An excerpt from Robert
Cole's "You Be The Judge":
http://www.worldclassdogs.com/YBTJ/YBTJ_103_FS.html
"In England, the English Springer Club members present at the February 1993 annual general meeting unanimously agreed that the majority of ESS shown in America should no longer be classified as English Springer Spaniels as they do not comply with the breed Standard as laid down by the country of origin. The chairman, Mrs. Janet Wood, has written to the AKC, the KC and the FCI suggesting a split in the breed similar to the English-American Cocker Spaniel division. "
Even though the ESS Standard with revisions by the ESSFTA - approved by the AKC, and The Kennel Club (UK) are very similar in wording, the current American Style and European Style of Champion ESS are very different. The American champions for the most part have much more coat, solid saddles with perfect collar & blaze, very little ticking, darker eyes, and lower ear sets. Some are also shorter in height. If you look at the pages that I've uploaded (American & UK), you can see that the American Bred ESS have changed more drastically than the English Bred ESS over an 80 year period. During my research for Breed Of The Month, the major change that I see with the English Bred is that many have a lower tail set than they did in earlier years.
Another difference between the UK and AKC
-
In England, in order to be a Champion,
the dog must pass our equivalent of a Working Dog Test. If they do
not, they are awarded the title "SH CH" - Show Champion. I personally
would love to see this applied to all of the AKC breeds. Imagine,
only being a full champion if the dog passed a test showing natural ability
for what they were originally bred to do!
Because of the physical size as well as the import restrictions of England, the gene pool is somewhat limited. Because North America is so vast, many styles were able to develop (American ESS styles today). One style of ESS is not necessarily better than another as long as the style still reflects "type".
ESS entries at shows in the UK are commonly over 100. Many USA ESS Specialty Shows don't get that large of an entry. The judges in the UK "appear" <Links to UK & AKC Judges at the end of this page> to be under much more restrictive guidelines and better educated for breed type than most judges are in America. Judges in the UK must give written critiques of dogs they've judged when asked. There is almost a system of checks & balances with the UK type of judging. Just think, if the judges were required to write what was wrong or right with each dog they judged, wouldn't that help do away with the judges that put up faces, not the best dog?
Not only is there controversy between English Bred and American Bred, there is also controversy between American Bench & Field Bred. From the documentation that I've gone through, it seems that the last dual champion ESS was Dual Ch Newt Torpedo in 1942. Passions run deep within the ESS community about the Bench & Field splits.
On an email group I once belonged to, there was discussion by field trialers to try to split the breed. Others in the same group pointed out that if that were the case, the "show people" would ruin these dogs too! <Did anyone see Crufts this year? Wayne Cavanaugh made a similar comment when Francis Jackson was showing one of her Mompesson ESS in group - "I don't know what they've done to this breed in America".>
Cathy Lewis wrote a nice piece about field vs. show, "The Right Springer" that is published on the ESSFTA website. This article was written to help people decide what kind of ESS would be best for them.