What breed is my rabbit

Question
Brenda,
  I bought a rabbit last fall and at the time, the man I bought him from said he was a polish.  He evidentally had no idea though, because this rabbit is no dwarf!!  He weighs about 7-8 pounds and his ears are 3 1/2 inches long.  We are taking him to our county fair as a market rabbit since he did put quite a bit of weight on.  He has a broken blanket pattern and is chestnut/brown and agouti in color.  He is no type of lop, but other than that, we have no clue as to what he is.  We are guessing he is a cross-bred of some sort.  If you can give us any idea of the possible breeds he could be from the information I gave, that would be great.  

Thank You,
Desire'e


Answer
I am certainly no expert on rabbits other than the breeds I raise at home.  That being said, some so-called dwarf or mini rabbits can grow larger than their breed standard.  

You are probably right that you have a mix breed of some sort, but of what I can't say with out actually seeing the rabbit.  Fur density and type will tell you something about the breed as will the shape of the face and topline.

Do a Google search on "Rabbit breeds" or "types of rabbits" and see if you can find a site with some pictures.  A book at the library might help you as well.  Keep in mind that it will be hard when trying to determine the breeds involved in a mix.

You can also go back to the guy you got it from and ask if there is a possibility that the litter your rabbit came from was crossed with something other than Polish.  He may come clean and let you know what the rabbit really is.

Brenda