MICHAEL VANLINT

of Zouttleeuw

1st National La Souterraine 3150 Old p. + Yls 2004
TWO first national Vichy 2458 Old p. 2004
1st National Bourges I - 21.940 Yearlings 2005

and now.........

1st National Bourges II - 32.724 Young Pigeons

Information supplied by Nikolaas Gyselbrecht of www.pipa.be in conjunction with Elimar Pigeon Services

How often do we see a name at the top of a national result and never see them again winning one national race is a fantastic performance, winning two is extraordinary, but winning 4 national races, almost in a row, how would we rate this??? That's what Michel Vanlint from Zoutleeuw has managed to achieve in recent years. In the leading title you can see the races where he has achieved this exceptional success in less than a one year period, it is unbelievable, and there are still about 3 races left, these races are perfect for the pigeons of Michel Van Lint. Races with distance from 450KM up to 500KM are made for the Van Lint pigeons. We have to pass the comment that the best 7 widowers of 2004 were moved to the breeding loft. There is no let up for the because all racing pigeons still have to race each week, widowers, hens, and young pigeons, all of them are basketed weekly. Between two provincial races they participate in a middle distance race, most of the time that is Toury.

The national winner :
For this race Michel basketed 13 old pigeons plus a good team of 36 yearlings and 35 young birds for this National Bourges race. His first pigeon arrived at 1.51 pm and there were 3 pigeons home at 2pm. At 3pm Michael had seen a total of 41 pigeons home and by 3.34pm the numbers had risen to 62 out of the 84 basketed. The next weekend most of these pigeons are basketed again, this was for the Chateauroux race. The National winner known as "Barbara" his bred form the 9012007/2002, which was a pigeon he bought at the auction of Michael Verbeke from Silly - Henegouwen. This pigeon was 10 th Ace Pigeon "La Colombophile Belge" and won the following prizes: 1st Pont , 687 p. 3rd Noyon 591 p. 4th Pont 434p. 6th Pont 751 p. 10th Pont 695 p. 11th Pont 389 p. Noyon is 135 km and Pont 177 km. A pigeon, which is made for the short distance races with the strain being form the Fourmanoir lines . The dam is pure Herbots out of the lines of Olympiad Soontjens X Acepigeon KBDB.

The question on everyone's lips has to be " Michel, how do you win 4 national races ???" the a nswer being "Pigeon racing is a real passion for me, I have an eye for details and we have a good team of three persons (wife and daughter), which is occupied daily with the pigeons, for more than a few hours. Also you need good pigeons and a perfect loft (dry, enough light and enough air circulation) and an observation and motivated fancier. "Someone who has to go to work daily can't manage all this" says Michel, for the rest he uses some natural products as an extra support.

The first two rounds were housed all together until their first race out of Laon, they were taken away regularly for training tosses by car and during this time they received a lighter feed. The reason for this was because during the time together they were given a lot of food because they need to grow well and gain strength. But because they were overweight they did not have the energy to fly for long periods hence the reduction in corn. The problem with young pigeons is that they have to learn to get out of the big group of pigeons if they are going to become individuals in National racing. That's why Michel races both provincial and middle distance races in the club of "Petit Club Fleurus" in Obrafo Tienen.

Motivation of "Barbara". The morning of the basketing the pigeons had to go to a 25KM training toss, this was for both the cocks and hens. A young cock "Don Juan" was the one who had 2 hens and a box was placed on the ground to let the three pigeons fight and prove who is the strongest. "Barbara", the future winner, was so jealous on the other competitor that she won the race, she arrived at 1.51pm Saturday afternoon, like a rocket she fell out of the sky. "Don Juan" was also raced on Bourges and was also among the first arrivals. The basketing of all the Bourges pigeons took 3 and a half hours because each pigeon was given the required attention. All pigeons were kept in sight and their reactions on their partner's were noted, that's why the complete team is necessary!

It was quite interesting to hear a last remark from Michael, "The way the pigeons are transported in the 21st century. Some trucks are still from the middle ages, he has difficulty to accept that, but he has no choice"