UC Mags Issue 39 | Page 9

Little did we know at that time that Brighton would lead our path one day to Judyland Cavaliers (UK) which has shaped so much of what we have learned and accomplished. (Continued from page 7) Sutton and later several Best of Breeds with very limited showing including Simi Valley KC, Gavilan KC and Camellia Capital KC in 2000. Barbara has been a great mentor and friend as well as Brighton’s AKC Handlers, Sue and Corky Vroom. They both gave us the impetus and curiosity to breed and to try and create our own style and vision within the interpretation of the breed standard. Again, we could not have had better mentors to start out with than Barbara who has been in the breed over forty years and Sue Vroom being an English Springer Spaniel and Tibetan Terrier breeder and a consummate as well as admired sportswoman and representative in the AKC conformation world. Both of their philosophies and practical advice are behind much of how we approach showing and breeding our Cavaliers. We breed in a limited fashion due to professional demands but we have been very focused on our stud dog side of breeding. Our goals have been to maintain the soundness and balance that make a Cavalier functional in the ring not overlooking the essential character of the breed. Some of the notions that the late Breeder Judge Richard Beauchamp imparted in his talks to breed clubs and in his book “Solving the Mysteries of Breed Type’ remain foremost in our thinking as we make decisions. We want to present a silhouette that captures the eye. “From near or far, the silhouette describes the breed for us. This critical element of breed type draws a line around everything we need about the dog’s and the breed’s physicality*.” (*Solving the Mysteries of Breed Type) On a specific breed level, we have tried to say close to where we started and what has been behind the lines that we appreciate; the rich color, good shape and rich, dark eyes that came with the Ronnoc lines, the soundness and balance from the Sanickro and Judyland lines and of late the sweet expression and beautiful variation of head type of Pinecrest Cavaliers. This is not easy to accomplish with the current health AKC and CKC Ch. Y Cymry Brighton (Continued on page 10) 9