Southern Rhodesian Ridgeback Association

The Southern Rhodesian Ridgeback Association Open Show 19/10/2019

I would like to thank the committee for inviting me to judge at their well-run show & for ordering dry sunny weather after weeks of rain so I could judge outside. Thanks too to my able stewards Andy Geeves & Adam Hawkins for making everything run like clockwork & last but not least thank you to all the exhibitors for bringing your wonderful hounds under me and accepting my decisions with good grace.

Temperaments were all good, bites correct & all ridges acceptable so I will not mention them again. I was especially delighted to judge the veteran classes thank you so much for bringing your golden oldies to the show. Most I had judged before in their youth or been in the ring with & it was lovely to see them without exception powering round the ring thoroughly enjoying their day. These classes also reminded me that we had sparkling dark round eyes & strong jaws & classic houndy heads as the norm not so many years ago & that croups & tailsets were correct, something I feel we all need to take into account when breeding to safeguard our breed for future generations before correct dogs are in the minority and start to look incorrect and deemed “old fashioned”.

MPD 1 (1 ABS)

PD 4 (2 ABS)1 House’s Diamondridge Keep It Dark For Kemgordoni, 10.5 month Red Wheaten with decent head & correct dark eye but I would prefer less wrinkle. He has a good front with a well developed chest for his age & good angulation, good bone & tight feet. He is well schooled & was the best, most accurate mover of the two moving well in profile with reach & drive, just needs to tighten all through, but correct for his age. 2 Pyke & Brooker’s Rozelridge You Da Man 11 month wheaten with adequate bone and a correct balanced head for his age with a kind dark eye. Stacked he looks the picture, at the correct stage of development for his age with moderate angulation, matching at both ends, he just needs to settle on the move as he was enjoying himself rather too much instead of concentrating on the job in hand.

JD 3 1 Barnes’ Diamondridge Di Caprio 10 months mature for his age this liver has good pigmentation & correct eye colour for his coat. He is well boned with excellent feet. He has a masculine head that is well proportioned & with correct width to jaw. He has excellent front assembly & a well developed chest for his age, he is well ribbed back but I would prefer a bit more length to his body to complete the picture, but he has time for this to happen. Accurate ground covering movement BPD ; 2 Raymond’s Sofala Lightening Strike 15 months; Wheaten boy with a soft kind expression & good clean head, strong crested neck, needs to drop in chest & generally into himself; he is going to be one of those dogs that takes a long time to mature, pleasing strong topline & good tail carriage with excellent feet moved well. 3 Clements’ Amahle Mr Heartache

ND 2 (1 absent) 1 Diamondridge Di Caprio (1st JD)

PGD 4 (1 absent) 1 Jeffery’s Mirengo’s Machinga At Rexgrove 20 months, attractive red wheaten who is all male, correct head with better length of muzzle than my 2nd place, good ear placement with kind dark eye long strong neck into super front & with a well developed chest nice length of ribbing & good muscletone; he needs to drop into himself behind to complete the picture. Moved with great length of stride& accurately in front but moving close behind today; 2 Ferris’ Mirengo’s Moringa 20 months litter brother to 1, very similar in type & many of my comments apply but not quite the length of his brother & I would prefer him with a bit less condition, looked good moving in profile but not so accurate away & back today; 3 Southwick’s Kinabula’s Bear Grylls

 LD 3 (1 absent) Raymond’s Elangini Place Me At Jervisbay With Sofala AI (Imp Aus) 3.5 years red wheaten boy with dark mask who is definitely all male, lovely head with correct even plains & good width to muzzle and a sparkling dark round eye & correct ear placement. He has a super front assembly with better infill than my second, he is well ribbed back with matching moderate angulation behind he moved accurately with real drive once settled & I felt he looked at his best while moving; 2 Walker’s Amahle Juma 5 years I preferred the topline on this boy another with a super head correct ear carriage & kind dark eye, good bone for size & good feet , he is nicely proportioned. He is a fit well muscled boy, he had lovely movement in profile & good driving movement from behind.

OD 5 (2 absent) 1 Little’s 3. Sofala Joe The Lion 3.5 years this red wheaten boy with dark mask is in his prime and shown in top condition he has a super text book head, his expression is melting with his kind dark round eyes, a super crested neck leading into a correctly angled front, straight legs, super tight feet well ribbed back with a strong correct loin with the correct slight rise, tail set correct excellent muscletone with well developed 2nd thigh, his movement was effortless & he showed his socks off right to the end, well handled, pleased to award him BD & BIS; 2 Plested’s Nzawi Kaiser Chief JW 5 years a stronger dog all through he has a kind expression with super round dark eyes needs a touch more length to his muzzle to balance his head . He has plenty of bone excellent feet & is in hard muscular condition, well let down chest, good infill & his elbows are tucked nicely under him. He is well ribbed back. He has a strong topline carried well on the move, shapely quarters with correct angulation, a powerful mover with accurate footfall and he looks like he could do a day’s work RBD ; 3 House’s Diamondridge Distant Storm For Kemgordoni

VD 8 (1 absent) I needed more cards for this class. It was a very close call between my first two dogs. 1 Pyke’s Ch Rozelridge Who The Man Sh.CM this red wheaten is 8.5 years young, he has a lovely clean head masculine but not coarse with great chiselling & a lovely round dark expressive eye & great ear carriage. He has a strong crested neck and a good infill to his chest which is correctly down to his elbows. He has good straight bone excellent topline& underline, an excellent mover a strong contender in the challenge, had to settle for BVD & BVIS; 2 Walker’s Amahle Don’t Stop Me Now (7.75) an old favourite of mine wearing his age well and he is like my winner in many ways; it was a very close decision, I preferred the feet on this boy. He too is well muscled & has that lovely effortless movement & strong bone. Correct proportions to head but I would prefer a little less cheek, dark round eye & correct ear carriage, strong neck matching angulation fore & aft & a good shapely body, a lovely mover; 3 Geeves’ Ch Roseridge Royal Romeo ai (Imp) JW

SV (D/B) 2 (1absent) 1 Storey’s Ch Kiromol Tallulah Belle JW 10.75 years young, another old favourite of mine. She has a classic head with correct proportions & lovely chiselling, correct ear carriage with dark round eye giving her a kind expression, she is in great condition for her age with plenty of bone for size, well ribbed back & she still carries her topline well. It was on the move that she really shook off those years with accurate & lovely ground covering movement, she outmoved many of the youngsters today & really looked like she was enjoying her day out.

MPB 2 Two babies both enjoying their day 1 Hale’s Umhlandla Isonto 6.5 months this mid wheaten bitch was the better schooled & the most together of these youngsters. She has a correct head with expressive dark round eyes a decent front with straight legs & correct bone for size with enough depth of chest for her age balanced angulation & good feet, movement a bit loose as is expected at this age; 2 Young’s Oostblick Reenboog Bora 6 months a happy very feminine light wheaten bitch with beautiful dark eyes, she looked the part stacked & is at the correct point in development for her tender age matching moderate angulation & nicely ribbed back. It was hard to assess her movement but she enjoyed herself.

PB 3 1 Smith’s Diamondridge Daiane Del Rio At Ungowa 10 months, what a lovely puppy, she has a super balanced head with an alert expression and good ear carriage & a strong crested neck. She is well balanced with a good front on her, correct infill & chest for age, good feet straight legs & matching angulation behind. one who is at her best on the move as she can sometimes dip in topline on the stand but I am sure this will come good as her topline is strong & held well on the move where she was so well balanced & a pleasure to watch with accurate movement both ways & superb in profile. BPB & beating her litter brother to BPIS; 2 Barnes’ Diamondridge Dolores De Rio 10 months, litter sister to 1 this liver girl is less mature than her sister, she has correct bone & feet & a lovely topline, she is less developed in chest at this stage but has balanced angulation, good ribbing & a strong loin she produced some nice movement but was generally a little over-enthusiastic particularly coming towards me giving her handler a hard time; 3 Hawkins & Smith’s Rozelridge Miss Hot Tottie At Lonanza

JB 6 (2 absent) 1 Cotton & Glen’s Zejak Bubezi Batuuli 13 months, this red wheaten girl has a correctly proportioned head with lovely dark eyes, correct bone for size, super tight feet, a lovely topline & correct tailset, I preferred her length of body but she needs to mature in body & drop in chest to complete the picture. A pleasing mover, with lovely profile movement ; 2 Storey’s Kiromol Mandolin Wind 12 months; a completely different stamp of bitch, at the other end of the scale in colour being light wheaten, she has some wrinkle to grow into which spoils her expression at the moment, but she is still young; she has good moderate angulation & a strong topline. Good bone for size & correct feet she is more developed in chest than my winner, good tailset & a steady mover. 3 Cheke’s Kinabula’s Gitana 15 months

NB 3 1 Nash’s Mutoko’s Blaze Of Glory 2 years a mid wheaten with a dark mask, moderate all through, she has a kind expression with correct dark round eye, & a long crested neck leading into a super front, adequate depth of chest, balanced rear, good tail carriage, well-muscled, well-schooled & well handled; 2 Thompson’s Globalridge Red Coral 15 months a taller bitch carrying too much condition which made her appear lighter in bone than she actually is. She has a lovely feminine head with expressive eyes, although I would prefer more underjaw, a decent length of neck & matching moderate front & rear angulation she has a good topline & good ribbing. She was enjoying herself on the move, a little over-exuberant throwing her front a little at times but managed to get some decent movement in; 3 Smith’s Rozelridge Hot Tottie At Lonanza

PGB 6 2 1 Storey’s Kiromol Come Up And See Me 19 months a feminine red wheaten bitch with a clean head with correct proportions & a dark eye, she has a long crested neck leading into a good shoulder assembly & excellent infill straight legs with good bone, nice tight feet & balanced hind angulation too. She has a straight topline which she holds well when stacked but can lose at times on the move. Her movement was accurate coming & going & free-flowing in profile; she is going to be one of those bitches who will take a long time to finish, which is not a bad thing; 2 Cheke’s Kinabula’s Gitana 15 months this bitch has a very pretty feminine head, sparkling dark round eyes & perfect ear carriage, she has a lovely underline with well developed chest & good angulation fore & aft, not moving as well today as I know she can; another one enjoying herself rather too much.

LB 8 A difficult class to judge as it was so strong & I would have been happy to see any of them in my final bitch line up, not a bad problem to have, 1 Jengachenga Derriere Moi At Rozelridge 2.75 year old mid wheaten bitch. She has a very attractive feminine head with a lovely dark eye with a long strong neck into a decent front assembly, good infill strong topline & good tail carriage, moderately angled quarters with nicely developed 2nd thigh she moved freely & accurately both ways with drive; Nash’s Tokwe Ginvincible With Mutoko, 2.5 years, a pretty mid wheaten bitch, with a lovely outline she has a lovely crested neck into a good front assembly good feet & nicely ribbed back she moved well in profile with ground covering movement to match my first but not quite so true coming towards me, another fit well muscled girl from this kennel; 3 Rubicon Do The Right Thing Royaal Rearl (Imp) Sh.CM

OB 4 (2 absent) A close call between these 2 bitches 1 Mansfield & Kirby’s Ch Shingwidsi Tshadi Rose 5 years a classic light wheaten bitch with a gentle expression, correct dark round eye, good sized ears & correct carriage & good width of muzzle, correct bone for size a good straight front & correctly angulated shoulders, ribbed well back with strong loin with correct slight arch, moved well in this & the bitch challenge where she moved truly away & back & floated round the ring but in the BIS challenge she lost her concentration & decided to do her own thing, having a lovely time nonetheless! Delighted to award her BB & RBIS; 2 Ch Kiromol Midsummer Spirit JW 4 years red wheaten self coloured bitch I have judged before she has an attractive clean head with dark eyes & well set ears. She has a balanced outline with good ribbing & the correct slight rise over her strong loin & well developed muscle, she was accurate in movement coming & going & another I enjoyed watching in profile. She seemed to be more affected by the cold standing a touch bum high today at times, but pulled it all out in the challenge for RBB which I was happy to award her.

VB 5 (1 absent) All 4 in this class were a pleasure to watch moving I loved seeing them power round the ring 1 Raymond’s Sofala So Fantastique 7.75 years young wheaten girl with dark mask, feminine head with good proportions & excellent round sparkling eye, long crested neck & good body proportions, excellent feet & good bone well muscled & not showing any sign of her years; she really covered the ground well BVB; 2 Mansfield & Kirby’s Ch Shingwidsi Tschelete Silk 9.5 years a larger stamp of bitch red wheaten with a dark mask a classic head with excellent proportions & dark round eyes, long strong neck good length of rib & generally in great condition for her age, moved accurately; 3 Nash’s Motoko’s Valegro 7 years

Stud Dog 1 (1 absent)

Brood bitch 1 (1 absent)

Brace 2 (2 absent)

Judge Sally Hicks (Nuthouse)