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Page Content
History of Our Project
In case you want to hear about how our tri project has come to be what it is, we will include a section about it
How to Breed Showable Tricolor Holland Lops
We want to discuss the color aspect of breeding this unique and very difficult color
How to Tell if your Tricolor/Harley is Torted
It can take months for it to be apparent that a tricolor has torted, so look here to learn the most reliable way to tell if your tricolor babies will tort.
Why Keep a DQ Color?
Charlies, Harlequins, Torted Tricolors/Harlequins are all examples of DQ colors that can benefit your herd. We will also discuss when a magpie can be beneficial to your herd in this section.
Showing Tricolors
What is ideal in a tricolor show rabbit? Learn about why 5 points can make such a big difference.
RLR's Tricolor Project
Tricolor is our original color project!
Tricolor is what got us excited about holland lops. It all started with one incredible buck that we were apparently just destined to have in our lives.
Showing Your Tricolor Holland Lop
Showable Tricolors
Tricolor are showable in the broken variety of Holland Lops. Since I talk about type in another section, I am going to skip that and focus on just color.
They are showable in the following colors:
-Black/Orange
-Chocolate/Orange
-Blue/Cream
-Lilac/Cream
Per the ARBA SOP, Tricolor is described as white in conjunction with one of the above color combinations. The colors are ideally evenly distributed and in my experience many judges will fault for spots so close together it looks like brindling. The colors should be vibrant, with orange described as "rich" and cream described as "bright" in the SOP. Toenails should be white, but it is not a DQ to have colored toenails in any broken variety Holland Lop. Eyes should brown in black and chocolate tri and blue-grey in blue and lilacs.
The ARBA standard of perfection describes orange in the following way;
"The surface color of the body is to be bright orange on the head, outside of the ears, back and the top of the tail. The color will fade into a lighter orange on the sides and chest. Color is extended well down the hair shaft to an off-white undercolor. The surface color of the belly (except for the orange lap spots, back of the forelegs, inside of the hind legs, top of the hind feet, and underside of the lower jaw) is to be white with an off-white undercolor. The inside of the ears, nostrils and eye circles are to be creamy white."
I have always interpreted the Tricolor standard to mean that they are to be true oranges as a base color (or creams) so all of my tri show rabbits have been agouti. (More on self tri in the breeding section above).
Color is worth 5/100 points on the show table, but it can also be a disqualification. Even with a showable tricolor, poor coloring will impact placement. I recall RLR's Negan had very little black on his body and had a cream color instead of orange and most of his black was concentrated on one ear, like it was dipped in ink. He was a beautiful rabbit, very true to the SOP, but in the 6 shows he was in, he never got a leg. He was habitually second place and the judges were clear it was about his color. I remember one judge telling me he was going to place him as low as he could because of his terrible color- that was the time he got 3rd place! There was one show I took Glenn to, and he was a rich, vibrant, stunning orange color, but this judge spent no less than 5 minutes blowing into every spot on this rabbit looking for a blue spot so that he could DQ him.
There are a lot of biases against tricolor and understandably so. I have said it many times before, but Tricolor is a TRENDY color for pet breeders who don't care about the breed standard. they breed chinchilla (or sable) into it knowing that they will get unshowable magpies which makes a very hard color, even more difficult! The vast majority of Tricolor Holland Lop breeders are pet breeders and do not show, so be prepared for the scrutiny from serious show breeders. Some breeders will write you off as soon as you tell them you breed Tricolor because in their mind they see the snipey mess the color tends to be. Breeding tri is not for anyone thin skinned. I don't want to discourage people, but I do want to prepare them. It gets better when people know you are serious, but it takes time and commitment. If you need some encouragement about showing, read my blog that is a letter to new show breeders.
Non-Showable Japanese Colors
Colors that cannot be shown that you can expect in your Tricolor program include;
-Charlie Tricolors (Tri with < 10% color)
-Harlequins (Solid version of Tricolor)
-Torted Tricolor/Harley (aa and eje)
-Magpie/Broken Magpie (Chin or Sable)