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Dutch in 2013
Although the Bradford cum Harrogate Championship Show in
January is something of a must for several cavy fanciers, it never seems to
attract much of a Dutch entry unless there is a stock show being entertained.
Harrogate 2013 proved no different as it attracted a total of 656 cavies but
only 10 were of the Dutch variety. In
the adults, P & E Smethurst (better known for Dutch rabbits I believe) took
the Red class with Sharon Collis winning the Black/Choc class with a Black
boar. Julie Davies often makes the pilgrimage to this event and was rewarded by
winning the Red 5/8 months class whilst Malcolm Atkinson took the AOC honours
with a Black. From the show report, both sounded worthy representatives of the
breed. Best Dutch though appeared to be the winning Red sow in the young
classes as Amy Heale's entry received very complimentary comments from the judge
and was only beaten by two top class Agoutis in the Marked/Ticked Challenge u/5
months.
Normally, the DCC Northern Area Spring Show takes place at
Keighley thanks to the kind invitation of the Yorkshire Championship Show
committee; a venue that I feel cannot but bettered for such an event. However,
this year there was some upheaval because of work on the hall and the date was
delayed until May. I can't recall all facts involved but, for this year, it was
decided to forego Keighley in favour of Worth Valley nearer the usual April
date. The entry probably suffered a bit but a total of 19 Dutch were entered
and by a good mix of fanciers from the north and elsewhere with some much
further south. It was good to see that Harold Laycock is still showing although
with not quite the success that he had a few years back when he had a really
useful Red boar that was good enough to challenge the best.
This time Best Dutch went to a nice Red boar shown by Kevin
Hopkins with another Red boar from Chris Pearson taking the runner up position
in the Grand Challenge. Alan Wilson then followed with a young Red sow and kept
the Cream Dutch flag flying with what Judge Malcolm Atkinson described as a
very nice looking Cream with a lovely shade of colour. However, whatever the
charms of this pig may have been, the Best AOC Dutch when to Kim Holmes with a
Golden Agouti; a colour that she has done well with past and present. In the
5/8 months age group, Sarah Stribley prevailed with a Red boar.
Probably the main reason that Keighley was sidestepped this
year was to create a more even spread of stock shows throughout the year and
with so many DCC showing members in the South West it was not surprising that
the South West Area Show at Devon County in May proved to be the second best
supported with an entry of 31 Dutch. That is not exactly sensational in
comparison with past years but entries have been very much down throughout 2013
(averaging 25.5 pigs per show compared to 47 ten years ago).
Here, Alan Wilson did the honours and, in the final line up,
it was Amy Heale, 1,2,3, with her good Chocolate boar, 'Burgenhagen II' leading
two of her Reds. However, Alan was also
very complimentary about Kevin Hopkins' Red boar that had to be content with
2nd place in the challenges today. His youngster though fared better in the
less competitive u/5months classes, winning the Red boar class and the
following challenges. Best in the intermediate
age group was Wilmot Goldsworthy with a neat Black Dutch and it seems that it
was this pig that chased up Amy's trio in the final challenge. It was also pleasing to note that Alan found
time to mention the adult Black Dutch of Ewan Collis that took 2nd
in the adult classes and was a well deserved Best Juvenile notwithstanding the
lack of competition.
For the second year running, our Northern Summer Show at
Bingley Agricultural was cancelled, this time through lack of entries and the
event was re-scheduled for Worth Valley Fanciers on 2nd November.
Betley Horticultural Show in August is certainly becoming a
major event in the cavy calendar that goes from strength to strength and
attracts great support 479 cavies this year. Sadly, it seems to be 'off the
radar' when it comes to Dutch entries as 19 pigs was rather disappointing and
provided the joint lowest entry for the shows that went ahead. Of course, this
is no reflection on the show itself that, as far as I'm aware, has only
received good comments and compliments all round rated Best Show of the Year
by Cavies Management
Wilmot Goldsworthy was officiating here for the Margaret
Elward Memorial Show. This time, Amy Heale took just the 1st (Chocolate)
and 2nd (Red) in the Grand Challenge with Brian Leiper taking 3rd
place with a smart 5/8 months Black (fair stops, heavy balanced cheeks, good
blaze, saddle & under) Reserve went to a promising Silver Agouti from Gary
Clark and we will surely see more of this pig in the future. Only the cheeks
seemed to prevent this pig from doing better. Another pig worthy of mention was
a nicely balanced Chocolate Agouti from Madelaine Coomber (Best Youngster) and
it was good to see Goyt Valley Cavies (Harry Bell) making an appearance at the
show.
The DCC Southern Area Show at Real London in September proved to be the most successful show of
the year with 33 Dutch entered but even this was disappointing in comparison to
the two previous DCC shows at this event. The initial show attracted 60 plus exhibits, last year, it was in the
low forties and now we were down to 33 for judge, Gary Clark to sort out.
Again, it was Amy Heale's Chocolate adult pig that took top honours; described
by Gary as a huge, fit pig with excellent markings. A good class of adult
Black Dutch was a feature of the show and two from Wilmot Goldsworthy's stable
took the minor placings in the Grand Challenge.
Gary also made special mention of Graham Godfrey's adult
Silver Agouti sow (that was also singled out for praise by the judge in the Real London classes) and Alan Wilson's
u/5 months Cream a nicely set up pig with beautiful colour. In the Red
classes, I was particularly impressed with Emily Bennett's adult Red boar that
was successful on both sides, winning classes of 7 (DCC) and 5 (Real London) as it carried the colour
that I would like to see in my own stock. In the AOC Agoutis, Maureen Woodward
(Cinnamon) and Madelaine Coomber (Chocolate) kept the flag flying for these two
attractive colours that are sadly lacking in breeders and support. There's an
opportunity here for anyone wanting to accept the challenge and take on
something different.
The DCC Midland Area Show was to be staged at the London
Championship Show, Peterborough but through a lack of entries (only two people
entered), it was cancelled and with two shows already arranged for November, it
was agreed not to try for a replacement date and venue.
The reorganised Northern Area Show was held at Worth Valley
Fanciers on 2nd November and managed to attract a reasonable entry
of 23 Dutch for judge, Brian Leiper to sort out. At the time of writing I have
little knowledge of the results other than the Grand Challenge where Amy Heale
took 1st and 2nd (Chocolate followed by a Red) with Kim
Holmes taking the 3rd spot with her Golden Agouti Dutch. I
understand though that there was a good gathering of fanciers and that the show
went off well.
A fortnight later, the DCC Annual Stock Show and AGM was held
at East Hanningfield, Essex where 28 Dutch were entered for Madelaine Coomber
to judge. One would have hoped for more but, unfortunately, falling entries
have become something of the norm during this past year. In addition, several
colours failed to be represented at this the major Dutch show of the year. Reds
Blacks, Chocolates and Creams were in evidence together with one Golden Agouti
but the others were all conspicuous by their absence; a pity and more about
this later.
In the Reds, a young boar from Alan Wilson proved to be best
and was good enough to take the 3rd place in the Grand Challenge
behind two Chocolates from Amy Heale. Kevin Hopkins took the adult Red class
but had to be content behind Amy Heale's sow in the challenges. I know the
feeling as I'm sure others do too. As regards the Black and Cream Dutch, these
were provided by the two stalwarts of these colours; Wilmot Goldsworthy taking
the Black awards and Alan providing the Cream winners. Sarah Stribley made the
long journey from Cornwall with Wilmot and had rather bloodless if worthy wins
with her Golden Agouti and also a 5/8 months Chocolate Dutch. The rest of the
Chocolates present were entered by Amy Heale with her noted adult taking all
before him bar the Grand Challenge where a new face came to the fore; namely the
winning youngster described by Madelaine as 'a little cracker'. It looks like
this is one to watch for in the future.
To review the year in general, there has been good and bad
aspects. On the good side, the officials have worked well together and with Amy
Heale in her first year as secretary, we have found a little gem. Since the
AGM, it has been said to me that we should have given her more credit for all
the good work she has done in just a few months. A great newsletter (and in
colour), some very nice prize cards, a new club stand in co-operation with the
National Agouti Cavy Club, plus a few other things. The only bad and sad thing
on the management side of things is that we have lost Allen Cooper as our
scrutineer and this was a task that he performed for the Club with his usual
efficiency and goodwill. The tributes in
the December issue of Cavies express the loss to the Fancy better than I can
but from my limited dealings with him, I knew him to be most amiable and
pleasingly forthright and honest in his manner; a loss indeed.
Membership for the year may be slightly down and I notice
that a few people have not renewed. Why not, I just don't know as Amy is doing
all that one can expect from a club secretary. Our shows are spread around to country although we do have to select
areas and venues that will attract sufficient support to make things
worthwhile. Very low entries, less than 15 exhibits, result in the cancellation
of an event and there is no pleasure in having to inconvenience exhibitors and the
show organisers in this way. However, for 2014, the AGM selected some really
good venues and all we need is the entries from members to make some great days
out.
Finally, looking at the current state of the colours within
our breed makes for a pretty mixed picture. The number of Reds being shown has
held up quite well and better than some years when there was even the question
raised whether we should reduce the classes on our schedule. In reality, there
was no need then or now. Blacks, like Reds, remain popular with Wilmot
Goldsworthy often to the fore. There has been a demand for these colours
recently although, surprisingly, not for Chocolates despite Amy Heale's latest
wins and, in earlier days, by Sarah Stribley and her outstanding Treble
Champion Treleaver Amber. Creams remain very much in the hands of Alan Wilson
and he is to be congratulated in regularly fielding such useful teams of this
difficult colour. Lilacs together with Cream Agouti Dutch have been absent from
the show table all year.
Golden Agoutis could be more popular with only Kim Holmes and
Sarah Stribley flying the flag in 2013. The loss of Palace Cavies from the show
scene has meant a dip in the numbers of Silver Agouti Dutch being shown
although Graham Godfrey and, more recently, Gary Clark have been able to do
well with some very tidy exhibits. Cinnamon and Chocolate Agouti Dutch are in
even fewer hands it seems with Madelaine Coomber (both colours) and Maureen
Woodward being the mainstay of these Cinderella breeds.
Of course, one can
make a good case for all the colours and I do hope that more fanciers will
think about joining and help to make the Dutch Cavy Club even stronger and
better.
ALLAN TRIGG
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