CIRCUS LIONS RABBITRY

I've noticed a trend among lionhead breeders to be trying for traits that aren't actually called for in the standard.  I'd say the biggest one going right now is to breed for the teeniest, tiniest ears possible.  Now the standard calls for ears to be less than 3.5" long and to balance with the head.  But it seems that any rabbit with 3" ears is looked down on with scorn by a lot of folks.  What the heck?!  Smaller ears do tend to look a bit nicer but we don't need to breed for them to be Netherland dwarf size, do we?  The teeny ears thing seems to go along with the trend to like lionheads to be really small and "cute".  Again, the standard calls for a lionhead to be 3.5 lbs. as the ideal weight, and not going over 3.75 lbs.  That means that all other things being equal, the 3.5 lbs. rabbit should beat the 2.5 lbs. one.  We're not trying for a rabbit that looks like a Netherland with a fur collar.  Are we?  I found myself being caught up in this a bit and thinking of culling out a promising looking doe because her ears were a bit larger.  Then I saw photos of the rabbits that were used for presentation at the ARBA convention and they had bigger ears.  And they passed presentation.  That helped me to re-affirm my goal of breeding for what's there on  paper and keep that doe! 

I have heard of this phenomemon with show dogs, too.  A certain look becomes trendy and everyone jumps on the trendy train.  It takes the strength of your convictions to stick to what's written in the standard and not be swayed by what everyone thinks is cute.