one.
White toenails are preferred on Broken-pattern rabbits, but a Broken rabbit is never disqualified for colored or mismatched toenails.
The breed's signature feature
This is the single largest scoring block in the standard — and the feature most responsible for the Holland Lop's "teddy bear" look.
Head
Bold, massive, and wide — wide enough that, viewed from the front, it fills out well between the eyes down to a very short, well-filled muzzle. Viewed from the side, the skull is rounded, with only a slight flattening between the eyes and nose. The head sits high and close on the shoulders, in proportion to the body.
Ears
- Lop vertically, hanging close to the cheeks on both sides of the head
- Ear openings turned toward the head, not out to the sides
- Thick, well-furred, wide, and rounded — never pointed or thin — at the tips
- Hang just behind the eyes, extending no more than about 1 inch below the jaw line
- Balanced in length and width to the size of the head and body
Crown
The "crown" is the raised area of the skull at the base of the ears from which the ears drop. A well-defined crown, paired with correctly hanging ears, should form a horseshoe shape when the rabbit is viewed head-on — the classic outline breeders and judges are trained to spot.
Holland Lops are known for being an excitable breed, and an anxious rabbit will often hold its ears incorrectly on the table. The standard specifically calls for the animal to be allowed to relax before its ear carriage is judged.
The "rollback" coat
Stroke a Holland Lop's fur from the hindquarters toward the shoulders — against the direction it normally lies — and it should gradually roll back into place rather than staying flipped up. The standard calls for fur that's glossy, dense, fine in texture, roughly 1 inch long, and even over the entire body.
Two patterns, eight color groups
Holland Lops are shown in two pattern classifications. Colors within each pattern aren't judged against one another — only the pattern group matters for placing rabbits into a class.
Solid Pattern
A single recognized color carried over the entire rabbit.
Broken Pattern
A recognized color combined with white, in a spotted, patched, or blanket-style pattern. Judges look for a balanced nose marking, colored circles around both eyes, colored ears, and white feet.
The eight recognized color groups
Every individual color has its own detailed description in the official SOP covering surface color, undercolor, and eye color. Grouped here at a glance:
Agouti
Banded, "wild-type" hair shaft with distinct rings of color and ticking.
Broken
Any recognized color combined with white in a spotted or patched pattern.
Pointed White
White body with color restricted to the nose, ears, feet, legs, and tail.
Self
One solid color carried uniformly over the entire body.
Shaded
Color that gradually transitions from dark to light across the body.
Tan Pattern
A self-colored top with contrasting cream, orange, or fawn markings underneath and around the face.
Ticked
Guard hairs of a contrasting color evenly interspersed through the coat.
Wide Band
One even color carried broadly over the body with little to no banding.
Health and presentation
"Condition" refers to the rabbit's overall health, grooming, and presentation at the moment it's judged — clean fur, no stains, good flesh condition, and freedom from anything suggesting poor health or care.