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NOVICES SOCIAL CIRCLE. part five.

Hello son; so you are back again! I only thought to myself after you left me last week, that perhaps I had forgotten to mention something. When a man gets to my age, after suffering the trials and tribulations of parenthood and a stressful working life; the grey cells don't always work as they should. A few pints of ale and a packet of fags soon puts things back in working order; so next time bring a few supplements to jog my memory into gear!

Right laddie; what did I forget? Common sense and if you have it, then you will have done it without mention; it is quite simply this! Whenever basketing pigeons for a race, be sure to close their boxes until they arrive home again; you wouldn't want to go off to battle then return to find another body in your bed and neither does a pigeon! Another thing is to make sure you water the pigeons in the basket whilst waiting for them to be race marked; don't rush to have them into race panniers until they have taken a drink! Now that you have reached the 200 mile stage, several things will or should have become apparent and you will have noted them in your B.H.W. Stud Book & Diary. Certain pigeons will have performed better than others on a consistent basis, whilst others have been steady plodders. Some will have made the odd mistake and homed a little late; well don't worry these have learned and were amongst your best during the previous season; otherwise they wouldn't be in your team this year.

So now we have to forward plan; top pigeon fanciers are the finest forward planners in the world; captains of industry and the government could learn a great deal from them. They are also the best man managers and opportunists in getting results from observed peaks and troughs in performance, then making them work to advantage. These are the skills that you must now develop and forward plan for next year as you establish a reliable and workable team of pigeons to found a family of your own. It is wise to reserve the best yearling cocks at this stage (200 miles) and check their relationship to each other. It is possible that they might have common parents or close ancestors and a family line establishing itself. The same can be done with 2 y.o cocks that are performing well to the middle distance; 3 y.o. and over may be stopped in stages up to 500 miles. It is not necessary to race every bird out to the distance in this first learning year!

Yearling hens may be raced to 400 miles; older birds can go the distance! Once again check for common ancestry, there could be a pre potent line evolving. Even if these pigeons are not remotely related, you must still follow this plan, missing the longest race if necessary. There will have been a certain amount of natural wastage through losses, the sexes appearing in uneven numbers; well don't mourn the dead; just remember them with affection. Don't stop the birds because of diminishing numbers; stop the birds because they are your best candidates for the following year! When fanciers are established then they can afford to take more chances; but you are forward planning towards that aim; therefore caution and softlee- softlee he catchee monkey! Or my name isn't Confucius!

Now Sonny Jim, let's take a further look at motivation; people won't work without it and neither will pigeons. Motivation is all about attaining the right state of mind and this varies in all individuals. In the work place, some individuals require a little praise to repeat their performance; some will swing the lead when praised; so need a slight rebuke; then they perform on adrenaline just to prove me wrong! It's man management and psychology worked upon individuals without them even knowing just what has been done!

Pigeons are no different in this respect; they are individuals and should be respected and treated as such; but a manager with uncaring attitude or erratic temperament will never get the best performance from either. Motivation begins with yourself! Too many people set out with the highest aspirations and when these don't immediately materialise they become deflated. Pigeon fanciers usually last approximately three races; wanting to win from the word go. A few poor results and hey presto, the corn is wrong, the weather was wrong, the pigeons are rubbish and the bloke that sold them to him is a rogue! Not true; the pigeons were O.K., the corn was sound, the weather was the same for the winner and other fanciers are winning with pigeons from the same source. The problem is self analysis and self motivation, nothing more, nothing less, the fancier would never make a good manager until he comprehends that fact! The difference is that he has to praise himself, scold himself, motivate himself and set an attainable target that with effort and application; he can beat! First beat oneself, after which the others come easy!

Top fanciers always blame themselves; then reason out a solution; rectifying whatever they felt was wrong until trial and error takes them upwards once again. This does not mean a sudden change of system, but it could mean a little more - less exercise; frequency of competition for individuals or food ration. It could mean a little more time spent observing the birds or gently talking to them. Perhaps a cat or hawk could have disturbed them and they need their confidence rebuilding. Perhaps the pigeons weren't fully fit when asked to compete in a cold East wind. It could even be that his own movements around the loft were too erratic or noisy after an argument at work. Just as you should never take domestic problems to the workplace; you should never bring working or private problems to the pigeon loft. If your feelings towards the pigeons are anything less than 100% happy and confident; then this will show in their performance! In a nutshell you yourself must have confidence and motivation at all times and only you can carry this off!

You've done well to reach the 200 mile stage and climbed the result sheet to a consistently better than previous position. O.K. so you haven't yet taken the world by storm, nonetheless you are improving and taking an occasional prize and pools. Give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve it!

Now you want to know how to time a good bird from the longer race points which have always eluded you? No problemo Mario; it isn't as difficult as some would have you believe; but the first thing to do is to forget about averages. The birds must be adequately prepared for the job in hand, starting with selection of candidates for earmarked races. From the records kept in your B.H.W. Stud book; there will be noted consistent pigeons; not your yearling cocks or fastest two year olds, they are next years prospects. Your race entries will come from older cocks and all hens, selecting the fittest only for the following weeks of competition You must maintain a little flexibility in your selection, sometimes a bird can hit form overnight, whilst your main candidate could be on the wane. This is where your observation comes into practice and last minute substitution could pay off, but if no birds are fully fit; wait for another time. Don't send just for the sake of competing!

So lets prepare these gladiators of the sky; the most important thing is previous time on the wing in reasonable conditions and the recovery rate of the pigeon concerned. If the pigeon had an easy passage during its races up to 200 miles, it can safely compete from 300 miles the following week. The ideal flying time would be 4-5 hrs for 200 miles depending upon conditions prevailing that day. If the pigeon experienced a harder flight of anything over 6 hrs. then it should miss racing for at least one week. The birds competing from 300 miles should complete the journey in 6-8 hrs. given reasonable conditions then rested for two weeks. The recovery rate will vary from bird to bird, so once again it is a question of observation and flexibility; some might come into super form after 10 - 12 hrs. of flight, whilst others could be finished for the season. These must be questionable for future years unless there was a legitimate excuse or the birds first mistake. Once a pigeon has successfully completed a 200 mile race in reasonable time and shown good recovery, flying for the duration of exercise periods after a Sunday of rest, then that pigeon should also be capable of a large jump. It is not necessary for it to race each week, the rest and jump will bring better results.

It is during this race resting period that the training basket comes back into play, but not on a daily basis. The bird requires "Springing" or "Peaking" to use athletic terms, the training from a distance of 30 miles maximum during the week prior to competition on three consecutive days, will do the job. Race marking Wednesday - rest and home exercise Tuesday - rest and home exercise Monday - home exercise and 30 miles Sunday - home exercise and 30 mls. Saturday - home exercise and 30 miles Friday! Sunday to Wednesday the birds require the seed mixture after every evening feed, plus 4-5 peanuts, approximately one level soupspoon each. If you can't train from 30 miles, don't worry, 10 - 15 will do; the purpose of the training is only to liven up the brain, not tire the body! The training tosses are not even the equivalent of 1 hour of home exercise, they serve no other purpose other than to revive the birds confidence. Once it is basketed for the longer race it won't fret, but will be quite surprised when 30 miles takes 14 hours, believe me or my name isn't Eskimo Nell.***?! ????**!

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If you have any questions then phone me, please don't write because I don't have time to answer. But I promised to take you to the top of Everest and that is exactly where I intend to see you within three seasons with a gradually changing system to take on all comers and a family of your own. I can't come to every loft and do it for you, so have you got the bottle to make the climb? Actually that is a silly question because I know from years of experience that by now the bulk of you will have been talking to Tom, Dick, and Harry. They will have told you that this system will never work. You have listened and already strarted to doubt yourself and your mentor - some of you would perish on the mountain because you are incapable of pure thought and dedication - you need to hold mummy's hand at every turn. Well I'm not your mummy and I don't care if you cry - I DON'T CARE IF YOU DIE on the mountain, I only cherish survivors who are capable of making their own minds up and total dedication to the task in hand. Tom, Dick and Harry have probably tried every system, read every book and visited every loft, constantly changing their own methods and have more likely than not - NEVER WON A DECENT LONG DISTANCE PIGEON RACE IN THEIR LIVES! More than likely, they have rarely risen to any occasion - I've met them all in 50 years. They know it all - but they just don't seem to able to put it into practice. Now believe this ---- They talk to you today: but by the end of the first couple of seasons of following Spinksy: they will shun you like the plague, I know because I have been there, before my 21st birthday. They will shun you because you beat them every week - such is life lad, and if you can take the stick that goes in the hand of success, then you may call to see me again. if you haven't got what it takes, then join Tom, Dick and Harry for a darned good cry on race day! Don't call me - I'll call you!

The Novices SocialCircle

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