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.JPG) Name: Nicky
Goulter (pictured rght with Jehozacat
JenniferJuniper, her new Maine Coon kitten)
Location: Banstead, Surrey
Prefix: Shadycombe
Breed(s): Turkish Vans, Siamese and Maine Coons
Breeding since: 1994
All
pictures by Beryl McMillan
Tell us a bit
about you:
I was born in Devon (Salcombe to be precise) and a local farm is
where my prefix came from. My first cat was a black moggie girl (half
Siamese) with golden eyes, called Jet, with whom I used to play tag!
My next dabble with cats was just after I met Steve (my *very*
understanding husband!) in 1990 - there were two moggies, Pete (a
cream and white boy) and Dud (a pure cream boy). Sadly, in March
1991, Dudley was run over. Pete was very lonely, so we asked the
local cats protection for a cream cat. Four days later, Fanny (don't
ask!) came into our lives. She was a seal tortie Siamese, no taller
than a Fairy Liquid bottle, deep blue eyes with the most exquisite
squint, a
Roman nose, a marvellous tail fault and a personality that was twice
as big as she was! She loved peanuts (she would nick them off a
coffee table), and she and Pete fell in love at first sight. She
passed on in July 1993 and I have never been so distraught in my
life. However, Steve and I now knew that we could never be without a
Siamese.
Why did you choose
your breed(s)?
Soon after, we were in Salcombe with
my cousins, and they gave us a copy of a free ads paper - in which was
an advert for Siamese kittens … We rang the number and on the way
home we stopped in and chose Polly (Adinam Lively Lady), a seal point
girl. Two weeks later she came home with us. A mere few weeks later
we saw a TV programme by Roger Tabour, "The Rise of the Cat", and one
of the episodes had a short sequence about the "swimming cat" from
Lake Van in Turkey (which is actually the white one, the Turkish
Vankedisi) - but they also showed some typical van-patterned kittens.
And Steve and I, who enjoy sailing, thought it would be nice to have a
cat that could swim!
Then, in mid-November
later the same year, Steve came home and said "I shouldn't tell you
this but in the local pet shop window there is a business card
advertising Turkish Van kittens for sale" - by the time he got home the
following evening we were the proud owners of Patsy (Alantris
Parisia), an auburn and white Turkish Van - and as they say, the rest
is history.
 I
have also bred Snowshoes, but Maine Coons came along
considerably later - as a result of me starting the judge training
program for GCCF. I wanted to get a better understanding of how the
breed worked, their coats, growth patterns etc, and therefore bought myself
Brett (Zydeco
Ruffnreddy, a red tabby neuter boy, right) as a birthday present to myself in
2006. Of course, Maine Coons are addictive, so-o-o-o …
Why/how did you
start breeding?
Like a lot of people, I just fancied having kittens! I wasn't a
complete stranger to breeding (having bred hamsters in the dim and
distant past!) and my first Siamese litter was born to Polly in 1994,
with the first Turks following in 1995.
Why did you choose
your prefix?
Shadycombe Farm was where I used to go with my grandfather to get eggs
when I was four years old - sadly this is now a car park, but the name
lives on in my cattery.
When were your
most memorable occasions as a breeder?
One of my more memorable litters of kittens was cross
Siamese/Turkish Van (an oops litter!). We took the pregnant girl with
us to the Lake District to celebrate New Year (she loved travelling)
and spent New Year's day trying to get from Coniston to Windermere in
floods and driving rain as we thought she might need a Caesarian!
Luckily, she produced a kitten on the way, the vet checked on the
arrival of the second and we returned to Coniston where produced three
more - all red and white, since Mum was a red point Siamese and Dad
was an auburn Turkish Van.
Another occasion was
when Heathcliff (Shadycombe Heathcliff ) became my first homebred
Turkish Van
boy made GCCF Grand Champion - and was in fact the first blue-eyed
Turkish Van
to achieve this title! His son, Tom (Shadycombe Top Gun) also became
a Grand Champion, giving the first father-and-son Turkish Van Grand Champions
with the same prefix. I am very proud to say that I have now got five
generations of Turkish Van Champions.
 Of course, I cannot
leave this section without mentioning my beloved Arnie (TICA Supreme
Grand Champion, GCCF Imperial Grand Champion and FIFe Grand
International Champion* Mandela's Barzani - left, with Nicky - *with three certificates
towards the European title). I have three memorable days with him -
the first when he became a Supreme and Overall Best in Show Adult at
the Leicester TICA show in December 2006, the second a Best in
Category II at the Viking show in Worcester, May 2006; and the third
was at the National Cat Club show in Olympia, December 2007, where he
was overall Best in Show Semilonghair and second-best cat in show!
Who were/are the
most memorable cats you've had?
Polly (my first Siamese), Heathcliff (my blue-eyed Turkish Van),
Brett (my first Maine Coon) - and of
course Arnie, my Turkish Van stud (above). And there are many more who
have left purrprints on my heart!
What are your
hopes for the future of your breed/your breeding programme?
To ensure the survival of the Turkish Van, and not only in the UK
but also in Turkey and the rest of the world. I adore this
unique cat, who is not the easiest of cats to live with! Having
always said that I would only breed the auburns, I am now branching
out into the other colours; torties, tortie tabbys, blues and blacks …
watch this space! Also to breed and show a Grand Champion
Siamese - as yet I haven't got to a Champion, but I'm going to keep
trying - without dreams, there's no future!
Is there anything
else you'd like to mention?
Somehow, I fit into my life a full-time job (GP Practice Manager),
a full-time hobby (cats, breeding/showing, BAC judging, etc) and my
other passion which, as mentioned before, is sailing; Steve and I are the
proud owners of a Salcombe yawl called "Sea Pigeon" and this year we
came second in the 'gold fleet' at the yacht club regatta (out of 21)
- even with me helming! Spare time, therefore, is at something of a
premium - however, I wouldn't want it any other way - I hate to be
bored!
(I'm not going to
thank people for helping me get started etc with the cats as there are
far too many and I would hate to leave someone out, but you all know
who you are - and thank you!)
Nicky Goulter
December 2008 |
