| Estimating Color on broken Jersey Woolies |
By Teresa Wooden
The new proposed color standard on the broken Jersey Wooly will call for
disqualification for color that is "less than 10% or more than 50% of the entire
animal". Currently, however, the requirement is for 10% and 50% color (cans the
"entire animal" phrase) which most judges define as pertaining to the body area of
the rabbit (as per other breeds with broken varieties).
This percentage is solely the judge's decision on any given animal, based on his
perception of what constitutes 10% and 50%.
Estimating color that is more than 50% of the animal's body area is pretty easy. If
you have a rabbit that shows so much color that the white areas are in the
minority, you can easily see it. It seems to me that this will almost always be a
"blanket" patterned broken, with a large area of solid color usually over the back
and down the sides.
Estimating "less than 10%" of the body area is
trickier. My rabbit has a few body spots, but how
much is enough? Here is the method I have
developed for myself and Anna to judge those lightly
marked Jerseys. I call it the "two foot" method.
Does your rabbit have two feet of color?
Okay, get your finger off the mouse and back away
from the "back" button. There is a method to my
madness. Stay with me a minute.
The following rule seems to hold true for most
mature dwarf Jerseys, though it may not hold true for babies as they grow and
change, and maybe not for non-dwarfs. If you look at the rabbit's overall body
area, 10% of that area will correspond roughly to the size of his two hind feet put
together. Let me illustrate:
Here is a dwarf Jersey buck. I hold a paper up behind him and trace his body
profile. Then, I trace one of his hind feet. Next I lay out the traced body profile
and divide it in half. Remember that the profile itself is equal to 50% (one side) of
the rabbit's body. I divide the profile into quarters, and one of the quarters in half.
Each half-quarter is about 12.5%, right? That's close to 10%,
close enough for our purposes.
I can see that the outline of one foot takes up about half of the 12.5% area. So, I
cut up two foot outlines and rearranged the pieces inside that area, mosaic-style.
You can see that two of his hind feet fit nicely inside the 12.5% body area. Thus, I
say that our rabbits need "two feet" of color.
This is an easy way to look at any animal and estimate quickly whether or not you
think they have the appropriate amount of color. I guess you could even trace the
body spots onto a piece of paper and see how they fit into a couple of foot tracings.
Of course we have to keep in mind that it is all estimation, we are just "eyeballing"
it and making a guess. A judge may approve a lightly colored rabbit in one show,
and the next judge could disqualify the same rabbit for lack of color. It's totally
based on one person's opinion, but at least this gives us a guideline to make an
educated guess.
Now, if they succeed in passing the "entire animal" clause in the standard, that
will only help us out, as we will then be able to consider the ears, the eye circles,
the nose markings, and any head color in that percentage. Many more Jerseys will
pass the color line then, than will as it stands now.
The new proposed color standard on the broken Jersey Wooly will call for
disqualification for color that is "less than 10% or more than 50% of the entire
animal". Currently, however, the requirement is for 10% and 50% color (cans the
"entire animal" phrase) which most judges define as pertaining to the body area of
the rabbit (as per other breeds with broken varieties).
This percentage is solely the judge's decision on any given animal, based on his
perception of what constitutes 10% and 50%.
Estimating color that is more than 50% of the animal's body area is pretty easy. If
you have a rabbit that shows so much color that the white areas are in the
minority, you can easily see it. It seems to me that this will almost always be a
"blanket" patterned broken, with a large area of solid color usually over the back
and down the sides.
Estimating "less than 10%" of the body area is
trickier. My rabbit has a few body spots, but how
much is enough? Here is the method I have
developed for myself and Anna to judge those lightly
marked Jerseys. I call it the "two foot" method.
Does your rabbit have two feet of color?
Okay, get your finger off the mouse and back away
from the "back" button. There is a method to my
madness. Stay with me a minute.
The following rule seems to hold true for most
mature dwarf Jerseys, though it may not hold true for babies as they grow and
change, and maybe not for non-dwarfs. If you look at the rabbit's overall body
area, 10% of that area will correspond roughly to the size of his two hind feet put
together. Let me illustrate:
Here is a dwarf Jersey buck. I hold a paper up behind him and trace his body
profile. Then, I trace one of his hind feet. Next I lay out the traced body profile
and divide it in half. Remember that the profile itself is equal to 50% (one side) of
the rabbit's body. I divide the profile into quarters, and one of the quarters in half.
Each half-quarter is about 12.5%, right? That's close to 10%,
close enough for our purposes.
I can see that the outline of one foot takes up about half of the 12.5% area. So, I
cut up two foot outlines and rearranged the pieces inside that area, mosaic-style.
You can see that two of his hind feet fit nicely inside the 12.5% body area. Thus, I
say that our rabbits need "two feet" of color.
This is an easy way to look at any animal and estimate quickly whether or not you
think they have the appropriate amount of color. I guess you could even trace the
body spots onto a piece of paper and see how they fit into a couple of foot tracings.
Of course we have to keep in mind that it is all estimation, we are just "eyeballing"
it and making a guess. A judge may approve a lightly colored rabbit in one show,
and the next judge could disqualify the same rabbit for lack of color. It's totally
based on one person's opinion, but at least this gives us a guideline to make an
educated guess.
Now, if they succeed in passing the "entire animal" clause in the standard, that
will only help us out, as we will then be able to consider the ears, the eye circles,
the nose markings, and any head color in that percentage. Many more Jerseys will
pass the color line then, than will as it stands now.
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