- Nov 22, 2011
- 596
- 56
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First I want to say thank you to all who have given such well considered opinions on the show issue.
I'm not an old timer but I'm not exactly a just fell off the fruit truck newbie either. I grew up on the edge of a small subdivision built with the retuning vets from the Korean conflict as a target market. Our place was backed by two farms and sided by a forest that later became an elementary school. We purchased our eggs from a local poultryman who always seemed to have time for the nosey kid (me) who was fascinated by those old washing/candling systems, milk from a dairy farm behind the race track, meat from a butcher and most of our produce, cheese and honey from farmstands still attached to farms. I found odd jobs on some of those now long gone farms during summer break. For the past dozen years I've even managed to keep my own various chickens alive and producing well.
My parents were also Boston Terrier fanciers from before I was born until they passed in the early 90s. Most of my friends came from 'dog people' too. "Form follows function" and 'breeding to the SOP' were early mantras. Over the years I've done my fair share of showing dogs (jr. showmanship, conformation, obedience and schutzhund), horses (hunters), sheep (wool) and rabbits, so I'm rather familiar with showing along with the time, $$$, logistics and physical work involved...and frankly I'm done.
However, that does not mean I don't value the opinions of judges and others with more or different knowledge from my own. I just don't think it's necessary with all of this modern technology to spend what non-work hours I have carting myself and my animals all over the country to find it. There are still people who can be honest (thank you!) and point out 'what's wrong with this picture'. A judge's opinion on your score card tells you about your animal, but it still doesn't help you know why (s)he picked one animal over another in every case. Ever have a chicken you were surprised to see dress out smaller or larger than you thought it would? To REALLY judge animals, you need to lay hands on them. So to me it is more educational to get to a judges' symposium or training class to learn - HANDS ON - what the judges are looking at so you can find it (or its lack) in your own animals.
Now, if I bred something that I really thought was something special, I'd probably take it before a judge to verify my belief or get slapped upside the head with it as someone put so well.
There's also something to be said for maintaining the status quo. Just an interesting poseur...what if show trends take a line down one avenue that comes to a dead end. Wouldn't it be helpful to have good stock available from someone who bucked the trend to maintain the "original" type of that line? Kind of like a seed bank for chickens.
Golly, I think I just answered my own question. No, it wouldn't be a waste to maintain one of the heritage show lines, particularly as there really is no substitute
I'm still leaning toward the Underwood RC RIR, even if I have wait a bit; but still more research to do.
I'm not an old timer but I'm not exactly a just fell off the fruit truck newbie either. I grew up on the edge of a small subdivision built with the retuning vets from the Korean conflict as a target market. Our place was backed by two farms and sided by a forest that later became an elementary school. We purchased our eggs from a local poultryman who always seemed to have time for the nosey kid (me) who was fascinated by those old washing/candling systems, milk from a dairy farm behind the race track, meat from a butcher and most of our produce, cheese and honey from farmstands still attached to farms. I found odd jobs on some of those now long gone farms during summer break. For the past dozen years I've even managed to keep my own various chickens alive and producing well.
My parents were also Boston Terrier fanciers from before I was born until they passed in the early 90s. Most of my friends came from 'dog people' too. "Form follows function" and 'breeding to the SOP' were early mantras. Over the years I've done my fair share of showing dogs (jr. showmanship, conformation, obedience and schutzhund), horses (hunters), sheep (wool) and rabbits, so I'm rather familiar with showing along with the time, $$$, logistics and physical work involved...and frankly I'm done.
However, that does not mean I don't value the opinions of judges and others with more or different knowledge from my own. I just don't think it's necessary with all of this modern technology to spend what non-work hours I have carting myself and my animals all over the country to find it. There are still people who can be honest (thank you!) and point out 'what's wrong with this picture'. A judge's opinion on your score card tells you about your animal, but it still doesn't help you know why (s)he picked one animal over another in every case. Ever have a chicken you were surprised to see dress out smaller or larger than you thought it would? To REALLY judge animals, you need to lay hands on them. So to me it is more educational to get to a judges' symposium or training class to learn - HANDS ON - what the judges are looking at so you can find it (or its lack) in your own animals.
Now, if I bred something that I really thought was something special, I'd probably take it before a judge to verify my belief or get slapped upside the head with it as someone put so well.
There's also something to be said for maintaining the status quo. Just an interesting poseur...what if show trends take a line down one avenue that comes to a dead end. Wouldn't it be helpful to have good stock available from someone who bucked the trend to maintain the "original" type of that line? Kind of like a seed bank for chickens.
Golly, I think I just answered my own question. No, it wouldn't be a waste to maintain one of the heritage show lines, particularly as there really is no substitute
I'm still leaning toward the Underwood RC RIR, even if I have wait a bit; but still more research to do.
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