HERBOTS BROTHERS – HALLE-BOOIENHOVEN LABELING 2018 AS THEIR BEST SEASON EVER!

Halle-Booienhoven: Herbots brothers ... or should we say Herbots family? In the Dungelstraat every family member is into pigeons one way or the other. Conviviality rules at Herbots ... everybody is welcome and received with a smile. The coffee pot is always full, a cookie or another snack is offered with pleasure and if pater familias Filip joins you at the table, you are sure to hear a fascinating story or two. It is really striking how Filip and Jo are so obsessed with our beloved pigeon sport. As a visitor, you know that these fanciers have experienced or have won whatever there is to be experienced or won. Still you are surprised when both of them state in unison that 2018 may well have been their best season ever. Filip quickly sips his hot coffee to finish his story: "listen ... if we do say ourselves ... anyone who can wrap up the season with 45 pure first prizes at national level including a 3rd National Bourges 8,978 yearlings (458 km) - 4th National Limoges 15,789 b. (652 km) - 4th National Argenton 8,772 yearlings (538 km) ... can hardly complain, can they? And ... a considerable detail ... last season, during the high season, we had head winds 95% of the time ... as a fancier, that makes us feel a little disadvantaged from the start ... especially for the results at national level. But you know what makes us happiest? That we have several pigeons that are eligible for an Olympiad participation. In 1997 in Basel and in 2015 in Budapest we were allowed to delegate 2 pigeons, but our gut feeling tells us that we will be able to surpass that number for the coming Olympiad."

A SOLID BASE
When Filip and his brother Jos started playing with pigeons in 1955 they were young teenagers. As used to be the case in many families, several family members kept pigeons and the young Herbots boys were already eager to distinguish themselves with top results. It became a story of successes and setbacks over the years. They drew lessons from each of them.
A great blood line in the stock buildup of the Herbots colony were the Stoces pigeons. They did not just buy 1 or 10 but 124 original Stoces pigeons. These Stoces pigeons were thoroughly inspected and only 21 escaped the selection knife. Those who stayed, however, formed a solid basis for the later successes. But the success story continues ... in 1988 the first Soontjens pigeons came to Halle-Booienhoven to be followed by many more. They brought more speed into the Herbots colony and winning became easy all of a sudden. An exponent of this mighty inheritance force became top cock "155". He was bred by Jos Soontjes in combination with a Herbots hen. His blood still flows through the veins of current toppers. In 1990 they purchased "Den As" from Clerinx Brothers ... another incredible stud. A year later, in 1991, followed another stunner: in came Karel Schellens' "Nationaal I". His offspring made Herbots into an international household name.

REFINEMENT THANKS TO PROVEN TOPPERS
In the meantime, the Herbots family had become an internationally respected pigeon broker bringing them into contact with superior pigeons even more and faster. Maybe the one constant element in the entire Herbots story is that both Filip and Jo have always been looking for exceptional pigeons, never shying away from a major investment. Remarkably, they both have a soft spot for Olympiad pigeons. That is very easy to explain ... a national ACE pigeon is a super pigeon ... being a top performer for 1 year is always pure class ... but an Olympiad pigeon must achieve superior results for 2 seasons and not every pigeon is capable of performing extremely well 2 seasons in a row. Olympiad pigeons are the national Ace pigeons that have undergone an extra selection. The real super pigeons amongst the super pigeons ... But some luck is involved and the performances must be achieved in the appropriate years. Take their current stock cock "Yvan" for example ... He was 4th National ACE pigeon middle-long distance KBDB 2008 and 1st National ACE pigeon middle-long distance 2009 ... Unfortunately those years were not taken into account for the Olympiad, so "Yvan" has never been an Olympiad pigeon! Still he performed on an unprecedented level two seasons in a row, and that's worth just as much. No wonder that "Yvan" has become the current stock stud of the Herbots colony. Another golden breeding line is "Big Boss’". "Big Boss" was played by well-known German champion Wolfgang Roeper but the story about how topper "Big Boss" was transferred to Halle-Booienhoven is one for the history books. Jo starts telling it story enthusiastically: The first time I saw Big Boss, he was showing off in a little exhibition cage at the Olympiad at Nitra. His sublime performances caught my attention … 1st national Ace pigeon Germany 2012 - 1st Olympiad pigeon middle-long distance with a coefficient of 9.36% on 8 flights between 300km and 600km and 1st Olympiade pigeon all-round (over 11 flights). Without taking him in the hand and without knowledge of any pedigree, I made a deal and transferred Wolfgang Roepers' crack to Halle-Booienhoven. Afterwards, when I got his pedigree, I saw that he had a lot of speed blood running through his veins. His father is the "Blauwe Wouters" (B08-6293402 – a full brother to "Blue Dream", 1st National ACE pigeon KBDB speed) and his mother is DV7107-336-09 (a daughter of "the Gus" – B03-6032858 – that is a full brother to Heremans-Ceusters' famous "Olympiade 003"). "Big Boss" is a cock of the smaller type, well plumed and with an unprecedented little character head on a strong carcass. Matched with "B13-2188001" (a granddaughter of "Olympiade 003"), he produced "Olympic Boss". "Olympic Boss" is slightly larger than his father and has a wider carcass under a set of imposing wings. I have a strong suspicion that hardly anything can go wrong with this kind of pigeons and that suspicion has already been confirmed because "Olympic Boss" became father of "Lady Boss" (2nd provincial Ace pigeon KBDB middle-long and long distance).
Let's not kid ourselves ... not every youngster born out of an Olympiad pigeon can be a super pigeon but we are all more than convinced that the chance of success is much bigger. We have bred top pigeons out of practically all our Olympiad pigeons. If it was not in the 1st generation, there were always the 2nd and even 3rd generations that were successful.

BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE TO COST ANY MONEY
The great thing about the pigeon sport is that successful investments do not always have to cost money. Jo says: "The last few years, we have exchanged youngsters with, amongst others, well-known Antwerp champions Bart and Nance Van Oeckel from Oud-Turnhout. With pigeons of ours, Bart and Nance won national Limoges and we have a chance to participate in the Olympiad with one of their pigeons. Fantastic, isn't it! The same story with the pigeon exchange with Anthony Maes from Waregem. Several Maes pigeons performed excellently in our loft. Original Maes hen Chantal did not only become 4th national Ace pigeon KBDB middle-long distance 2018 but she became 1st BELGIAN OLYMPIAD BIRD POZNAN 2019 (official result) CAT. D (11 races in 2 racing seasons between 100km and 600km)

BREAKING NEWS
Since a few days the official Belgian Olympiad birds for the coming Olympiad in Poznan are presented. Herbots Gebr. succeeded to classify 7 birds and 5 of them are now auctioned in this exclusive internetauction:

BE3122016-16 “Chantal” – Part I n° 2
1st BELGIAN OLYMPIAD BIRD POZNAN 2019 (official result) CAT. D (11 races in 2 racing seasons between 100km and 600km)

BE6056655-16 “Golden 16” - Part I n° 12
4th BELGIAN OLYMPIAD BIRD POZNAN 2019 (official result) CAT. B (8 races in 2 racing seasons between 300km and 600km)

BE2146765 – 16 “Het Superke” – Part II n° 5
5th BELGIAN OLYMPIAD BIRD POZNAN 2019 (official result) CAT. H (6 races +300km in 2018)

BE3122022-16 “Mooi van Anthony” – Part I n° 4
6th BELGIAN OLYMPIAD BIRD POZNAN 2019 (official result) CAT. D (11 races in 2 racing seasons between 100km and 600km)

BE2312293-15 “Best of Belgian Star” - Part I n° 10
10th BELGIAN OLYMPIAD BIRD POZNAN 2019 (official result) CAT. D (11 races in 2 racing seasons between 100km and 600km)

The impressive list of Olympiad entries be can be supplemented:
Utrecht 1995 All-round cat. "Olympus" 2053422-93
Basel 1997 All-round cat. "Boomerang" 1051557-92
Basel 1997 Middle-long distance cat. “Den 155” 6371155-91
Blackpool 1999 All-round cat. “Lucky Number” 2087113-97
South Africa 2001 All-round cat. "Number 1" 5090216-98
Porto 2005 middle-long distance cat. "Filip" 2101107-03
Ostend 2007 All-round cat. "Champion B.P." 2107204-00
Ostend 2007 All-round cat. “Olympia” 2267115-05
Nitra 2013 Cat. H. "Els" 2192630-10
Budapest 2015 Cat. B. + C + H. “Yva” 2177058-12
Budapest 2015 Cat. D. “Yvonne” 2186136-11
Brussels 2017 Cat. D. “Olympic Boss” 2313054-14

WOLF PACK
The Herbots pigeons have an unprecedented winner's mentality ... as if the champions in this loft have formed a "wolf pack". A wolf pack is a family, living and travelling together. No one is left behind, as the unit is the power of the wolf pack. Going for it together ... that is what we might as well conclude from the analyses of the results of season 2018:

45 x 1st Prize (no doubles)
3rd National Bourges 8,978 yearlings 458 km
4th National Limoges 15,789 b. 652 km
4th National Argenton 8,772 yearlings 538 km

Limoges National 15,789 b. 652 km
4, 77, 112, 194, 235, 681 ...

Limoges National z 2,945 b. 652 km
2, 17, 29, 48, 57, 140 …

Chateauroux II National 18,799 b. old 509 km
83, 126, 261, 264, 372, 761, 770, 791 …

Chateauroux II National 27,081 yearlings 509 km
46, 151, 317, 322, 492, 706, 754, 975 …

Argenton I National 19,859 yearlings 538 km
33, 289, 315, 538, 835, 855, 957 …

Argenton I National z 4,781 yearlings 538 km
4, 46, 49, 94, 152, 159, 180, 193, 207 …

Argenton II National 5,828 old 538 km
20, 130, 178, 323, 402, 413 …

Argenton II National 8,772 yearlings 538 km
4, 71, 121, 166, 180, 197, 210, 331, 372, 451 ... (2nd national zone)

Tulle National 5,323 yearlings 635 km
35, 63, 182, 215 … (2th + 6th national zone)

Bourges II National 5,831 old 458 km
46, 48, 83, 126, 127, 138, 144, 232 ...

Bourges II National 8,978 yearlings 458 km
3, 19, 42, 48, 70, 101, 127, 276, 318, 324, 402 … (1st national zone)

Bourges II National 23,854 youngsters 458 km
49, 69, 91, 241, 264, 310, 316, 336 …

Chateauroux IV 1,131 youngsters CFW ND 509 km
2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 31, 32, 33, 37, 38, 40, 43, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 56, 57, 61 ,62, 64 …. 81/117

Chateauroux III 1,430 youngsters CFW ND 509 km
2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 20, 21, 22, 22, 28, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 42, 45, 52 … 56/90

Chateauroux III 787 yearlings CFW ND 509 km
1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 22, 23, 25, 27, 34, 35, 42, 45, 46, 47...

Bourges II 1,524 youngsters DH 458 km
1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 14, 23, 24, 26, 32, 37, 39, 44, 46, 59, 60 …. 53/100

Bourges II 1,538 yearlings CFW ND 458 km
1, 4, 7, 8, 12, 14, 16, 23, 28, 30, 40, 43, 44, 45, 49, 52, 55, 56, … 44/64

Bourges II 1,251 old CFW ND 458 km
2, 3, 7, 13, 14, 15, 17, 30, 56, 57, 69, 98 … 27/35

Tulle 314 yearlings 635 km
1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 21, 22, 46, 54, 56 11/16

Tulle 1,527 yearlings CFW (S. Nat.) 635 km
3, 5, 11, 13, 45, 61, 127, 131, 257, 292, 312 11/16

Bourges 520 yearlings DH 458 km
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15, 21, 23, 31, 33, 36, 39, 40, 44, 46 .... 27/37

Bourges 339 old DH 458 km
1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 13, 24, 26, 32, 37, 45, 63 14/17

Argenton II 973 yearlings CFW 538 km
1, 11, 19, 24, 25, 26, 31, 50, 51, 59, 66, 80, 107, 110, 120, 123 ....

Chateauroux II IPROV 721 yearlings 509 km
1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 16, 21, 34, 40, 41, 48, 54, … 24/52

Argenton I 965 yearlings IProv. 538 km
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 33, 35, 36, 37, 39, 50, 59, 69, 79, 95, 96, 107, …. 47/61

Argenton I 2,178 yearlings CFW 538 km
1, 3, 4, 9, 20, 22, 26, 29, 32, 36, 39, 41, 42, 45, 50, 63, 65, 66, 69, 72, 77, 79, 83, 103, 113, 114, 115, 120, … 46/61

Vierzon 621 yearlings 457 km
1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18, 20, 22, 24, 27, 33, 38, 48, 49, 52, 60, 86, …. 30/39

Laon 505 old 166 km
1, 3, 4, 45, 62, 100, 133, 134, 136, 158 10/17

Laon 628 yearlings 166 km
1, 2, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 22, 30, 40, 41, 42, 45, 51, 54, 58, 64, 66, 72, 75, 77, 80, … 28/37

Chateauroux I 1,791 yearlings I.Prov. 509 km
1, 4, 9, 10, 15, 22, 23, 38, 42, 45, 63, 70, 71, 94, 98, .... 47/84

Chateauroux I 1,484 old I.Prov. 509 km
2, 8, 12, 13, 18, 30, 32, 33, 91, 109, ... 20/23

Limoges 280 old 652 km
1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 17, 35, 73 8/10

Limoges 2,153 old 652 km Brabantse Unie
1, 18, 24, 43, 48, 120, 221, 404, 587 9/10

Limoges 15,783 b. National
4, 76, 111, 193, 235, 683, 1398, 2667, 3889 9/10

Bourges 4,381 old I.Prov. AWC 458 km
1, 9, 15, 17, 26, 27, 38, 57, 59, 85, 94, 108, 128, 141, 151, 152, 154, 199, 257,… 24/31

Sourdun 904 yearlings 282 km
1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 30, 43, 44, 47, 48, 50, 52, 60, 61, 70 .... 54/87

Sourdun 449 Old 282 km
1, 2, 10, 22, 23, 27, 35, 38, 44, 54, 59, 62, 66, 99, .... 18/26
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, fastest of 3,542 b.

Sourdun 740 Old 282 km
1, 5, 10, 11, 23, 36, 37, 40, 41, 42, 63, 77, 79, 85, 86, 89,... 23/45
fastest of 2,576 old

Sourdun 982 yearlings 282 km
1, 7, 20, 26, 34, 38, 65, 69, 80, 97, 99, 123, 127, 128, 130, 136,.... 36/91
fastest of 1,837 yearlings and 4,413 old + yearlings