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Top Line By Doug King
Top Line – Has Our Standard Changed??
Top line in our breed has been getting a lot of attention lately. I first want to answer the
question, “Has our standard changed?” The answer (of course) is absolutely not!!
I have seen numerous animals posted on Facebook with the owners talking about the
“correct topline”. What I see in these animals is a bit longer shoulder and midsection with a
high point way to far back. They look like their hindquarters where chopped off with a
shovel, lacking what our standard calls for, “high point over the center of the hips and then
ROUND downward to a full lower hindquarter. I think trying to move the high point to far
back removes the ROUNDNESS to the lower hindquarter. The added length through the
shoulder and midsection makes them look more commercial type and not what our
standard calls for, “the body is to be compact”.
Our type description has not changed in 25 years, so I just don’t understand why people are
talking about a new high point. It was informative for me to go back and re-read our
standard. Put more perspective on my thoughts of what I breed, what I cull for and what I
think is a correct topline!
NMRRC Publication Quarter 1 January-February-March 2020
52
