I will not scratch my rabbits from a show if the judge is bad at posing Hollands, nor will I if they are color biased or I don't agree with their placings. The only circumstance under which I will scratch my rabbits is if the judge is if I feel that they are a rough handler. This may seem harsh, but I don't want my animals to be manhandled. Not only is it disrespectful to me as an exhibitor, but it also upsets and poses risks to the health and safety of my animals. Mistakes happen, but I don't like the idea of someone breaking my rabbit's tooth, nail, toe, or worse just because they won't handle the animals appropriately. Therefore, if I feel that there is a significant risk of this happening, I may make the decision to pull my animals from that particular showing.
This issue is not endemic to older or newer judges. From what I've seen, there's no correlation. I think the issue stems from when a person either doesn't get feedback on their handling or ignores said feedback. As a judge, you are handling anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars worth of animals in any particular show. Whether the animal is the best you've ever seen or what you consider to be a total cull, it was clearly worth enough to the exhibitor that they chose to invest their entry dollars in having you assess it. That rabbit might be some 4-H kid's beloved pet. It might be an ARBA Convention winner. It doesn't matter. The point is, a judge's job is to treat the animals with some respect.
When you choose to judge at a show, you have been hired to do a job, and it's important that you do that job properly. Part of that is 'customer service'. Your customers, i.e. the exhibitors, are paying good money to enter the show. They aren't paying for placements, they are paying for your opinion and handling of the animals. They are paying for a good experience. A bad experience will discourage them from entering again. As an exhibitor, if my animals aren't handled appropriately and fairly, I'll be less inclined to come back than if the judge handles them gently and respectfully.
In fact, the Holland Lop breed standard specifically states the following:
"Holland Lops can be excitable by nature and require a light touch to properly evaluate type, ear carriage and topline. When posing a Holland Lop, set the hindquarter and gently lift under the chin to encourage the animal to pose lightly on its front feet. Animals pushed down with their forelegs flat on the table will fail to show proper Holland Lop type. The head should not be held when evaluating the topline. In order to evaluate ear carriage the animal should be allowed to relax."
They are actually really sweet rabbits. If you approach them with a positive attitude
Obviously you don't want to be a pushover, but there's a huge difference between letting an animal get away with murder, and gentle but firm appropriate handling of the animal. I might be temporarily firm with a rabbit if it's being badly behaved in order to correct a bad behavior. This is something I would correct privately at home. It's my choice as the owner how I want to handle any such issues. However, that isn't the judge's job.
Things that will make a Holland misbehave:
~Grabbing at their heads roughly
~Being overly brisk
~Quick, sudden movements
~Picking up and dropping to get them to sit up
~Tossing them in cages
~Grabbing them out of the cages quickly
~Repeatedly over or under-posing them