First off, everyone must realize that the proposed changes are in no way critizing anyone's herd, breeding program or personal preferences. It is all about the jersey wooly and only the jersey wooly. It has nothing to do with me or anyone else as far as that goes. We will all be long gone and if the world stays centered, the wooly will still be here and warming hearts and winning BIS's. For me, it has always been about the breed, nothing else. Why would I, or anyone else take on the financial burdon and extra work to present a new color/variety, if it wasn't about the breed? It's not like there will be great financial freedom, press coverage or nobel awards to accompany the acceptance! It's like finding that perfect pair of shoes and you go back to the store and ask what other colors they come in. If I could make a living raising rabbits, I would do it in a heartbeat! My love of this breed is what has kept me in it this hobby for this many years. Well, that and the friends that I have made.
Has anyone taken a look at the number of animals that are being shown at the lionhead nationals? It is almost embarassing that a non-recognized breed can produce numbers that make ours look so sad. Why do you think they have the numbers we lack? Simple! Their love of the breed and desire to see it accepted. It all boils down to promotion of our breed. We spend way too much time on petty things and do not use our energies to promote the breed. Even some of the worst products on the market sell.......because of promotion. They peak our curiosty and draw us in to see what the fuss is about. We need to promote our breed positively in any manner we can.
When my daughter got her first two Jersey woolies, stock was difficult to find. If you did find some animals for sale, you could pick out their faults from across the room. Most woolies had long, rangey bodies, pinbones were the norm, but boy did they have a cute face! It was the head and ears that drew my attention to them. I hated their bodies but was willing to live with that fault and try to improve upon what I had. In those days, the woolies were not considered for BIS, they were lucky to just win their breed! The NJWRC standards committee decided that the bodies had to be improved, so more points were put onto the body and removed from the head/ears. For some breeders, it was an absolute sin to be doing so, and many tense moments were spent reading the letters that were sent. Well, guess what?? The decision to put more emphasis on the body proved to be a wise choice. Look at how many BIS's the woolies now win! It is not smart to sit back and say "Good Enough", there is still more work to be done. We now want to see the number of RIS's be changed to BIS. Our choosen breed needs to be consistent on the show table on a global level. I believe the proposed changes will help us to achieve that goal. It won't happen overnight, it will take dedication and persistance. Who knows, maybe one day, it won't be necessary to change the point structure because the Jersey Wooly has become balanced and consistant in every way. That is my dream, what's yours?
How many of you have contacted your District Directors and provided input or given suggestions? I remember seeing the posts on the JW list, asking everyone to contact the standards committee or their directors, if you had any suggestions or questions. I received two emails and less than 10 people discussed changes with me. The club is not just about reporting your wins or complaining about your points being incorrect, it is about the breed and how we all promote and improve what we have.
Every 5 years, the National clubs are allowed to make changes to their standards, with the memberships approval. We are allowed to move no more than 5 points at that time and any wording changes that are needed to aid in a better description of the breed. This is our vehicle to help train the judges eye to what we, as a club, deem to be an important focus. Judges being human, like the rest of us, see, comprehend and apply information that they retain in different ways. You can have 20 people in a room, and all are given the exact same information, not everyone will process it or repeat it the same way. No different with the standards that are put before the judges. Every year, the ARBA has educational seminars that are open for all to attend and we can only hope, that the information given is helpful and used in the proper context. Have you ever talked to a judge after they were done judging and asked them why they made the comments they did? It is all of our responsibility as members of the club, to help to educate the judges on a daily basis.
Helen McKie, who is well known for her wool quality saw the need to change how the judges look at our coats. She has some very valid points and is able to describe in words how the coat on the wooly is suppose to look. She has been able to make me see the perfect coat visually, in my mind. Here is an excerpt of Helen's description;
"Our beuatiful, care free, flowing coats have a "certain look" about them that the eye can see. That look is created by the even length of the moderately coarse guard hairs that extend about an inch beyond the dense undercoat and drapes gracefully over it, thus giving the coat it's flowing appearance. The length, texture and density are vital and are almost equally important. You cannot have one without the other." Helen thought if we gave density only 1 point, that the lack of points would 'still' be ignored and density would still reign supreme. Judges and breeders have gone nutzo over super dense coats and seem to ignore the correct texture and length.
Let me try and put it in a little different perspective. I have fine hair but lots of it, it would be considered fine and limp, that is texture. If my hair shafts were larger in diamater, then my texture would be great, giving me more fullness and since I don't have an undercoat, I have no density. Make sense?
The Fuzzy Lop has the following points on it's coat;
Density - 8
Texture - 5
Length - 2
Have you seen their coats!!!???
The English Angora, which is a commercial wool breed has the following breakdown on wool points;
Density - 25
Texture - 20
Length - 12
The angora is described as a round, ball of fluff, the Jersey Wooly is not.
The Jersey Wooly is not to be considered as a commercial wool breed, it is to have an easy care coat. Promoting the fluffy coats that have incorrect texture is not breeding to the standard. A proper coat should not require hours of grooming on a daily basis, like angoras in a full coat can require. Angoras are judged primarily on their coat, the body only has 15 points. We are not looking to have thinner coats, just correct texture. For those that are thinking that we are promoting hair coats, guess again. If this has not happened in the 20 plus years that the wooly has been recognized, why would hair coats suddenly appear now? The Length was not touched, nor was the color, both are also vital parts of the coats.
The first thing that we see on our woolies is the head and ears. When the points were taken off and put on the body, the head and ears suffered some damage. The range that one sees in the head and ears is all over the board. We all agreed not to touch ear length as we did not want to see breeders focusing on the length of the ear. Balance of the ear in direct proportion to the body is the key. The goal in mind when changing the points on the ear, is backed up by the change in the ear description itself. Why would you just change the description and not have validation behind it?
I, and many others, love the bold head that the woolies had/have. There is no uniformity on our heads. The very first guidebook had some excellent drawings of the heads, showing what was too fine, too long, etc. How many times have you heard a judge say, 'I wish I could take the head from this animals and put it on the body of another'?? I have been hearing more and more judges make comments about the woolies not having the proper curvature of the skull, something else that has been ignored.
A comment was made about the proposed change under density faults. Addings the NOTE: "Juniors may exhibit a softer coat........." is just that...........a note, it is not a description. It could be moved to another area.
Positive feedback is great, helpful and welcomed, as are questions.
Thank you for your time!
