As it happened, I needed to look something up in an old Phryso this week and that’s how I ended up with the June issue of the first volume in 1950. The front page of this 4-page issue contained the planning for the Studbook inspections of that year. To get an idea, the planning for Thursday the 20th of July 1950 was as follows: Winsum (location Terpstra place); Sneek (location cattle market); Rauwerd (location city hall); Wirdum (location Hotel Duhoux); Zwartewegsend (location Venema yard) and Marrum (location Café De Haan). This is how the Jury rounded off all summer inspections at fifteen locations within three days. Back then there were no breeding days. The four Friesian breeding chapters were founded two years later, in 1952. So they had inspections on location, with Jury members making their rounds.
Quite bizarre that this week, in the year 2020 we are once again planning inspections on location. And again, with Jury members doing their rounds. Moving seventy years back in time we could say. Except that now the cafes and city halls are replaced by training stables.
Inspections on location are part of a comprehensive Plan B for the inspection season right through to the Central Inspection. We have now come up with a 1½-metre-proof alternative for all inspections and assessments including acceptance- and Star inspections, ABFP, re-inspections, presentation days, Crown declaration etc. It requires quite some flexibility on our part, both from the Studbook as well as you, the breeders. Plan B is bound to be a lot less sociable. A pity, but we as Studbook are prepared to go that extra mile to make sure inspections and assessments can go ahead as much as possible. If only for the purpose of keeping breeding afloat. Obviously all within the boundaries of safety in these times, with our health being priority number one.
To stay well-informed of how the Studbook acts on Government guidelines concerning Corona, the advice is to keep a close watch on the KFPS website/Phryso.com.
It’s still early in the season. Let’s all hope that we have to rely as little as possible on Plan B and that we can soon switch back to a ‘forward’ perspective!
