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THE SERIOUS NATURE OF DISTANCE/MARATHON RACING.
Races from 500 to 900 miles are for the serious-minded specialist fancier. The demands on the quality of bird and the psyche of the fancier are great. The rewards for man and beast are in proportion to the effort expended in the process. My strain of 42 years in the making is tested at every performance level in various lofts and locations. In reality, the best fanciers get the best results over a long period of time. We are flooded with Barcelona bred birds, yet few will now go to the racepoint. The UK birds in the clock, have shown their power and navigational ability-given various names for the breeds, each one is but a mixture of origins. You need to be in the BICC for true International racing.
Jim Emerton.
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MODERN PROGENY TESTING OF RACING PIGEONS.
With family breeding such as in and out and line, you need to prove all the offspring in race reality. Practice your method and discipline from sprint to marathon to test every single bird in the cauldron of competition. I have 42 years of solid testing with my strain, and they are still imperfect. Each bird is an individual with a performance profile up to International level. Good looking birds in pretty ads are often of little merit, and the apples can fall a long way from the commercial tree. Breed off all the birds-a wise philosophy-then you will see what they can do. However many people are pigeon keepers, collectors and enjoy the pleasure of owning them-the elite men of today are ruthless competitors with knowledge of every trick in the book. Wise to take young from your star performers and match the genes together.
Jim Emerton.
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LOVE AND SENTIMENT IN PIGEON RACING.
I love the natural world, with a peculiar affinity with birds, a process evolving and maturing since the boy of 3 years. Pigeons are beautiful creatures and empathy perceives them as individual beings. The marathon man unloads his sentiment on to his good distance and marathon birds -the wonder and beauty of a 7 or 800 miler. I named all my top birds such as Barcelona Dream/Mystical Queen/Dark Destiny ,to make them sound lyrical and profound from the aesthetic point of view. However, you must send all your birds to discover their race potential-pretty pigeons must fly Barcelona International to earn a place in the stock loft. The sport has become slick, difficult, very competitive where the elite will surface from the cauldron. It is the essence of the game ,and let it be pure and not driven by money.
Jim Emerton.
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PERSONALITY IN THE SPORT
When the results are in, the birds are sold, the races flown and the articles written, who are we? The man behind the mask is the nature of the beast, where men and women establish a personal identity within the sport. Recognition, fame and wealth are the hub of the modern sport of pigeon racing. However these factors are not equal to the high of racing a great distance or marathon bird to your own loft. I would describe the feelings as mystical and transcendent, that dwell in the psyche for a very long time. The quintessence of the game is subjective/existential experience.
Jim Emerton.
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INTERNATIONAL RACING INTO THE NORTH OF ENGLAND.
At the same racepoints as the domestic races, the velocities will tend to be lower from birds liberated with the International convoy. This has been evident with the NFC and the BBC. These days, the ultimate test is to be found after liberation with the International birds at Barcelona. The challenge remains the dream of aspirants like Craig Wilkinson and Tony Byrne, via the BICC racing organisation, although Frank Kay is trying to fire support in the North West. In reality this type of racing is in the realm of specialist, marathon fanciers, with birds of mixed origins of great navigational skills. It will be for the minority people.
Jim Emerton.
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FILMS OF THE BREEDING HENS /COCKS OF CRAIG JOHN WILKINSON.
Craig ,from Cheshire England is evolving into a distance/marathon enthusiast and practitioner. An agent of mine, I have supplied him with the cream of endurance /speed bloodline stock from the strains of Harvey/Emerton/Barcelonas/ Schlepphorst Stichelbauts/Emiel Denys and Chris Booth/Emertons. Birds will be for sale at 50 pounds each only, to interested people. We have 3 children of Padfields Invincible too! Craig is racing to crack the onerous Barcelona race at 820 plus miles into Middlewich, and shorter racepoints with the BICC. He is cultivating birds of the Barcelona winners of Harvey/ Emerton-all timers at over 700 miles Barcelona International into Musgrove Lofts, Taunton Somerset England-flying into head winds. Craig is the heart, soul and spirit of a young man with dreams and ambitions of greatness. As we realise in this game of psychology, it is crucial to have quality stock and Craig as you can see on the films is going to be a master.
Jim Emerton.
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