Afghan Hound Association

Afghan Hound Association Open Show 1, 20 July 2019 

Many thanks to the Committee for inviting me to judge, and for organising such a lovely well-run friendly show, it was a pleasure. Such a shame that the rain confined us to an indoor ring, which made movement much harder to assess and disadvantaged some hounds more than others. 

MPD (1) 1, Smith’s El Roalito Keep Smiling (Imp Deu), a delightful 7 months baby, with a typical head and far-seeing expression under his monkey whiskers; well constructed all through with a very good shoulder and front, and long second thigh, kept his topline well. He was a little fidgety on the stack but he has clearly been very well schooled on the move and was able to show off his excellent clean sound movement out and back and nice free stride in profile. A lot of growing up to do but I liked him a lot. BPD & BPIS. 

PD (1) 1, Bastille’s Shadowfax Meistersinger, well grown brindle with a very nice masculine head and dark eye, good shoulder layback and angulation, well bodied up for his age and with a correct topline and slope of croup, saddle starting to come and presented a very pleasing overall picture; not quite as tidy behind as the younger puppy, and as he was a little headstrong his movement was affected by the small ring. 

JD (2)  Both at a slightly awkward in-between age. 1, Gardner’s Drishaun Said Tiger to Lily, brindle boy just out of puppy, good head with strong jaw and big white teeth, dark eye, excellent overall construction; restricted by the ring size and wanted to pace but his handler managed to get him moving properly for long enough to see that his movement is sound and springy; 2, Hurl, Nisbett & Forrester’s Zandahar Xcuse Me Mister, light brindle, just in between coats; masculine head, pleasing overall shape with good topline and tailset, nice long second thigh and low hocks; headstrong on the move which made it hard to assess and not quite as good in forehand angulation as 1. 

VD (2) Quality class and a difficult decision. 1, Cannon’s Multi Ch Calamus Mediator, BV & RBD, on consulting my records I see that I awarded this super black a BOB five years ago and he has matured as one would hope. Extremely typy with a keen far-seeing expression, proud head carriage, excellent shoulder placement, strong rear, lovely springy action in profile and plenty of drive behind. Just carrying a tad too much condition over his front which affected his front movement slightly which cost him in the challenge. 2, Gardner’s Javidan Bad Boy Boogie, brindle dog with a masculine head, strong jaw, in excellent show condition with balanced angulation, plenty of body and he moved well all round keeping his correct topline, another top notch veteran. 

ND (2) 1, S Meistersinger; 2, Z Xcuse Me Mister. 

PGD (3, 1 abs) 1, Seamarks & Nemoto’s Sayadena Northern Lights (Imp Bel), cream with a masculine head and strong jaw, just a touch full in eye; very good front, plenty of body, nice strong rear, good saddle pattern and he coped pretty well with the conditions, showing sound and clean movement. 2, Cullen’s Khamis Aequitas at Eweyisska, more refined in head than 1 but would prefer more strength in underjaw. Good rear end with plenty of second thigh, but he was straighter in front assembly and consequently somewhat loose in front movement; though his profile movement was OK when he settled and he was clean going away. 

LD (2,1) 1, Stevens & Craft’s Ayoubkhan Firethorn, quality mature blue with pleasing typy head and expression, dark oblique eye and strong jaw, good front assembly, matching well angled rear, coped well with the floor, a tad loose in front. 

OD (2) 1, Cullen’s Syrdarya Toffy Pop at Eweyisska, striking mature brindle male, quality masculine head with correct eye shape giving typical expression, lovely flow from a good length of neck into exceptional shoulder placement, with correct return of upper arm, plenty of depth and length of ribbing, strong rear with hocks well let down, good tailset with ring, precise footfall. Sound, correct, no exaggerations, a very high class hound. BD & BIS. 2, Gardner’s Drishaun It Ain’t What You Do, b/m gold, upstanding male with good overall conformation, topline and tailset, in excellent coat. He really didn’t like the floor and didn’t do himself justice today. 

Racing & Coursing D (2) 1, S Toffy Pop at E; 2, D It Ain’t What You Do. 

MPB, PB & JB – no entries. 

YB (2) 1,  Stevens & Craft’s Joneca Fireblade, b/m gold, very feminine but with underjaw and strong teeth, excellent front assembly, good topline, croup and tailset, nice strong well angled rear, moved pretty well in a small ring; just needs a little more time to develop in body; 2, Bartram & Perry’s Altside Donna Queexote at Chardara, brindle, lovely head and expression with dark eye, good coat pattern. Rather straight in front and lacks fill, tail set rather high on flattish croup. Well handled and her out and back movement was OK but short stride in profile. 

VB (2,1) 1, Adam’s Gezancol Good as Gold, b/m gold with a very appealing outline, quality head carried proudly, well balanced angulation, in superb coat and moved soundly out and back, would just prefer a touch more substance. Like several others she was not keen on the ring and not wanting to stride out in profile. BVB. 

PGB (2,1) 1, Stevens & Craft’s Ayoubkhan Jasmine, attractive feminine blue bitch, typy head, neck of good length, attractive outline with well-balanced angles, good tail set and carriage. Coped well with the ring and showing plenty of pad going away. 

LB (2,1) 1, G Good as Gold. 

OB (2) Another very good class. 1, Gunn & Cannon’s Lux Ch Salang Hey I’m the Star at Zushkhan (Imp), achingly typy black, the first thing to strike you is her expression; darkest of eyes and an air of dignified arrogance, very definitely looks at and through one. Striking overall shape with a proud head carriage, decent front assembly, correct topline and croup, tail set on correctly and carried well, and good length from hip to hock. Just preferred the exceptional neck and shoulder on the male, but she made the most of the conditions and moved very well to take BB, BOS & RBIS; 2, Peek-Matar’s Sleepy Hollow at Yansukhim JW ShCM (Imp), lovely head with plenty of work in it, strong jaw, excellent neck and front with very good shoulder, return of upper arm and forechest, level topline kept on the move, strong clean rear and showed plenty of pad. Disadvantaged by the small ring as she wanted to get on with it and was unable to settle to a rhythm in profile. RBB. 

Lisa Tyler Jackson