I've been getting a lot of questions about the proper pose for a Wooly. First, let's look at what the standard says. The Wooly standard has a special note on posing that indicates the rabbit should be in a relaxed and natural position. While the head should have a high mount, it should not over-manipulated to pose unnaturally high (nor be pushed down, like the breed's early years when they were "table huggers" and posed with their head on the table, similar to how a Mini Rex or French Angora is posed). Further, in the section of the Wooly standard describing the head, the high head mount is reinforced while also calling for a head set close to the shoulders. The body is to rise slightly from the shoulder (which is significantly different from some other high head mount breeds, namely the Netherland Dwarf and Holland Lop, where the topline begins immediately after the head with no dip at the shoulders). This description is important because a rabbit that is posed too highly may lack a distinctive dip (or be more prone to having a kink in it's spine to achieve the dip) or, conversely, be hiding shoulders that are too low and/or long.
The key phrases when looking at a Wooly are 1) high head mount, 2) relaxed position and 3) not manipulated to pose unnaturally high. I often see breeders and judges posing a Wooly so high that their bodies look more like Britannia Petites with wool (and if the wool wasn't hiding it, I'll bet you'd see sunlight under the body). A lot of rabbits posed overly high also seem to not have a head set snuggly into the shoulders and may have the head placement set far back onto the body. They also often seem TOO short. Yes, we want a short body, but not a non-existent one. The length must be in proportion to the width and depth!
To display some of the posing differences I've posted 4 pics. 1 & 2 are MnM's Jarvista (a senior). She has the preferred head mount in picture one. Picture 2 shows her attempting the Petite pose (and I've seen rabbits sitting even higher than this in some FB posts). This pose sets her head too far back for my liking and creates a disproportionately short body, while also distorting the topline (this is a feature that must be felt more than seen in a pic. Wool can hide a lot of faults). Pics 3 & 4 show SwanHonk's Cupcake (4 months old). She is posed best in pic 3. The last pic shows her with her head placed lower. While I find the lower head mount attractive, it is too close to a mid-level mount for my comfort. The rabbit tends to lengthen and lose a bit of depth in this pose, as well, and like the overly-posed animal, the topline can be distorted. When the standard was first changed from low head mount to high head mount I saw many animals posed as in pic 4 on the show table.
How to pose a Jersey Wooly