A couple of years ago I finally reached champion status, and so another aspect of our hobby opened up to me. I should want to try my hand at judging. I have served two years on the subsidiary panel and undergone six assessments under different judges. Even if you have no intention of becoming a judge, the experience is extremely worthwhile. It gives a valuable insight into the finer points that the judges look for.
Many people have no idea how little time their exhibit has, in front of the judge, to impress.
A quick glance at a bird at a show does not always spot the missing flight or opalescence the judge, on closer examination, has seen. If I can offer one small criticism, it would be the height of the main panel judge compared with the trainee. Until we have adjustable tables I will always suffer as the height, rightly so, is set for the assessor. Incidentally I have always found it easier to judge a class of birds all the same colour. A class of six Cinnamon Light Greens, for example, would be easier than one which contained Cinnamon Greys and Cinnamon Blues.