Goshen Guinea Pig Competition

Judges get to do a lot of work. Not only do they have to inspect each animal, determine which best meets the standard, but also deal with somewhat reluctant contestants! Some of the cavies would sit quietly in their boxes, others would try getting out while still others wanted to "visit" especially if it happened to be an attractive sow in the next box!

This is Tiberius, a lovely Roan Abyssinian. Roan means he has a mix of white hairs in with a black coat. He won his breed at Goshen. Now I know what a Roan is! The Abyssinian rosettes are very clean on the sides here, which is what makes him a champion. Tiberius has obviously been in several shows, he know exactly what was expected of him. No hollerin' from him. His crests were also well placed and well shaped. Isn't it interesting the things that make the difference between a champion and an "also ran?" Of course, the also rans were pretty impressive looking too!

For some reason, pigs seem to spend a lot of time on their backs at shows. Several critical factors are inspected here:

1. Sexing takes place, to ensure that the ticket and the animal agree on their gender,
2. Checking teeth, nails and belly coat to ensure that the animal is healthy and well cared for. One animal got a disqualification for "swirls" on the tummy, apparently the hair must be smooth and even; this also allows the judge to check for Agouti banding, sharpness of edge, width of band etc.,
3. I was told that dark padded feet with a pink spot will get an automatic elimination for the animal!

Another interesting breed pattern is the Brindle. This is essentially the same as the Roan except that the colors are black and red. This one is a Teddy as well, talk about your beautiful colorings, this is one of the nicest combinations I've seen (personal preference is golden agouti, but hey!). This one is technically a Broken because the colors are in patches, but I did notice that there were many "stray" red hairs, which would be the Brindle.

Many of the pigs at this show were various Teddy breeds, fortunately the weather cooperated so their coats stood up very nicely for the judge! It seems so strange though to pet an animal from the back to the front, but I've been told the coat handles this better and the pigs seem to like it. My Americans definately do not like it.

Many times the animals seemed not so sure about what was happening. I think this Peruvian's look of "why me?" sort of sums up how many of the pigs felt. Although this may be a bit anthropomorphic, some of the little ones seemed confused as to what was going on. Others seemed to take the whole process in stride, and handled themselves very well. While others seemed to have the attitude of this little cream dutch!

I saved the best for last. Specifically, the Best in Show! This is a Self Black Teddy owned by a young man of about 13. It won best in show and, if the picture were a bit clearer, you could see that the coat is very evenly full, color is wonderful, everything about this animal just says, "I'm very well cared for!" Congratulations to the winner.

So there you have it, a brief visit to the Goshen ARBA/ACBA show at the Goshen Fairgrounds. While the Cavies only had about 30 representatives there, it was interesting to see how things were done. Of course, if you want to see lots of cavies, you should try to go to the Pennsylvania show in Macunquie (I know I misspelled that!). It happens in early June and there are over 500 cavies. Can you imagine what it would sound like if someone rattled a lettuce bag in there?