First of all, I would like to say thank you to Dave for his kind invitation to write for this column. As many of you will know, I enjoy flying Pouters, the kind of Pouters that bring home other pigeons. People have been flying Pouters in this manner for a very long time, it is popular around the world, and one of the most notable breeds used in this way is our own Horseman Pouter. One of the things that occurred to me on reading Dave's column, is that the notion of 'Best of Breed', arises from an ideal, and that got me thinking about where these ideals come from.
It's natural for things to progress, just look at the mobile phones of today, you can send messages, images, videos, all from a piece of hand-held technology. It's funny to think that pigeons were once at the cutting edge of communications technology, and although the technology has advanced way beyond anything pigeons can achieve, we still enjoy many varieties derived from this functionality. Many breed ideals have arisen out of their origins as a functional animal, and I think it is important to consider this whenever we think of 'Best of Breed'. Horseman Pouters are one such breed, and they have a huge following, with some diverse ideas about the best ways to fly them, to breed them, and to train them. The debates rage on; about whether the best birds are bred or trained, about their origins, or about the style of loft they are flown from. It's all good and interesting stuff, keeping the enthusiasm there, keeping the breed alive, and keeping people interested.
So, how do you go about capturing those doos and hens? First of all, you need a dookit. There was a time, in Glasgow and Edinburgh, when you would see, quite frequently, on waste ground, or railway and river embankments, the tall, black, or dark green structures. They were constructed in a patchwork of corrugated iron and ply-board sheeting, with a small door half way up, accessible only by ladder, and the roof sealed against the elements with roofing felt and bitumen. These are few and far between now, limited by ordinance issues.
Graeme Boyd's article is printed in full in the August 2009 issue of Feathered World
