I strongly dislike this illustration. It isn’t based on actual rabbit anatomy or skeletal alignment—it reflects a narrow aesthetic preference that became popular, not a structurally sound model. When this outline is selected for, it produces a “chopped” hindquarter, forces the pelvis to tuck under, and narrows the pelvic outlet. That combination predictably leads to reproductive and structural problems, including a pinched birth canal and compromised locomotion. The placement of the high point is the core issue. In this illustration it’s pushed too far back, effectively over the pelvic joint. In a correctly aligned skeleton, the high point falls just behind the knee, not over the pelvis. You can see this clearly when you overlay a naturally positioned skeleton. In the X-ray example below, the feet are slightly overposed, but once you visualize the alignment, the topline matches correctly—and the high point lands where anatomy dictates, not where a few people say it should be. This illustration has been overused, unchallenged, and repeated long past the point where it should have been corrected. When layered over real skeletal structure, it simply doesn’t hold up.

A Working Composite Breed in Development The Senita, also called the Partiquin Composite, is a developing working breed created for real-world utility: meat production, maternal strength, commercial type, and high resilience in both heat and cold. This project began in 2018, founded by Mary-Margaret Conley, and has since grown into a small, tightly curated collaborative program. Project timeline • 2018 — Foundation cross created by Mary-Margaret Conley • 2020 — Stephanie Hughes joined the project • 2023 — Elizabeth Yardley Kangas added to the team • 2024 — Madison Simmons of Colorado Springs joined, along with a few additional assisting breeders The original cross began with a Japanese Harlequin–colored non-pedigreed doe, bred to a New Zealand Red, then bred back to a New Zealand Broken Black. The purpose was never to create a “color rabbit” or a pet line; it was to build a reliable commercial rabbit with hybrid vigor, strong mothering ability, and correct commercial structure, while stabilizing recognizable brindle/magpie expression through ejej genetics. Today, Senita rabbits remain New Zealand–sized, with working lines ranging from 9–12 lb and expansion toward 16 lb underway—without sacrificing type. Growth benchmarks are rapidly improving, with current litters averaging 2 lb 10 oz at 5 weeks, and selective pressure aimed at reaching 4–5 lb at 8 weeks. The Senita project is a closed working committee, not a pet-breeding venture. Selection is strict, culling is expected, and only rabbits approved by the committee may be represented or sold as Senita. The studbook remains open during development, with structured data collection, performance logs, and phenotype evaluations required at set milestones.

Hi, I’m Mary — rabbit-obsessed, data-driven, and chronically allergic to bad advice. I built this place so we can ditch the House Rabbit driven fantasyland and talk real rabbits, real science, real fast. Now your turn: who are you, what rabbits do you have, and what chaos are they currently causing in your life?

For those who’ve switched to a balanced pellet-based diet — what’s the biggest physical change you noticed first? Coat? Muscle tone? Cecotropes?