>... The ferret who took best in show for companion at that show had
>biten one of the judges, but didn't get disqualified ...
 
The situation involved a new judge who was really winding the ferret up
and she got a nip.  It was not a bite and the skin was not broken; the
ferret never showed any hint of wanting to bite, he was just playing (he
was also a baby and we all know how they will play with their mouth open
when you get them wound up).  The Judges Admin investigated and the judge
was corrected on proper behavior in the ring.
 
If a ferret bites, their score goes down and if they draw blood, they are
disqualified - I've done it, I've seen it done and it's the rule.
 
I hope that everyone would understand that all judges are not equal -
everyone is in a different stage of training & level of skill.  While
we do our best to be consistent, we are only human.  I really hope that
anyone who thinks the judging is unfair or unequal would join the program
so they could see what we go through and how things are done.  It's a lot
of work and we take pride in giving exhibitors our best efforts.  I would
also hope that you would ask questions - things are not always what you
perceive :)
 
>why your's didn't get checked over.  That was the first show I had been
>to where someone did check them over.  That was also my first time out of
 
AFA sponsored shows (Spring & Winter Nationals) are no longer vet-checked
and haven't been for about 2 years.  We've had no issues since the
responsibility is put more heavily onto the exhibitor to make sure their
ferrets are in show form (i.e., healthy).  Also, if there should be a
problem, the judges will pick it up and let the exhibitor know.
 
>people who have been judging and showing for a while do get to know each
>other, and many of the judges are breeders so they sort of know who goes
>with who.   That said, I was a steward last year...
 
As one of the judges, I'll have to disagree with you on knowing a ferret
in the ring.  When you are judging, you get so involved with what you are
doing that it is highly unlikely you would recognize a ferret, unless
they were a very unusual color or had a striking feature.  Judges are not
allowed to handle any ferret that they may be judging 30 days prior to
the show date.  As I stated in my response yesterday, I actually started
to judge one of my own ferrets by accident and was halfway done before I
realized who she was LOL
 
And thank you for volunteering to steward last year :)
 
>What I don't like is how instead of ranking the ferrets like they should,
>they look at other ferrets rankings on the paper and take a ferret up or
>down based on the other ferret's stats.  I don't know how they remember
 
Each ferret is judged against the standard.  However, any judge can get
off-track (especially when you are switching between hobs & jills) and
you have to make sure you keep your averages consistent or you could
really screw up the scoring by heavily favoring one sex over the other or
perhaps being bowled over by an older ferret that looks really good, but
may not really have the muscle or structure that it should.  Judges have
to be conscience and score what they feel, not just what they see.  It
can be easy to get bowled over by the "wow!" factor - say a ferret with
a gorgeous fluffy coat, but yet when you touch it you are like - where
are the ribs?  Or there is no body mass, just lots of fur.
 
So what you were seeing was not necessarily ranking one ferret against
another, but a judge who noticed they had scored either a bit too high or
too low for their averages (maybe a Wow! factor ferret) and therefore
had to adjust to stay consistent with their scoring to stay fair.
 
>...  Actually, I was told it was because two ferrets can't have the
>same exact score.  My feeling is to score them individually...
 
This is untrue for AFA shows.  There are ties occasionally and there are
ways to break ties.  You first let the ferret break the tie (who has the
better temperment score?), if that is the same, then you let the owner
break the tie (who has the better maintenance score?) and if that is
the same, and we rarely get to this point, you go by structure (add up
skeletal, head, etc.).
 
>I don't think that how they do it currently is really very fair to
>the ferrets being judged.
 
I would encourage you to join the program so that you can learn how
things are actually done and if you feel that it's not done correctly,
then work with us to change it :)
 
As for being political and the same people always winning - if you have
been a breeder for 20 years (longer than just about anyone at the shows
today), I would expect you to be winning a lot or else you are obviously
not doing something correctly.  Wouldn't you agree?
 
And I personally am a prime example of why AFA shows are *not* political,
contrary to some folks beliefs.  I have been showing since 1997, I'm a
judge and just this last weekend I received my *first* AFA championship
trophy.
 
I hope this helps clear up any misconceptions.  As always, if anyone
has any questions, feel free to ask.  To learn more, join the judging
programs or just volunteer to steward.  I know many folks who have
stewarded and it really opened their eyes to what all is involved in
the judging process.
 
Mary McCarty-Houser
AFA All Class Title Judge
www.ferret.org
[Posted in FML issue 4988]