STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE (Sections A, B, C, E & F are the same for Black-Headed, Red-Headed and Painted Persians) A. CONFORMATION 1. HEAD AND NECK Strong head and neck symmetrically formed with a masculine wide, curved and prominent nose in the ram. Width between the eyes which are well protected above, ears in proportion to head, large and pointed. Strong, wide mouth and well-formed teeth. Loose horn buds acceptable, but no horns fixed to skull. Dewlap prominent and well-rounded with the neck, strong and full, but not too long and properly attached to dewlap. Head slightly higher than the line of the back and should have a tranquil and stately demeanour.
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS Fixed and permanent horns Short lower jaw (undershot) Long lower jaw (protruding) Crooked face Dewlap small and flat Hollow forehead Neck to short or a long, thin neck, especially with rams Poor neck connection (U-neck) 2. FORE QUARTER Deep and wide with straight legs, spaced far apart. Chest wide, deep and rounded Shoulders well-attached and well-muscled
3. BODY PROPER BODY : good depth, with well-sprung and muscled ribs, back straight from shoulders to hip bones. RUMP : Well-fleshed, wide with a strong connection to the back. GROIN : Held low and well-filled.
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS Hollow back Flat-sided Cylindrical Cut-away groin area
4. HIND QUARTER Loin fairly long, wide hips, meaty with a square shape. Well-fleshed outer and inner thighs with shanks in proportion to bone – meat ratio of hindquarters.
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS Sloping rump Long, thin shanks Too little fleshing in hindquarters
5. TAIL SECTION Substantial tail, well attached, balanced and in proportion to body Symmetrically formed Base on first connection (between tail section and body), sturdy and squarely attached and in proportion to the body size. Second connection (between first connection and apex (to be firmly attached to base or first connection and to be level with rump. Apex to be held high, well attached and by symmetrical. Tassel or small tail to preferably hang straight down, be in proportion to the rest of the tail section and be lighter in ewes than in rams. A skew tassel or small tail is now also acceptable for stud purposes. The mirror (shining skin triangle without hair) to be black without any white spots, wide and have an inverted V- shape which is level on the bottom section.
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS Mirror covered with less than 80% black pigmentation. Skew (unbalanced) main tail section Off-centre apex section (not tassel) Split tail, cut up I middle (two distinct halves) Too small or too big in proportion to body
6. LEGS Strong well placed legs on sturdy feet, strong pasterns, hocks not sickle or cow-hocked. Hooves short and black in colour without being turned-in or turned-out.
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS Cow-hocked or sickle-hocked X-formed front legs Pasterns too straight-up Weak pasterns Hooves turned-in or out too much
B. SIZE An animal with a good and acceptable size for its age.
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS Too large for age Too small for age
C. HAIR COVERING Smooth and lustrous in quality without evidence of wool.
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS Hair covering too coarse or woolly.
D. COLOUR PATTERN Black Headed Persians HEAD AND NECK Even black colouring around neck. Notches or indentations and/or loose points maximum ONE finger width allowed for stud or TWO fingers width acceptable for flock. STUD : Black not to extend lower than FOUR fingers from point of chest (brisket) or higher than FOUR fingers width from back attachment of dewlap to neck. STUD : When the animal stands in its normal upright position the black colouring should start no further up the neck than TWO fingers width from the point of the neck attachment to the back. FLOCK : Black not to extend lower than TWO fingers width from point of chest (brisket) or higher than TWO fingers width from back attachment of dewlap to neck. FLOCK : When the animal stands in its normal upright position the black colouring should start no further up the neck than FOUR fingers width from the point of the neck attachment to the back. White hairs around mouth are acceptable in mature animals.
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS (COLOUR) Excessive white hairs on head. Brown hairs giving a brown appearance or sheen Colour indentations or loose points wider than two finger width Colour in neck higher than four finger width. On throat colour less than two fingers. Black colouring lower than two fingers from point of chest or higher than two fingers from attachment of dewlap to neck White spots or patches on head Excessive brown colouring around eyes Excessive black hairs on body section
TAIL SECTION (COLOUR) Mirror triangle well pigmented with 80% black Black hairs on tail (blue tail) acceptable in mature animals
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS (COLOUR) White dots and patched on mirror Black patches on tail section
UNDER BODY (BELOW KNEES AND HOCKS) (COLOUR) Black markings or patches in total no more than ONE cm are acceptable. Small spots resulting from mosquito or midge bites are acceptable.
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS (COLOUR) Black spots or patches in total larger than ONE cm.
Red Headed Persians HEAD AND NECK (COLOUR) Even red colouring around neck. Notches or indentations and/or loose points maximum ONE finger width allowed for stud or TWO fingers width acceptable for flock. STUD : Red not to extend lower than FOUR fingers from point of chest (brisket) or higher than FOUR fingers width from back attachment of dewlap to neck. STUD : When the animal stands in its normal upright position the red colouring should start no further up the neck than TWO fingers width from the point of the neck attachment to the back. FLOCK : Red not to extend lower than TWO fingers width from point of chest (brisket) or higher than TWO fingers width from back attachment of dewlap to neck. FLOCK : When the animal stands in its normal upright position the red colouring should start no further up the neck than FOUR fingers width from the point of the neck attachment to the back. White hairs around mouth and nose are acceptable in mature animals.
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS (COLOUR) Excessive white hairs on head. Colour indentations or loose points wider than two finger width Colour on neck higher than four finger width. On throat colour less than two fingers. Red colouring lower than two fingers from point of chest or higher than two fingers from attachment of dewlap to neck White spots or patches on head Excessive white or black colouring around eyes Excessive red or black hairs on body section
TAIL SECTION (COLOUR) Red-headed Persians should have adequate pigment on mirror Red hairs on tail acceptable in mature animals
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS (COLOUR) Insufficient pigmentation Red spots and patches on tail section
UNDER BODY (BELOW KNEES AND HOCKS) (COLOUR) Red spots or patches in total no more than ONE cm are acceptable. Tiny red spots in total no more than ONE centimeter are acceptable. Ideally hooves should be dark coloured.
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS (COLOUR) Spots or patches in total larger than ONE cm.
Painted Persians Only black or red plus white Painted Persians are acceptable. COLOUR PATTERN (minimum requirements) The body should display easily recognizable patches on both sides of the body. A totally red, black or white animal is not acceptable. A Painted Persian with a flecked (skimmel) appearance is not acceptable, but limited flecking (skimmel) in isolated patches is allowed, although it is discriminated against. More than TWO colours present are totally unacceptable. No discrimination against colour on the scrotum of rams, as long as the rest of the body colouring is typical. The whole head should be a specific colour (black or red) and should be repeated on the legs. White hairs around mouth and nose are acceptable in mature animals.
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS (COLOUR) An animal with a markedly flecked (skimmel) appearance. More than TWO colours on an animal. White spots or patches on the head. Excessive white hairs on the head or neck. White spots or patches larger than ONE cm on underline not allowed.
E. REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS : RAMS Two matching, well-developed and formed testicles in a single sheath, which is not split at end. Testicle sac to be firmly attached to body.
OBVIOUS CULL FAULTS Testicles to small. Testicles of uneven size. Split sac. Poorly attached testicle sheath.
F. REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS : EWES A well formed and attached udder with ONE fully functional teat PER side. Texture of udder to be soft and pliable.