This was brought in by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) at their Show and Sales to try and provide help to buyers of rare breeds, who knew nothing about the stock and standards that they were buying.  It gave the general public a visual guide of what was on offer.  The grading of this stock was assessed by experts of each particular breed, then coloured cards given to each animal.  The idea is quite good and gives anybody looking at the stock a general guide on what is good and what is bad.

The grades are as follows:-

RED CARD  this is a superior breeding animal.  These are exceptional goats, which exhibit all the features in the Breed Standard.  They have no faults.  It would be unusual to find more than 10-15% in this category.

BLUE CARD  average breeding stock, these would be classed as typical of the breed and would usually be the majority of any herd.  They conform to the breed standard but some features that are on a sliding scale, they are not at the top of.  This category is a wide one and some animals in this band can be very good examples in fact nearly red card.

YELLOW CARD  minimum standard breeding stock.  These goats are at the lower end of acceptability for some of the breed standard features.  When the population of the breed is high enough, these should not be used for breeding.  Breeding from a yellow card male is not a good plan.

WHITE CARD  these are rejected animals, as they do not conform to the breed standard at all, or they could have a serious fault ie; mouths or teats.  Any animal issued with a white card is automatically de-registered.  If it had been used for breeding its progeny would also be de-registered as well.