Exhibiting Goals for Novices
By Blake Ma
--> (This article was featured in the Oct/Nov/Dec 2006 issue of Agapornis World) and will be printed in an upcoming issue of the journal put out by the Society of Parrot Breeders & Exhibitors
Having goals when exhibiting are important, especially when you are a Novice or an Intermediate Exhibitor. At the beginning and end of the show season I ask myself what are the goals for the season that I’ve accomplished and what goals do I want to achieve next season, and what will I need to do or breed to get there. For me, setting goals for myself makes exhibiting that much more fun and exciting. Here are some ideas on goals you can set for yourself. If you don’t succeed in a goal, don’t get too discouraged, but continue working at it and always keep the big picture in mind, which is the first goal below.
Have an Awesome Time
This is the most important goal that every Novice Exhibitor should have, because if you always put yourself in the mindset and think of a show as a vacation(even with all the driving and show tags to fill out) and a time to relax and socialize with friends, then you will always come home a winner. Of course it’s always nice to come home with ribbons or even a plaque as well. When you’re a new person at a show, spend some time and introduce yourself and make sure you get to meet everyone. Sometimes regular Exhibitors are so concentrated on filling out their tags and getting their birds checked in that they forget to say hi to newcomers. As you go to more and more shows, you will start to see many familiar faces. After a show, the Love Bird Exhibitors will usually go to the hosting club’s banquet or out to eat and most likely have a couple of drinks at the bar. Sometimes, the bar can almost be as fun as the show itself! Unless your personal friends are all bird people, most people in life you meet will not quite understand your undeniable fascination with birds, but everyone you meet a bird show will definitely have this in common with you! You will no longer be “THE” crazy bird person, but just one of the crazy bird people. You don’t even need to exhibit to come to a bird show. It’s often fun just to observe all the different birds and interact with all the people at a show and make friends.
Win Best Novice
This is not always an easy achievement, at least it wasn’t for me… I had this 1 goal for 3 years before it happened. That year however, I did win many, many Green Best Novice ribbons, perhaps to make up for the other years. I’m glad I got encouragement from others and stuck with it, because in that same year many of my other goals began to fall into place and set me on the right path to accomplish those. Also, if you are lucky enough to be at a show where there are no champions, then the medal for Best Champion in show also is awarded to the Novice. Revel in your Best Novice win and get as many of those Beautiful Green ALBS Ribbons as you can, because once you lose your Novice status, that is one ribbon you will never, ever be able to win again.
Place a bird on the Top Bench
Placing a bird on the top bench is a big achievement, because it can require conditioning and training of the bird as well as finding a good bird from good blood lines. Placing a bird on the top bench also means that on 12/31 of that year, you will no longer be considered a Novice by ALBS or eligible for the Novice Award the following year.
Place one of your own banded birds on the Top Bench
This is a big step for an Exhibitor. Achieving this means that you are now breeding some show quality birds in your aviary as well as conditioning and show training these birds. This also means that you have identified who the good show breeders are and have most likely worked at acquiring birds from those Exhibitors that can produce show quality stock. A big part of exhibiting any type of bird is knowing the right people that you can buy or trade good blood lines with. Placing any bird on the top bench is exciting, but when you see your own banded bird on the top bench, you can’t help but feel a sense of pride that your hard work has paid off and that your breeding program is heading in the right direction. Getting to this stage also means that you have begun to develop an “eye” for what is a good show bird and which birds are keepers for your breeding program and exhibiting and which birds perhaps should be sold as pets.
Best in Class/Best in Section
If there is a special mutation or variation you’ve been working on, then one of your goals could be producing the best of that mutation. Some Exhibitors have specialized specifically in Fischer’s while others Australian Cinnamons or Black-cheeked, etc. The Exhibitors that I’ve known that have done a good job at this may not always win many sections, but they still end up placing 3 or sometimes even 4 birds from that 1 section onto the bench, because they have concentrated all of their time and breeding efforts into making this 1 mutation the best that it can possibly be, and it truly shows. Also after you go to a couple of shows in your area, you will probably notice certain sections that are lacking in birds. If this section interests you, you may have an advantage by showing birds in that section. This is all part of the fun of exhibiting and learning from attending shows. If you decide to do this, you would need to plan ahead, for example breed certain birds this year so that they can be ready for shows next year. This would not be a goal that you could decide on and accomplish at the next show.
Make Champion/Grand Champion
This is definitely a hard goal to achieve, but not impossible. Many people make their first Champion with a bird that has another breeder’s band. A Champion Love Bird is any Love Bird that has earned a total of 50 points or more as judged by at least 3 different ALBS judges. Also, the bird must have won a 1st place division win in a major show. A major show is one that has 50 or more Love Birds and at least 3 Exhibitors. To achieve Grand Champion status, a bird must receive 50 points while being shown in the champion section and also take a 1st place division win in a major show. Then on December 31st of that year, the status of a bird will be changed to Grand Champion and then the bird must be retired from all ALBS competitions. A latter goal would be to make champion with a bird with your own band.
Show majority your own banded birds
This is a big step and can take many, many years to achieve, but it’s something that every Novice/Intermediate Exhibitor should consider working towards. When birds with your band can hold their own against the Advanced Exhibitors it’s then a good sign that you are no longer a Novice and perhaps somewhere in between Intermediate to Advanced.
Top 3 Exhibitor of the Year Awards
At the end of every show season, the total number of points earned by the birds you exhibited, will be totaled, and the top 3 Exhibitors of the year will receive a plaque with their name engraved the following year at Nationals. Only banded birds can earn points, even though non-banded birds can still be shown and place on the bench. This is a nice achievement as it takes a lot of time, money, and effort traveling and exhibiting at shows.
Become a Champion Breeder
Champion Breeder is a very difficult achievement to obtain and only a handful of people have ever obtained it. A Champion Breeder is any Exhibitor who has bred five Champion Love Birds. These birds must be bred and exhibited only by the person desiring to become a Champion Breeder.
Win GABS or the Nationals
Both of these are National level shows. One of the awards at The National Cage Bird Show is the coveted Higgins award. The bird must be banded and exhibited by the Exhibitor. For many Advanced Exhibitors, these are the show of shows and what many prepare for and look forward to each year. At my first Nationals in Dallas in 2005, I saw more plaques than I had ever seen in my life for a single show. For every 1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd in section, there were 3 plaques, that’s over 39 plaques for all sections not including the other plaques awarded for 1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd, and 4 th places in each division as well as the Novice plaque not to mention the many, many ribbons given out. You can go to Nationals and not even place and still bring home an award! I definitely encourage all Novices to make it to Nationals. You will get to meet people there that you would normally not get to see at your local show. Hope to see you there!
The ideas for goals are all just suggestions and nothing that you have to take too seriously. It’s all about having a good time! Exhibiting is a fun hobby in itself and should be done in whatever way is most enjoyable for you whether this is spending hours analyzing past shows results, or just getting to the bar first chance you get, or as my wife likes to do go shopping at the closest outlet mall. Lastly and most importantly of course, if you go to a show with the right mindset and attitude and just set out to have a great time with your bird peers, then you will always come home a winner. Also, be happy for the winners of each show, because today “is” their day and they have earned it. When your day comes, they will be happy for you as well. It’s all about working together, friendly competition, and making Exhibiting fun for everyone.