As Adopted by the American Oriental Frill Club

Preface To Standard

The Standard of Excellence represents the accumulation of the Ideas of numerous fanciers of the past and present, with many combined years of experience in breeding, exhibiting, and judging Oriental Frills. The Standard is considered Ideal and possible of achievement. The dictionary has these definitions:

Idea - a conception, purpose or plan, a mental image.

I Ideal - conceived as perfect - that which is taken as a standard of excellence.

The ultimate object of the Standard is to represent perfection, by uniting in one form all the finest qualities to be found in individual forms: type, figure, outline, structure; style; size; proportion; color; markings - the combination of characters representative of the breed that sets it apart from related groups and leads to the "ideal".

Before one may breed, exhibit, or judge a variety of pigeons on an intelligent basis, he must understand thoroughly this combination of characters that makes up perfection in a variety and he must also recognize these characters when he sees them.

This leads to the question: what is Ideal, what is perfection, and what is the "standard" for Oriental Frill Pigeons? The following itemized Standard of Excellence is intended to answer these questions, insofar as any written or spoken description may accomplish this purpose.

As the breed nears perfection, it should be recognized that some changes in the standard are in order, but the foundation should always be retained. Such changes consist primarily of refinements of the existing wording, fuller explanations, additions not heretofore included even those, which might be considered of minor importance.

It is these thoughts and overall purposes in mind, that the accompanying Standard of Excellence revisions have been put forward and adopted this 13th day of December 1963.

Definitions

Lore - The space between the eye and the upper mandible and the nose wattle.

Downfaced - The desired downward tendency of the straight line between the upper and lower mandibles. In profile, the mandibles, wattles, lores and nose should be located low in the head in relation to the eye, resulting in the "downfaced aspect" or the appearance of a soldier at attention.

Rollover - That portion of the rounded curve of frontal (not a perfect sphere or ellipse) descending from the highest point of frontal 90 degrees to where it blends with the more perpendicular curve rising above the wattle.

Grouse-muffed - This term has been incorrectly used in previous standards and is not included in the present revision. Research has shown that under fourteen different names of grouse, none has feathered toes. Since the feathering on the muffed varieties of Oriental Frills should extend down over the legs and feet to the toenails, use of the term "feather-muffed" is more accurate.

Revised Sunday, April 29, 2007