NORTH REGION SHOW Birdwell Village Hall 7 November 2004
Judge: Ron Gardner

Having a journey of approximately an hour and a half, it was quite a pleasure to judge this northern show. About 100 animals were registered and I began with the Novice standards. The youngsters were a bit mixed with the females being mostly poor colour, the 2nd being fairly well presented. The 2nd young male was a bright chin and well groomed, needing a better neck. The adult females appeared to have been taken out of breeding, never a good idea as they are usually dirty. The adult males were much better. The 1st ribbon had a good neck and conformation, worthy of its award. I judged the young mutations after lunch and gave a 2nd award to a Wilson white that was a good animal with good conformation. The adult mutations produced an excellent sapphire, well worthy of a 1st ribbon. Both 1st ribbon winners went on to compete in the Champion Show.

I still feel that many of the Novice exhibitors need to get a good basic stock of standard animals, and then they will breed better mutations. If they talk to the breeders of the mutations winning in the champion classes I am sure they will find this is how they have achieved their success!

The champion classes began with the young standard females.
The medium dark phase 1st ribbon was well presented and blocky, with excellent veiling coverage, and a few comb marks, but was worthy of Best Young Standard Female for Paul Spooner. The reserve came from the same class, also showed grooming lines, but had loads of good quality fur.

The young standard males medium dark 1st ribbon was an excellent baby, with a lovely pure white underbelly, and went right through the show to become a very worthy Grand Show Champion for Aileen Cook and David Blakey The dark phase also produced a very nice chin in good prime with excellent colour, that took Reserve Young Male and Reserve Young Standard awards, again for Aileen and David.

The adult standard females were given no awards.

The adult standard males produced two good animals. The 1st having a lot of very dense fur with good veiling coverage, and the 2nd being what I described as a Joan Emery type of animal, blocky, good shape with dense fur. These two males took Best Adult Male and Reserve, the 1st ribbon was also Reserve Best Standard, and Reserve Show Champion, all for Paul Spooner.

The young mutations began with the Wilson whites. The 1st ribbon was clear and the 'right' colour, the 2nd having softer fur and was down in colour. The 1st in the beige phase was an excellent animal, good colour with a good neck, just needed finishing off, but took Reserve Young Mutation for Joan Davies. The 2nd ribbon was a slightly better colour but did not have the same strength of fur. The 1st ribbon black velvet had good colour, better coverage and was reasonably black in the neck, and won Best Young Mutation and Best Mutation for Lizz Benson. The 2nd ribbon was similar to the 1st but slightly down in colour. The A.O.C. class produced one 1st ribbon for a pink white that was in prime and had good conformation.

The Adult Mutations began with the Wilson white phase, and 1st and 2nd ribbons were both good, blocky chins well presented. The beige phase was a class of good sized top quality chins, and gave us the Best Adult Mutation and Reserve, both from Joan Davies. Two excellent chins, the 1st being better colour and in better condition, and will get even better in the near future. The black velvet 1st ribbon winner was dull in colour but had better coverage than the 2nd ribbon, and I learned later in the day that it was over 8 years old!! The A.O.C. class produced a nice pink white 1st ribbon. The animal was not finished so should improve in condition. The violet was out of condition but had good strong fur and gained a 2nd ribbon.

Another good show, with some nice animals. When I arrived, it was a hive of activity with members who had arrived early to set up the show tables and chairs etc. They worked like a well oiled machine at the beginning and end of the show, and are to be congratulated.

RON GARDNER