Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
I had a lovely day stewarding at the joint shows in Ware yesterday. Handled some absolutely fabulous cats. My judge had two Olympian classes, so that's a bit of everything - one of the classes had 16 cats in it, spanning from Exotics right through to Balinese. After that, we had mainly Burmese, Asians, Ocicats and Russians. I learned a lot, and handled three breeds I've never had before - Suffolk, Snowshoe and Russian Black. We also had a load of Best of Variety judging, and the cat that my judge put up as BoV Section 5 - an absolutely stunning Burmilla - went overall Best in Show in both shows. I also got roped into stewarding for Best of Variety in the Household Pet section.
My signature technique of removing a cat from its pen seemed to be quite popular - and made several other judges say "now why didn't I think of that!". Namely, that if a cat is ensconced in its bed / litter tray / under a blanket, I just lift up the whole shebang out of the pen and put it on the judge's trolley. It can look a bit daft, but it stresses the cats out a lot less, which is always a good thing. The judge then simply unpacks the cat while I put the accessories back into the pen. We had one Cornish Rex that we were told wasn't very happy to be handled, but I just took him out of the pen, bed and all, and he just lay there purring away.
The judge I was working for must've been happy with me, because she asked me to steward for her at the Supreme. If I hadn't already been booked for that show by one of the Household Pet judges, I'd have said yes, but I do have a provisional booking for Cam Cat next year.
Today I had a lazy day watching loads of motor racing. A friend also dropped by to collect her share of the roast turkey and curry. I treated her dogs to a sausage each. And I won an issue of Wheelspin from 1985 on the 'bay.
Anyways, now it is time for a
My signature technique of removing a cat from its pen seemed to be quite popular - and made several other judges say "now why didn't I think of that!". Namely, that if a cat is ensconced in its bed / litter tray / under a blanket, I just lift up the whole shebang out of the pen and put it on the judge's trolley. It can look a bit daft, but it stresses the cats out a lot less, which is always a good thing. The judge then simply unpacks the cat while I put the accessories back into the pen. We had one Cornish Rex that we were told wasn't very happy to be handled, but I just took him out of the pen, bed and all, and he just lay there purring away.
The judge I was working for must've been happy with me, because she asked me to steward for her at the Supreme. If I hadn't already been booked for that show by one of the Household Pet judges, I'd have said yes, but I do have a provisional booking for Cam Cat next year.
Today I had a lazy day watching loads of motor racing. A friend also dropped by to collect her share of the roast turkey and curry. I treated her dogs to a sausage each. And I won an issue of Wheelspin from 1985 on the 'bay.
Anyways, now it is time for a
