Monna Berryhill from Texas began working on the Mini Rex breed when she won a pair of DWARF REX donated by Marylouise Cowan at the 1984 ARBA Convention in Orlando Florida. A little buck, ZORO, survived and paired with a small Lynx Rex doe named Cotton they produced a litter of 7. There were 3 does in this litter that were kept to become the foundation for the Mini Rex breed. Happy, Bashful and Dopey have long faded from the pedigrees that we see today. Anyone who has been raising Mini Rex since the early years have old pedigrees in their files that can trace back to this beginning. Happy and Bashful were sent to Linda Thompson and Gloria Middleton in Sarasota, Florida. Where they were used to start a breeding program there. Gloria retired from rabbits in 1995 while Linda Thompson continues today with her Southern Belle's Mini Rex. You can find Southern Belles in the pedigrees of the top winning Castors including the first and second Mini Rex to win BIS at an ARBA Convention.
In 1986 at the ARBA Convention in Columbus a very nervous Monna Berryhill presented the Castor Mini Rex. After what seemed like a life time while the Standards Committee made a long careful scrutiny of the animals, they approved the working standard for the Mini Rex rabbit. The cheers rose and tears flowed as we hugged and predicted that this was the breed of the future.
