Showing > My Thoughts

My Thoughts

When I first began showing, unicorns were still roaming the forests. It seems that long ago but I guess it was only 1930. I was six years old and I had a big blue check cock which I called 'Scotty.' He was entered in the local racing club show and won a first prize. The judge, who was a well-known racing fancier in the area, congratulated me and said that 'Scotty' looked and handled well enough to fly San Sebastian. That would have been a long, long race to our part of England.

'Scotty' didn't fly San Sebastian but I still hold his image in my mind. Although I have been interested in racing mainly, I like good looking birds and it was only natural that I became seriously involved in the showing side. I wanted birds that could race and look good so in 1976 I wrote to Edgar Griffiths in Wales who was a leading showman in Britain and whose birds won at the European Olympiad shows. He was getting old and couldn't deal with my request, so he referred me to T.J. Davies whose birds had won many medals at the Olympiads in Vienna and London. Olympiad birds had to have a good racing record in order to qualify for the event.

Eventually I received stock from T.J. Davies directly related to his medal winners. The descendants of these birds won many prizes here in British Columbia and also won best of all breeds at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, best young bird overall, reserve champion overall, etc. They raced with the Capital City Club of Victoria and won in the races. Later I will deal with other aspects of showing racing pigeons, such as selection of type and the practical side of showing.

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