The first day of the 2010 – 2011 Programme took place on a very cold May 9th at Cricklade Town Hall. After the inevitable teething problems – despite all Ian’s planning they had forgotten to send someone to let us in! - the day went well.

Bolstered by the obligatory bacon roll, courtesy of Claire and her assistants in the kitchen, and having survived the written paper, the students gathered round tutor Caroline Smith to hear about Guide Standard & New/Emerging Varieties

We had a good selection of the breeds being studied for the students to see and handle, and later to judge. These included the Teddy, Chinchilla, Sable, Harlequin, Magpie, Caramel, Swiss & Lunkarya. Many thanks to those fanciers who kindly lent their stock for the day.

We were pleased to have two fanciers join us under the Half Day Course scheme, Sarah Mann and Charlotte Cox. If you haven’t caught up with this scheme yet, details can be found on page 5 of last month’s ‘Cavies’.

The next day in the Programme is on June 27th, when the breeds to be studied are Rex & Dutch, with tutors Kit Leslie and Chris Peachey respectively.

Some comments from the students about the first day can be found below.

Penny Bell

Programme Coordinator.

Tutor Caroline Smith demonstrates the finer points of a Teddy to some of the students

Neil finds that judging isn't so serious after all!

Nikki evaluating a Teddy's coat qualities

The group in studious mood.

I attended my first day of the SCC Accreditation course today and what a day it was!  I left feeling nothing but admiration for those who have attended and qualified as judges, as there is so much to remember.  Today we covered Rare Varieties and New and Emerging Breeds, and it gave me an opportunity to get up close and personal with some breeds that I had never come across before, such as the Swiss, as well as hands on experience with some judging too. Our tutor for the day was Caroline Smith and I was very impressed with her in-depth knowledge of the breeds.

Thank you to Penny and Co for your hard work and for a great day, fortified with endless cups of tea and coffee, and although I was very tired at the end of the day, I was already looking forward to the next training day, Rex and Dutch!

Jackie Roswell 

Will you pass on my thanks to the team for a great day yesterday, I really found it very informative and thought as a first it went very well. Caroline was excellent and it was nice to see some Sables in the flesh.

Julie Davies.

Sunday May 9th saw an enthusiastic bunch of cavy fanciers gathered in Cricklade, Wilts., for the first training day in a very interesting judges’ training scheme organised by the S.C.C.

Rare varieties were covered by Caroline Smith who made the subject interesting and clear, followed by a chance to judge a selection of RVs. Everything was very well organised and professional and I would recommend it to anyone, not only for would be judges, but also to those who would like to gain in depth knowledge of the various breeds. Well done.

Margaret Hooper.

I found it very useful to see the exhibits from a judge’s perspective rather than an exhibitor’s perspective.

Neil Smith.

I really enjoyed the judging day last Sunday. Thank you Penny for organising it. Many thanks also to Claire, Julie, Caroline, Jennie, and all the breeders who sent RVs for us to get our hands on!
I enjoyed the way the day unfolded with a look at each breed then the chance to 'judge' a class ourselves (justifying our decisions in coherent sentences!)

Sarah Mann