I must start by saying that this was a very well run show and a real pleasure to be a part of. Palmerston North Cat Club created a great sense of occasion, the show hall looked inviting and exciting and us judges were very well looked after throughout. An innovation that I particularly enjoyed was the sisal posts on each judging table. They provided an opportunity to get cats to stretch out and show themselves off and for kittens to have fun as well as providing some extra entertainment for spectators (whether or not the cat was interested in the post). I have focussed here on the Top Five in each section. Overall the quality of the top exhibits in all sections was extremely high._______________________
Entire LH Cat
My best cat in this section was a blue bicolour Ragdoll Adoradolls Let There Be Love. A young girl with wonderful eye colour not always seen in Ragdolls, good head type all round, great length of body and excellent coat - a silky easy care coat that breaks as it moves. Reserve went to Bronze Dbl Gr Ch Concerto Holly Holy, a lovely lilac point Birman, again with outstanding eye colour. It is always more of a challenge to get good type in recessive colours (not to mention double recessives!). This girl had good width across her cheekbones, a slight roman nose, correct eye shape, size and set, good chin and a very typical Birman expression. Third best was a black and white Norwegian Forest Cat Gr Ch S*Just Catnaps Batman (Imp Swe), a handsome boy of good size and substance. He had a great coat texture and a very pleasing head with a straight profile and correct triangular head shape without being too pointy about the muzzle, complemented by a long body and long legs. Each of these three cats represented outstanding examples of their respective breeds. Each also demonstrated excellent temperament. Next at fourth was the black van Persian Dixykatz Andromeda. Like the other Persians entered, this cat was beautifully groomed and in fact got my award for Best Groomed. All three Persians had fabulous eye colour and good type. However what put this girl ahead of the others was a shorter body and more open nostrils. She also took out the award for Best Eye Colour. 5th best was Flurmonz Garvantua, a young red silver tabby Maine Coon. They always say that as judges we tend to be hardest on our own breed and this may well be true. All of the Maine Coons entered had good qualities but sadly none of them was perfect. This was my best Maine Coon on the day, a beautifully presented boy with outstanding temperament - he got my award for Best Temperament. His body development was excellent for his age, long, strong and muscular with heavy boning. I loved his square muzzle, open expression, and large ears with lynx tips. My Breeders Award of Merit went to my Best In Show - not just for excellent type, but for achieving good eye colour.
Entire LH Kitten
Once again a Ragdoll took out Best in Show, Kiwimagic Cover Girl, a lovely blue bicolour who was my best Ragdoll in a strong field. Her excellent body, true to type coat, perfect profile and head shape were complemented by ideal Ragdoll temperament. While Ann Baker may have used chemical assistance to achieve the required relaxed attitude in her Ragdolls, Kiwimagic Cover Girl's breeder has clearly achieved the desired temperament through good breeding choices. My Reserve was Flurmonz Quintella, a gorgeous black Maine Coon. It takes something extra for a Maine Coon to stand out when it is a solid colour, as the tabby markings help to accentuate the face shape and muzzle, and ears on black cats often look smaller. This girl ticked all my boxes with large ears, a nice concave dip in her pofile and great square muzzle, along with good body and tail length. She got my Breeder's Award of Merit. Third was Chalfont Uncle Sam, a really handsome seal point Birman who went on to take out Supreme LH in show. Another cat that showed all the desired type characteristics for his breed with a correct roman nose, good chin, excellent eye colour and shape, good width across the cheekbones, excellent size, body development and boning, These three cats were all equally deserving of Best In Show, however judges are not allowed to award joint Best In Show awards and these were my awards on the day. Fourth best was a white Norwegian Forest Cat, Jamlynkatz White Christmas. At just over four months she had wonderful size, body length, and boning and excellent coat. In a slow developing breed, we don't always see this in young kittens. Nice head type, with good ear size and set. My fifth best kitten was Rosimorn Gemtastick, a lilac tortie tabby bicolour Exotic. She was my best Exotic with a good dome, round head, short body and tail and good eye colour with correct plush coat. A very pretty and unusual colour - well done to breeder Robyn Morrison, achieving this type with a double recessive colour.
Neuter Spay Kitten
Working to a theme here (no, not really) Adoradolls Nothing But The Best, a seal Bicolour Ragdoll was my Best in Show. I actually judged this section first. I must say though that the consistent high standard of the Ragdolls I had the pleasure to judge was very impressive. A lovely all round cat with great temperament. This was my nomination for Breeder's Award of Merit (which was decided in conjunction with Jane Slabbert who judged the N/S LH cats in this ring - and did go to this exhibit). Reserve was Kiwicoons Fire and Ice, a really lovely white Maine Coon girl who was let down a bit by her grooming. But we know that Neuter Spay novice exhibitors may not know just what they need to do to present a cat at its very best so in the end it did not hold her back much. She had a great square muzzle, large well set ears, good body length and tail length. A girl with lots of potential for the future if her owner chooses to continue to show her. Third best was a black Exotic, Eastside Mr Darcy who was very nice all round (round being the operative word, lovely rounded head, short solid body and tail, beautiful eyes), with a lovely temperament - so he got my Best Temperament. Then came Concerto Jasper Blu at fourth, a blue point Birman with good head type, breadth across the cheekbones, stunning deep blue eye colour, and good body length. He was beautifully presented and got Best Groomed and Best Eye Colour. Then fifth best was Ranchdolls Alexander, my second best Ragdoll, a seal bicolour, with generally good type but somewhat paler eyes than Adoradolls Nothing But The Best.
_______________________
What a joy it was to judge all these wonderful cats. My thanks to the club and to the exhibitors for giving me this opportunity.
_______________________
Photo of Zena judging courtesy of Catherine Holmes Photography
No comments:
Post a Comment