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Condition : Above all else, healthy condition is of overriding importance. Alert and of a crisp appearance; feather texture should be medium to hard and smooth and silky to the touch, not coarse, loose or ragged. The West should be free of all parasites, lice holes, mites, dirt, grit and feeding stains, moulting, feather rot, broken or frayed feathers, deformities and other areas the judge deems as part of condition. The body should be firm in the hand, not loose or soft bodied. You should be able to feel in the hand the muscle needed for a true flying breed. The West should be shown fit and not fat. Handling : “The West should come to the hand” : what exactly does this mean ? The physical handling characteristics are the hardest to explain in writing but this is the crucial feature of the West. In the hand the West should feel comfortable; it should neither fall forwards nor drop its tail or lift its shoulders to balance itself. A poorly balanced West will always fidget and feel uncomfortable in the hand, whereas a balanced bird sits quite contently. Another quality to identify is that the body should also be in proportion throughout. The art of recognising balance is something that can only come with experience & the best training ground for that are the classic flying breed shows, stewarding for experienced judges.
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