| My license The training
becoming an allround judge is a long and sometimes stony way, it
took me almost 8 years. First one must be a steward for 2 years,
where you are busy and running the whole day, taking cats out of
their cage and presenting them to the judge - and every judge
wants to have it in a different way. But you may learn a lot and
will carry many beautiful cats on your arms. Sometimes the job
is rather dangerous, some cats are quite nervous, but their
owner is even more nervous. And if the cat does not win all the
prizes, often it is assumed that it was the fault of the steward.
Afterwards you must be a student judge in each category for 2
years, and in FIFe there are 4 categories. In each category one
must sit for a written and a practical examination, must do
parallel judging twice and must make 3 stages after each
examination.
And all this has to be paid by yourself, which might get quite
expensive in the semi-longhairs and shorthairs, because some
breeds exist only in specific countries. Besides all this you
must also have good knowledge in genetics, because a judge often
must make a decision upon colour and must be able to understand
the pedigrees very well. |
Not all organizing clubs do accept student judges. One
has to write many letters before being accepted as a
student. And one does not get always a full student
certificate. In particular it might become difficult
in Persians and Siamese, because there are not always
many cats present in the shows. Does this have a
certain reason? I worked in the judges commission
for many years, and the standards, as we have them
now, had been made by me.
Unfortunately this job gets too political very often,
which I never liked, because the cats are pushed aside.
Often we had to deal with complaints from exhibitors
against judges, who did not want to accept a judge's
decision. But we also had complaints from judges
against judges, as if it would not be a hobby. The
word "hobby" is quite often worn out and misused,
despite our wonderful hobby should be a source of
pleasure and our cats should always be in the
spotlight.
The motives, why this or that colour or breed is
accepted for championship, are not always based upon
our cats. It was always important for me to get new
colours and breeds recognized because of the respect
for the breeders, who spent a lot of work and time,
and to honour all their efforts. If nature is able to
produce this variety of colours and breeds, one has to
take off his hat with deep respect.
I was very lucky also to make student judge with well
known American judges. And I have learned something
wonderful with them, that all cats are an artwork of
nature, which one has to meet with great respect. |
