STANISLAS
HOLLEVOET
of
Torhout, Belgium
by
Les J. Parkinson
Our
trips to the continent get better as we are now meeting more and more
of the top fanciers, the National winners, some names we have never
heard of before but nevertheless they are top fanciers. My new introductions
are all thanks to Hans Verschueren who has done some good groundwork
for us on some of the top lofts on the continent with more still to
visit.
Hans
has taken us to many places but on this occasion due to work commitments
it was Frans Rigole who took us to visit Stanislas Hollevoet. We have
been going somewhere new on each trip and what makes it better is the
more we visit the continent the more you can communicate, even though
I cannot speak the language, which I am told is one of the hardest to
learn. If Hans takes us everything is fine anyway because he does speak
four languages fluently which means there is no problem in communication.
Hans has also helped me a great deal with information in these reports
and in fact without him they would have had little info to start with.
But as I pointed out earlier Frans Rigole took us on this visit and
although not fluent in the English language he is getting better which
means our communication is more understandable.
L - R Stanislas Hollevoet, Les Parkinson,
Frans Rigole
Stanislas
is the present owner of "Witpen 137" which is reported to be the best
modern day long distance bird in Belgium, now whether other's agree
is always another matter but this pigeon has put up the performances.
For those performances the "Witpen 137" is becoming one of the famous
pigeons in Belgian pigeon history. To achieve that accolade his performances
include 5th National Limoges 11,799 pigeons, 8th National Limoges 10,737
pigeons and 4th National Cahors again in excess of 11,000 pigeons, the
National Championship. Stanislas who is the Director of a big building
company and unlike many of the continentals still considers pigeon racing
as a hobby. But Stanislas has been a big business man with the "winning
spirit" in his veins during the last 30 years and that will to succeed
made him want to win in pigeon racing as well and that is exactly what
he did. In 1999 he became 4th National Champion of Belgium K.B.D.B.
and in the year 2000 he became 7th in this same National Federation-Championship.
Because there is so much competition at this level being in the 10 first
twice in a row is a real exception. To achieve his success Stanislas
looked for the best pigeons available and settled with a loft who have
introduced many top National and International lines, these are the
birds of Taverine-Rigole and 85% of Stanislas's loft is based on the
these lines.
Wing of the National Winner
Gust
Taveirne and Frans Rigole who live in Koolskamp close to Torhout, are
his best friends in pigeon racing. Even his famous "Witpen 137" mentioned
above is a direct Taveirne-Rigole pigeon and that is the reason he set's
his loft's on their pigeons. Fanciers do not always set their stall
out for one family of pigeons so Stanislas brought in the bloodlines
from other famous lofts such as Julien Vaneenoo, Etienne Devos, Ivan
Delrue, Jozef Vandewalle, Gregoire Callebaut, Jean-Luc Ampe and Emiel
Denys. But the confidence that Stanislas has in the Taveirne-Rigole
is obvious because every year Stanislas buys around 100 youngsters direct
from the Taveirne-Rigole breeding lofts and races them all.
He
does this because he not "a breeder" himself and does trust the excellent
judgement of the T & R partnership. One thing these lofts are known
for and that is the hard selection done each year, they have to meet
a high standard or they are out. No ifs or buts at these lofts, only
the very best are retained. Only the best yearlings can stay in the
long distance team. Stanislas doesn't only select on results; he is
also taking note of the general health and condition in which the pigeon
arrives from a race, and also how fast the pigeon recuperates after
each of the races. They go twice on the big Chateauroux races and even
at that early stage of the season Stanislas is already selecting his
most promising yearlings. Afterwards he puts them on the National Limoges
race where they have to justify their presence in the lofts.
The Racing and Breeding Lofts
The
prize winners on this race have earned their box for the following season,
of course there are always going to be those who do not win prizes in
Limoges that do give Stanislas a few doubts. These are that sent to
the National Narbonne race for the last selection. This is considered
to be a very hard race for yearlings, even so last year he was 22nd
National against 6.929 pigeons. The 2-years old birds participate in
3 National long distance races which are Angouleme, Limoges and Souillac.
This is another race where Stanislas's strong selection process is brought
into play because he makes another selection before a pigeon is allocated
a nest box in the long distance old birds loft.
Inside the Young Bird Loft |
The National Winner
The Cocks' Boxes |
System
After the racing season has finished Stanislas lets the widowhood cocks
fly out all day and lets them sit on eggs twice for10 days each time.
This practice is followed after what he considers is "Golden" advice
from his long time good old Gust Taveirne, this is done to stimulate
the moulting process. They are not allowed to rear youngsters because
they loose too much energy, energy which they need during the moulting
period. Then at the end of November Stanislas pairs his widowhood cocks
up at the same time that the breeders are put together. one thing that
Stanislas did point out was that he does pair the yearlings up one week
earlier because they always need more time to "settle" into their box
. When the youngsters are 14 days they are put on a separate loft together
with the hens, this system ensures that the breeding does not take too
much out of the racing cocks. Then halfway through March Stanislas re-pairs
the widowhood cocks, they are paired up again to sit on eggs for a 5
days period and after that they are pre-paired for the racing season
ahead of them.
Here
are some of the results achieved in the 2000 racing season. Blois yearlings
: 529 yearlings : 4, 9, 33, 46, 53, 55, 86, 94, 96, 112. Poitiers :
519 old birds : 15, Cahors : Club Rekkem : 1, 7, 46, 58 ( 4/4 ) Province
West of Flanders : 4, 61, 263, 332. National : 11.838 old birds : 4,
99, 570, 788 Limoges National : Club Rekkem : 870 yearlings : 2, 10,
11, 76, 82, 101, 112, 122, 128, 205, 206, 234, 250. Province West of
Flanders : 4.816 yearlings : 7, 41, 43. National : 23.550 yearlings
: 17, 92, 98, 959, Dax National : 4.240 old birds : 36, 399 ( 2/3 )
Souillac National : 7.154 old birds : 163, 295, 352, 475, 906 ( 5/8
). There are of course many more winning positions that could be listed
but these are the races that Stanislas goes for. The lofts are very
well laid out and there is sufficient space for Stanislas to professionally
race the pigeons and at what distance they need to go. This is a problem
in many lofts where fanciers try to do too much with a small loft set
up and they lose out at both ends. However in this case the system is
right, the quality of pigeons is right and more importantly the management
is right. Those ingredients certainly make sure that you can keep up
there with the best at National level, which is exactly what Stanislas
Hollevoet does at the highest level.
