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Judging

In May 2013 I started my journey in education and hands on experience to work towards becoming a Rhodesian Ridgeback Breed Specialist.  On 9 July 2022 I had the honour of judging my first Championship Show entry in the UK - an entry full to the brim of quality.   Thank you to the committee of the East of England Championship Show Committee for the invitation.  I am on the A1 Judging Lists for the Midland & Northern Rhodesian Ridgeback Club (M&NRRC), Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Great Britain (RRCGB) and the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Scotland (RRCS).   

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In September 2022 I had the great honour of judging the Czech Republic Rhodesian Ridgeback Club 30th Anniversary Show with a total entry of 471 Rhodesian Ridgebacks.  A wonderful 2 days and a great privilege to judge the entire entry with fellow judges Marielle Tresoor and Stanislava Janická.

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An invitation to award my 2nd set of UK Challenge Certificates has be warmly received from the committee of Border Union Agricultural Society to judge their 2024 Championship Show.  

 

I very much look forward to future appointments, both in the UK and abroad and thank the societies and exhibitors who give me the honour of judging this magnificent breed.

 

To quote Tom Horner, who in my humble opinion demonstrates the art of judging dogs perfectly in his book Take Them Round, Please, on his excellent guidance on fair and balanced judging, of which I am ever mindful of:

"Knowledge, decisiveness, integrity and the rest of the necessary qualities are useless without one vital possession - an 'eye for a dog', which is the ability that every good judge has to recognise at a glance whether a dog is right or wrong, good, bad or indifferent. A priceless gift, without which no one can make a real success of judging, it is acquired by long and painstaking study of anatomy, Breed Standards, high-class dogs and poor ones, breed books, photographs and so on, until it becomes an instinctive skill to weigh up the merits of a dog, almost on first sight. The history of breeds, their work and their development over the years, discussions with breeders and judges all help to give the student the vital eye for a dog.


He must study movement, type, quality and presentation in his particular varieties and learn to discriminate between a good dog poorly presented and a poor dog that is perfectly presented. A breeder acquires an eye for his breed as he goes along, and while it is not absolutely essential to be a breeder to make a good judge it certainly helps enormously. Very few judges become really first class without the constant contact with dogs of all ages that breeding entails."

From Take Them Round, Please by Tom Horner.

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I'm happy to steward Open and Championship shows - if I'm available, I'll help! If you need a steward for a show, please contact me through this site and I'll check my availability!  

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