February 12, 2011

Today is the date of my parent's wedding anniversary. Though they have been gone for some time, this date is always on my calender. We start the year with twenty-one horses, thirteen of them are our breed of choice, the Gypsy Vanner. There are now four registries, each founded on the indiscretions and missteps of the first. And interestingly, the first is still registering more horses than all the others. AND that is what a registry is supposed to do. And once it gets that part down, then it can consider it's next goal. In my opinion, that should always be education. To that end.... There are two inspection programs in place at the present time (aka: education) and a judge training program. One program uses the services of a Gypsy whose Father was a well known breeder. He continues in his Father's footsteps and that....is where I take issue with him being the only judge judging. To be truly equitable, there should be three judges, not necessarily all senior individuals, a good scenario might be one senior and two apprentice judges. At the end of the day, though not perfect, this is good education..good for breeders, good for those showing under knowledgeable judges, good for judges wanting to improve their knowledge base...good for all. Best of all, good for the horse! And isn't that what we should be doing all along!