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(FIFe) NW, GIC, SC Beaubell's Stetson of Fare Niente Photos copyrighted by the individual photographers
Beaubell We are Lyn & Colin Bayliss of Florida, USA. Our cattery name is Beaubell. We immigrated to the US from the United Kingdom 22 years ago and have been breeding Persians ever since. Although our breeding program has been small, we produced two national winning cats—GC, GP, NW Beaubell's Ty-Phoo of Koi Pond who was CFA's 2nd Best Premier for 2005-2006—and NW, GIC, SC Beaubell's Stetson of Fare Niente who was a FIFe national winner in Portugal as a kitten in 2010 and and as an adult in 2012. We have also bred and/or shown 16 CFA Regional Winners, 2 Fife Junior Winners, 65 CFA Grand Champions and too many Best In Show winners to count. Stetson In 2010, We bred our blue tabby male, GC Beaubell's Boston T'Party to our copper-eyed white girl, GC Purrmans Pearl of Beaubell. In April, Pearl gave birth to a litter of three kittens.
A solid black male in the litter stood out right from the start. Once in a while a special kitten comes along and we knew he was one of those kittens. At the time, my husband, Colin, was experiencing health issues and we decided to take a break from exhibiting. This meant that if the black kitten was to fulfill his potential, we would need to let someone else take on his show career. Our friends, Ania & Lúcia Castêdo from Hanylou Persians in Portugal, introduced us to their friend, Jose Luis Correia Ribeiro of Fare Niente. Jose was looking for a kitten to campaign in Fife Europe. We immediately liked Jose and arrangements were made for the kitten to fly to Portugal. Jose asked me to name the kitten. He wanted something that would be typically "American". The cowboy hat is an iconic symbol of the American West . . . and one of our favorite places to dine is the Stetson restaurant on the San Antonio river walk . . . so we named the kitten Stetson. FIFe We are CFA folk. This was the first time we had placed a Beaubell kitten with someone who was going to show in FIFe (Fédération Internationale Féline) so we had a lot to learn about how shows worked in FIFe. Based in Europe, FIFe is a federation of national members representing more than 40 countries around the world. Showing in FIFe is very different from CFA. To start, the FIFe show year coincides with the calendar year, beginning in January and ending in December. In FIFe, the cat breeds are not divided into only LH and SH but are shuffled into four groups of similar or related breeds:
Within each breed, there are categories for:
Within each adult category, classes are divided by titles etc. As each cat is judged, the judge writes a report evaluating the cat while the kitty is still on the table. The cat is expected to sit quietly on the table until the report is completed.
Titles are awarded not only by earning points but the cat must also be shown in different countries. There is no top 10 finals in FIFe. After seeing all the cats in a Group, each judge nominates one adult male, adult female, neuter male, spay female, junior and kitten from the category to be considered for Best In Show in the Group. These cats are then judged against each other by all the judges qualified to judge that category to choose the BIS Adult Male for that category. This is repeated for the adult females, neuter males, neuter females, juniors (either sex) and kittens (either sex). The adult male and female winners will then be judged against each other to get the adult BIS (the other gets BOX, or Best Opposite Sex). The same happens for the neuter male and females. Many shows then judge the best adult, neuter, kitten and junior together to get Category BIS. Finally, after all the categories have been judged, there *may* be an Overall Best in Show where the Category BIS cats are judged together to find the best cat in the show, but not all shows do this. Unlike in CFA, national winners are not simply determined by points earned at the end of the season. Each country in FIFe awards their own national titles and decides how the NW is chosen. In Portugal, the five highest scoring cats from the season in each category (Junior, Open, Neuter) of a Breed Group meet one more time to be judged by a single all round FIFe judge. The winner in each category is awarded the NW title. A judge may choose to award another NW in the same category with the Portuguese Club's permission, but no more than 14 NW titles can be awarded in total in any show season. Stetson As A Kitten In FIFe, the kitten class is divided into two age categories: 3-6 months and 6-10 months. On Sept 11th, 2010 in Aveiro, Portugal, Stetson made his kitten debut. Stetson was a very confident kitten, strutting his stuff but always with a very gentle nature. Jose and his partner, Nuno Conceicao presented him immaculately groomed.
He loved to sleep on Jose's head and tussle his hair. Stetson didn't like traveling particularly but once at the show he drank up all the attention—and was a happy boy traveling home. Showing in the Junior class (3-6 months), he went on to achieve his first title—JW (Junior Winner). Stetson's campaign really began in earnest as he entered the 6-10 months category for kittens. He was Best In Show in the LH Group/Junior and Kitten at competitions in Spain and Portugal. In 2010, Stetson was FIFe Portugal's 2nd Best Kitten In Group 1. In Portugal, Royal Canin Pet Foods awards a "Royal Champion" certificate to the winning kittens and cats in each division.
Stetson As An Adult After 10 months of age, a cat in FIFe enters the adult classes. In 2011 Stetson began showing as an adult and he quickly started adding titles to his name. He became a Champion (CH), then an International Champion (IC) and finally a Grand International Champion (GIC) in Portugal and Spain. As an adult he still remained very playful. When he was on the judge's table, he often would try to steal the pen as the judge was writing the report. As the months went by, Stetson kept winning . . . and maturing. He began to feel like a grown up and would let the world know he was looking for a mate. As he was being carried up or back from the judging rings, if he passed another cat, no matter if it was a boy or a girl, he would chirp a sexy meow, letting the kitty know that he was available for a rendezvous.
A National Win For Stetson Jose continued showing Stetson in the 2012 season, and together they enjoyed great success. He was in the top 5 in his group and category at the end of the season. When the top 5 cats in each Breed Group met to be judged to see which would be awarded the coveted NW title, the FIFe judge who would choose the national winners for the 2012 season was Mrs. Francoise Milcent of France. After much deliberation, she chose Stetson first to receive the NW in the Longhair Group in Championship. Stetson was now a national winner! In an unusual move, the judge also awarded a second NW to a black spotted tabby named GIC True Star's Wild Kiss—proving how high the quality was in Stetson's category. Both cats were named BCOTY 2012 in the Longhair Group!
Retirement & Fatherhood In 2013 Stetson had only one last title to add to his name. On February 23rd in Valladolid, Spain, Stetson became a Supreme Champion (SC) in FIFe. He was now FIFe NW, GIC, SC Beaubell's Stetson of Fare Niente. Stetson had no more mountains to climb. After a successful 3 and 1/2 year reign as a top show cat in Europe, Stetson retired. But he still kept up his sexy meowing. He became a father and will soon be a grandfather when his tortie daughter, Alegria, has her first litter.
It was a wonderful new adventure being able to sit back and just enjoy the success of Jose and Stetson in Europe. This was our first experience of a Beaubell cat being shown in FIFe but it won't be our last — we have now placed several more Persian kittens with FIFe exhibitors. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: (FIFe) NW, GIC, SC Beaubell's Stetson of Fare Niente Black Male Persian FIFe Portugal Best Cat Of The Year in Group I (Longhairs) in 2012 Born April 20, 2010
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