Well, I was hoping to have a whole wealth of information for you today as today was meant to be the first time the pompoms entered the main show at Swindon. Sadly it was not be, and we will be waiting till next year now. I have however been to a few shows, and asked a LOT of questions.
So what I do know is this;
Agouti Robos are entered in standard class, and are the only type of robo that can also enter the duplicate classes. Husky and Pied robos can only be entered in the non standard class. Currently white robos aren't recognised and therefore can't enter, judges roughly need to see them three times to accept them, which should happen next year. Another reason I hoped to attend the show was to take Whizzbit so he as a white would be seen. His son Claude was attending, so the two together would have made a great example of whites.
The criteria for Agouti Robos is as follows:
NORMAL
TOP COAT - Warm sandy brown carried 1/3 down. Very lightly and evenly ticked with dark brown.
BASE COLOUR - Slate Grey
BELLY FUR - White
FEET - White
EYES - Black
EARS - Flesh with a dusting of fine fur on the top edge conforming to the Standard colour.
MARKINGS - Arches and spinal stripe are absent. The boundary between top colour and belly fur shall be a sharply defined line with no brindling along the animals’ flanks with a slight downward curve between the front and back legs and again over the tail root. The “eyebrow” markings and the whisker beds shall be pure white and clearly defined.
NOTES - “Open” coat, showing under colour, to be heavily penalised.
They points are out of 100, and are allocated as follows:
TYPE (25 points) - The body shall be broad and cobby, with rear legs appearing to be set wider apart than front legs. Carriage should be low and sturdy. The head shall be well set into the body, with no perceptible neck. The skull shall be broad with a short face and wide muzzle. The eyes and ears shall be set well apart.
FUR (20 points) - The fur shall be soft, smooth and very dense. This also applies to the soles of the feet.
SIZE (10 points) - Adult range, 6 to 8 cms long.
CONDITION (10 points) - The hamster shall be fit, curious when awake and tame to handle. The body shall be well fleshed but with no surplus fat. The coat shall have a healthy sheen and be clean.
EYES AND EARS (5 points) - The eyes shall be large and prominent, rounded but not bulging. The ears shall be rounded, carried erect when the animal is alert, and clearly visible above the fur.
COLOUR (30 points) - Where base colour is indicated, this applies to the whole animal, excluding the belly fur.
A beautiful example of a high scoring robo is Apollo, Tammy's gorgeous boy
Apollo - Pure Agouti Robo