The RVCC and the BCC have produced Guidance Notes for Breeders, Exhibitors and Judges for the most popular New and Emerging Varieties. The agreement of such Guidance Notes by the BCC is the first step towards possible Guide Standard status, once it has been established that sufficient numbers meeting the Guidance Notes are being exhibited.
Only varieties with recognised Guidance Notes may be shown in New and Emerging Variety classes. Other varieties or breed combinations or new colour variants may be shown in RVCC Assessment Classes.
The following Guidance Notes were agreed at BCC meetings.
Updated December 2018.
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All characteristics are as for a Self cavy but with colour to be a rich, warm toffee, distinctly darker than the Self Beige. Eyes light ruby.
The Ridgeback is a smooth-coated cavy other than for a pronounced Ridge, which should be pronounced, unbroken, erect and straight, running down the spine from between the ears to the hips. The ridge should be up to approximately 2.5 cm (one inch) in height and be most pronounced at the shoulder, tapering towards the rear end. The ridge should be firm and erect when brushed with the palm of the hand.
Other than the ridge the Coat should be soft, short, clean and free from grease. It should have no coat faults or rosettes, although a small circular pattern at the back of a foot is not a fault.
The Ridgeback is only recognised in Self Colours, Agouti and Argente, which should conform to ESCC, NACC or RVCC standards. The coat should be of glossy sheen, free from visible brindling, roaning or patches of different colour; with the colour carried well down to the skin to avoid any appearance of flakeyness. However, during a two-year period when breeders are moving from no restrictions on colour to defined colour requirements, exhibits should not be penalised for small patches of hairs of inappropriate colour so long as these do not exceed the size of a £1 coin (e.g. a white foot). Odd-coloured hairs found in the coat of the cavy, but not visible, from the surface should not be penalised.
The Head should be short and broad, with a gently curving profile and muzzle to be of good width and rounded at the nostrils. Eyes should be large, bright and bold and set with good width between. Ears should be large and drooping, with lower rim parallel to the ground and set with good width between.
The Body should be short and cobby, thick-set with good width across the shoulders. It must be fit and of good substance, with plenty of firm flesh covering the shoulders; and the pig should have good size appropriate to age.
The Belted is a smooth coated solid coloured (black) cavy with a belt of white circling the body just behind the shoulders and incorporating the front legs and feet. Younger exhibits may have a narrower belt.
The Belt should be of white colour circling the body just behind the shoulders and including the front legs and feet. It should be vertical (at right angles to the spine), even in width all round the body, and straight. The width of the belt should be between 3 and 5 cm. Steps, skewing and variations in width of the belt are to be penalised according to severity.
Body Colour should be black, even & with glossy sheen, carried well down to the skin.
Differently coloured hairs found within the Black or White are to be penalised according to quantity.
The Belt Colour should be be pure and clean, Eye colour should be dark.
The Head should be short and broad, with a gently curving profile and muzzle to be of good width and rounded at the nostrils. Eyes should be large, bright and bold and set with good width between. Ears should be large and drooping, with lower rim parallel to the ground and set with good width between.
The Body should be short and cobby, thick-set with good width across the shoulders. It must be fit and of good substance, with plenty of firm flesh covering the shoulders; and the pig should have good size appropriate to age Coat should be soft, clean and groomed free of guard hairs.
The MiniPli is genetically a Longhair cavy but it also carries curly genes (derived from Lunkarya) and rex genes (derived from Alpaca) and it has been selected to have a slowergrowing, shorter, weaker coat than conventional longhairs.
This combination of factors produces a semi-longhaired, curly-coated cavy with characteristics that differentiate it from other longhairs, one that appeals to people that like longhairs but do not have the time, skills or inclination to keep them in full coat and who are also attracted by the curls. Specifically:
Coat length should be such that it only just reaches the board even without being cut (which it must not be). The coat grows more slowly than on other longhairs, at approximately half the rate, so that the length of U/5 and 5/8 exhibits will be much shorter than in those of other longhair breeds. The frontal (known as the ‘fringe’) is also much shorter and weaker than on other longhairs, so that it flops a little from the head in the style of a fringe but it will never cover the whole face. Chops are short, never of a length to reach the board, and have a slightly fuzzy, harsh feel. The overall appearance of the cavy should be of a rounded effect (when viewed from above), looking neat and tidy.
The cavy should be covered with a large number of tiny corkscrew curls all over the body, these being tighter than those of the Lunkarya. The coat texture is sufficiently harsh that these curls stand out from the body, meaning that it is not possible to attempt to show the cavy with a parting; but the coat is much softer than on the Lunkarya, and this contributes to the tighter curls.
Accordingly, the MiniPli can be distinguished from the Lunkarya by a shorter, more slowgrowing coat; shorter frontal (fringe) and chops; softer coat and tighter curls. Its shorter coat, corkscrew curls and the difficulty in maintaining any form of parting make it clearly different from the Alpaca. Head, eyes, ears and body type are as expected for the Lunkarya and Alpaca.
Wash 2: Designed by Simon Neesam for the British Cavy Council © 2020