Importance of the Ridge

Please note that this article was in response to the statement that a dog with a slight ridge fault should be eliminated from the competition no matter how superior it is to the rest of the class. In effect the judge refuses to judge it.

In a perfect world, with a ring-full of quality ridgebacks I would agree that the quality of the ridge could be a deciding factor in placements, but that isn’t the case today.

It has also been said that showing is a beauty contest. This is true but only when there is type, perfect balance and symmetry in an exhibit, that moves with fluidity and accuracy can a dog be truly beautiful. Achieving this does not appear to be a priority amongst many breeders at present or there would not be so many unattractive, unbalanced ridgebacks that have more in common with sight than endurance hounds. Not that there is anything wrong with sight hounds but they are built for a different purpose.

The present emphasis of breeding litters of "perfect" ridges, selling them all as show quality, regardless of their conformation and encouraging them to be shown and bred from is not the way to push the breed forward until its capable of achieving top honours. The standard calls for a "strong, muscular and active dog, symmetrical in outline, capable of great endurance with a fair amount of speed." It also calls for them to be "heavy in bone". I don’t see anyone complaining when judges put up untypical specimens with ewe necks, narrow, hollow chests, upright shoulders lacking in return of upper arm and bone, cut-up ribs, and dropping off over the croup which move with a characteristic stilted gait. All these ugly faults are prevalent, are undermining the solid foundation we inherited from our forefathers and narrowing the gene pool of quality dogs.

A judge must use their judgement against the breed standard, based on their experience but spectators are free to choose the dog they like the most. This is not necessarily the same thing, after all you could get anyone off the street to judge a ridge. I believe the judge should reward the exhibit that excels in an area where there is a widespread weakness in a class. This is what exhibitors’ pay for and the sentence at the end of each standard. "All departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree." allows a judge to weigh up virtues and faults and judge accordingly, and that includes ridges!

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