This is something I brought up on another board, and no one could really give me an answer...
I am hoping RC would give his input.

On the subject of show fish, and "HMs", I have seen a lot of OHM fish whose caudal curls outward towards to front the the fishes body.
If I can be a little more descriptive, the caudal comes out of the peduncle in a curve, and the caudal itself often curves back down to the body, instead of jutting out at a hard angle.
But doesn't the standard call for straight edges?

How is this reconciled? Or is it a matter of personal choice?

To answer your question, a few exerpts out of the standards:
(I underlined the important stuff that pertains to your question)

Chapter 5 Revised Clarified 2002-2005:

"The ideal show Betta is in excellent health as shown by its faultless condition and vigorous deportment. The body and fins are unblemished. There are no body scars, spots, and missing or misshapen scales. Fin rays are straight or smoothly curved." Page One, Paragraph One

"Caudal fins that slightly exceed 180° spread are neither favored nor faulted, over fish displaying 180° spread." Page Three, Caudal Fin Expections.

It is just the breeding and the advancement of the finnage when you get fish that are over 180. At this point if you have a fish that is over 180, :Y you have an excelent fish for your breeding program/your breeding program has produced excellent fish. If you have a 180 fish that is 180, and you can draw a straight line from tip to tip :Y same as above. Doesn't make a difference. You are not judged for or against having a fish that has a caudal over 180.

The fish also isn't penalized for having "Comb tail". If the rays have alot of reduced webbing, then it is consitered a crowntail. But if it is just a little bit of combing, it isn't faulted.

For those that need a visual aide, because you have not learned how to translate Belle Speak, here are some pictures.
If you look at these OHM fish, you will see the tail curves towards the body..






These fish are OHM, but their tails jut out at a straight angle, and are NOT curved.






Some of the fish have"smooth curves" but some do not.
But some with more curves, IMO are better fish over all that some with straight edges.

I know what you mean.



Compaired to:



To my interpretation of the standards, THAT curvature (I arrowed it and highlighted the caudal edging) is what it is talking about, and it is neither awarded or punished when judging the fish. It is just the fact that the fish has extensive finnage.

But the fish still needs to have the leading rays on the top and bottom of the caudal just as long as the rest. They are still faulted if they are over 180 degrees and the first couple of rays are shorter than the rest.

Looks like Jamie is right ( how did that happen ?? ) The OHM part of it doesn't fault or help the fis, but if it's doesn't have the straight leading edge and the first rays are not as long as the rest then it is faulted.



RC

Absolutely, also one thing I have noticed is that more severely curved finned OHMs have shortened leading rays.
But I have seen many curved tails that have equal length rays as well.