In 2008 I established the Guinea Pig judges forum in South Africa. With being introduced at the early age of 13 to the show world of animals and being a cat judge myself, it was quiet easy to identify what I did not want to recreate. That was another extended self important group of people with the exclusivity of knowing more about Guinea Pigs than anyone else. Much like I had grown up with, which over time the exclusivity of judges and their bearing silent secret opinions on the very animal that you love was simply a load of bullshit.
So the Guinea Pig Judges forum is for everyone “the Community” of breeders themselves. The ones paying the money to feed their beloved pets, the very ones that in other societies would be sitting waiting anxiously for the “opinion” from the great expensive to fly “expert”, almost like another form of church, only this time the preacher was or is the “judge” and the one you wanted to go home with was not the “son of the preacher man” but his opinion of who is Best in Show! My response is and always will be “Oh hell to the No”.
It’s the community that has the interest and why should the community breeders not be trained to have the knowledge to judge and compare everyone of the Guinea Pigs at the show? It is with this self empowerment and developing of everyone in the community that creates respect for how each and every individual judges, with their personality flaws being displayed in their judging and the excelerated personal development in understanding type and fairness when coming to having to evaluate the communities Guinea Pigs and themselves in the bigger picture. Being accountable for what you doing with your opinion being counted publically as a breeder!
So has this idea worked? Well I still go to the shows 34 years later and the same people are there. Its always great to see them, but it’s the same people year after year sitting in the darkness waiting for a decision from a complete stranger, who someone sitting at the side of one of those rings is taking to the Krugar Park next week after the show weekend for an all expenses paid experience. Without accountability, as just as the stranger with his silent opinion arrived so will he/she leave… in silence! And some fools are left standing on the side of the ring completely in the dark as to why they lost.
The community judging the community does not only allow for discussion and friction, but this enables bonding and growth and the result of a “real” experience. Yes there are risks, but in making a list of the above proposed way versus the traditional way, leaves one wondering are the risks really risks or simply “life”.
The average age at our shows in South Africa is late 20’s, the average human age at the societies still doing it the old colonial way? I rest my case.
So the Guinea Pig Judges forum is for everyone “the Community” of breeders themselves. The ones paying the money to feed their beloved pets, the very ones that in other societies would be sitting waiting anxiously for the “opinion” from the great expensive to fly “expert”, almost like another form of church, only this time the preacher was or is the “judge” and the one you wanted to go home with was not the “son of the preacher man” but his opinion of who is Best in Show! My response is and always will be “Oh hell to the No”.
It’s the community that has the interest and why should the community breeders not be trained to have the knowledge to judge and compare everyone of the Guinea Pigs at the show? It is with this self empowerment and developing of everyone in the community that creates respect for how each and every individual judges, with their personality flaws being displayed in their judging and the excelerated personal development in understanding type and fairness when coming to having to evaluate the communities Guinea Pigs and themselves in the bigger picture. Being accountable for what you doing with your opinion being counted publically as a breeder!
So has this idea worked? Well I still go to the shows 34 years later and the same people are there. Its always great to see them, but it’s the same people year after year sitting in the darkness waiting for a decision from a complete stranger, who someone sitting at the side of one of those rings is taking to the Krugar Park next week after the show weekend for an all expenses paid experience. Without accountability, as just as the stranger with his silent opinion arrived so will he/she leave… in silence! And some fools are left standing on the side of the ring completely in the dark as to why they lost.
The community judging the community does not only allow for discussion and friction, but this enables bonding and growth and the result of a “real” experience. Yes there are risks, but in making a list of the above proposed way versus the traditional way, leaves one wondering are the risks really risks or simply “life”.
The average age at our shows in South Africa is late 20’s, the average human age at the societies still doing it the old colonial way? I rest my case.