Lionhead Rabbits

The mane covers the entire top of the head of the Lionhead rabbit. The main encircles the sides of the head in line a parallel with the ears on the sides till it blends into the wool of the chest and cheeks. On the top of the head (cap) it passes through the ears and blends into the triangle; since the triangle is ALWAYS affected by the mane gene to some extent. It then follows a line down the shoulder from the triangle to the bib (chest) along the line of the foreleg. The wool on the top of the head tends to from a cap from which it fall forward towards the eyes.

The wool of the cap Lionheads with very long mane wool on have a tendency for the mane to "part" and fall off to the side of the face. There should be a nice clean break on the back edge of the eyes before the mane wool begins. The cheek area of the face is also covered with wool.

Some Lionheads carry wool over almost the entire face (with NO noticeable cap) this is a disqualification for the breed. Many shed this face wool out as the age and this tendency is most common on double mane gene Lionheads (MM). Please note the ARBA judge is required to judge the Lionhead as it is on the table the day they see. It is NOT their job to guess if the face wool will go away as the Lionhead ages. If the young Lionhead has wool on the face it should be disqualified under our current working standard. In addition to face wool some Lionheads can have wool on the ears. This is heavy longer wool up the entire length of the ear and seldom forms tassels as seen in the English Angora. This is a disqualification under the present standard.

In young Lionheads the lower flanks and rump are almost always affected to some extent by the mane gene. On single mane (Mm) Lionheads this is less noticeable and disappears more quickly with age. The double mane Lionhead (MM) may be heavily impacted in these areas by the mane gene with heavy lower flank and rump wool. The appearance of the saddle differs within lines. In some bloodlines even double mane (MM) Lionheads show the saddle at six weeks old (when the wool of the mane and flanks first becomes pronounced) while in other lines they will not shed out their saddle wool until they are four to five months old. The current working standard only faults flank wool on junior Lionheads. The only disqualification is for flank wool only that is excessive on senior Lionhead rabbits.

Showing Lionhead Rabbits

Even though the Lionhead rabbit is a recognized breed in England, they are not an American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) recognized breed.

The breed was presented in 2005 at the ARBA Convention and passed a showing. Until they pass two additional presentations under the ARBA Standards Committee they are shown in the United States under a Proposed Working Standard. The Lionhead breed passed in 2005 at the ARBA Convention only in the color TORTOISE. This means that clubs are obligated to accept entries on Lionheads in Tortoise variety only. Club's may take entries on other varieties of Lionheads at their discretion. They are not obligated to accept any variety except Tortoise. In either case a copy of the standard of the Lionhead MUST be furnished to the judge or they will not be judged.

Angel Rabbitry is a Lionhead Rabbit Rabbitry located in Payette Idaho