Cuts
5|2|4

Starting the class
The 3 gilt was pretty quick to identify as the class winner. The tall-shouldered, proportional gilt got a striking look from the side, all while embodying the right kind of foot size and density from there on back. That gilt’s ability to prop up at a backdrop and read plenty laid back in her blade and flexible out of her hip and hind leg hits me as a logical decision to start with up high.

Sorting the middle pair
I boiled it down to a middle pair of gilts that can certainly get placed either way. Personally, for me, the 2 gilt just reads harder to make. She’s the stouter-skulled, bigger-footed gilt that reads to be plenty opened up and massive in her cage. Blade back, that gilt represents a lot of quality, and I like how dense and stout she is back into her root. But I get it — she reads all too straight up through her blade, and first impressions of her presentation don’t get me fired up.

That’s actually where the 1 gilt holds an advantage. Her hair and presentation are more ideal, and at the same time I’d expect her to reach and read more laid back in her blade. I just wish the weaker-footed, plainer-made gilt was amplified at the surface and represented more of a quality kind out on the side. She hits me as a little common within this set.

Bottom of the class
Just as easy as it is to find the 3 gilt to start, I think the dark red 4 gilt falls out of sort. Sure, she’s got some skull shape and height of shoulder. But the shorter-bodied gilt reads more upright in her blade and round out of her hip. I’d expect that gilt to travel with the least coordination and, obviously, she doesn’t prop up and take the best picture from the side.