Well I started to write this blog update last night, but was soo tired after the first day of judging that I downloaded my pictures and went straight to bed. Today has been the second day of judging and ultimately the BIS decission and presentation.
Yesterday I judged the Fancy & Lop breeds and found on the whole, the stock to be of good quality. Most of the fancy breeds however were let down by lack of showmanship skills from the rabbits.. i.e either they havent been trained correctly or the owners havent been trained in how to train.. so hopefully on the seminar day tomorrow we shall try and address this and see if we can get owners and rabbits in a mind set that you actually have to do more with the rabbits than just breed them and then take them to a show when they are old enough.
So onto the winners. Best Fancy went to a very nice Choc Dutch. Super headed rabbit with really good stops.. a little out under but for a Dutch it was still pretty well marked. Runner up Best Fancy went to a Choc Polish.... (another choc rabbit) which would put a lot of UK REW POLES TEETH to shame.. what a 'character' he was... but after about the twentieth attempt to remove a limb from me I decided he was not to be rewarded for his behaviour, plus he was still failing in coat so lost his overal place on that reason. The BEW Polish were very strong in numbers, but a little uneven in quality. Having said that, I feel they have made more progress on this colour in the short time they have been trying them than the UK has on their BEW Poles, so good on you guys.. The Netherland Dwarfs have an endemic problem in Australia - low set shoulders and dippy necks. I found it hard to find anything with correctly placed shoulders, which was a real shame as there were some lovely heads and ears, all of which ended up in the wrong position due to shoulder placement... The Angoras were as to be expected.. exceptional, and if I had a suitcase big enough I would have brought a couple home for the UK exhibitors.. front and head furnishings and density to DIE FOR!
The Lops proved to be very popular section and a full representation of all the lop varieties that are in Australia were there. The Mini Cashmere Lops could compete easily in the UK and in most cases are a lot better than what I judge over here on a regular basis. I was very much impressed. The Aussies have started to recreate the French Lop... unfortunately I had to disqualify both French that were shown as they were not over 10lb and were shown as adults. I hope the owners do come to the seminar tomorrow though as I would like to speak with them about where they go from here with them.. It would be dreadful for them to give up now since they have come this far with them. Best Lop came from the German entry (of one) BUT what a lovely rabbit.. a chinchilla, of superb colour. The Mini Lops were to be fair a mixed bunch, but I expected this to be the case.. My best Adult and Best Youngster came from the Tan Pattern Class.. (Blk Otter Ad - Blk Fox u/5) with the youngster taking best of breed. I was very impressed with both of these exhibits.. later to find out they belonged to the same person... I was a bit of the same mind over the Dwarf Lops too. Nothing that really stood out and slapped me round the chops, but some nice quality rabbits in the breed, just needing to take a bit off one and put it on another and we'd be starting to get somewhere, but none with a f ew good qualities together in the same animal....
The Fur & Rex from today have been a pleasure to judge and the eventual BIS winner came from todays groups. The Ermine Rex buck was a joy to handle. I saw it hit the table and smiled. The type was top drawer, the coat again was copy book and the presentation and fitness told me who ever owned this rabbit really knew it too. So well presented it gleemed. It makes long judging days worth while when you find an animal of this quality in the entry, and to top it off the owner penned Ru Best Rex.. 3rd Rex and best u/5 rex too. With a Black otter adult, Himmy adult and then a young otter from the Junior class. This guys certainly knows what he is doing!
It was very nice to see a number of Fox rex exhibited, something you dont see that often these days in the UK. But please remember my Australian friends.. BROKEN STANDARD REX are NOT standardised under BRC rules.. only Broken Mini Rex...... and will be disqualified every time. I doubt they will ever be passed either as there is a lot of opposition to them in the UK.
The Fur section gave me my two biggest classes of the whole show. 20 Adult REW Swiss Fox's and 14 Ivory Satins. The Swiss fox class was to find my Best Fur winner.... and although they were a mixed bunch in that they all had things about them that I would have liked to have changed, the broader picture indicates that these are some of the best, if not the best Swiss I have ever judged. From the young Swiss class I also found the best fur kitten too. Coloured Satins really have taken off in Oz and the Best of Breed Squirrel was very nice.. failed a little on banding over the center of the back, but down the sides and majority of the way over it was very good.. and for a Squirrel to actually have visible banding, thats something esle!! Opals, Blacks, Blues, Oranges, Blue Otters, Black Otters, Siamese Sables... you name, the Aussies will have it in Coloured Satins.. we should try it in the UK you know.. as a line up of coloured satins like I judged today is a beautiful thing. Runner up Best Fur came from the British Giant class with a REW doe leading the way - and although I would have liked a flatter back, the coat quality and presentation of her was very ery good indeed..
So.. its back tomorrow to the venue for the seminar and to say good bye to everyone who has welcomed me so warmly (and it has been VERY warm...lol) to Sydney and then a couple of days rest before setting off to Adelaide, on the next leg of the tour...
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