The
Horemans Strain
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Many
in the English speaking world maybe ignorant
of the Horemans strain and indeed in the
world of many vernaculars. Yet according
to the sports historians it is a strain
that many strains are indebted to and
in fact it has been likened to the strain
of the great Karl Wegge.
Corneel
Horemans had the reputation of bringing
many to the sport as members and also
actively sought public support for the
fancy.One source intimates that in relation
to club and fed racing Corneel believed
that after the first 4 positions the record
of arrivals should be restricted to each
bird of those out of the initial 4. In
other words he desired to give everyone
a chance to appear on the returns sheet
in a reasonable position rather than see
one member allocated 7th 8th 10th and
so on. Which has been referred to by another
source as 'the gluttoninous ego of our
sport'.
Initially
Horemans raced in the company of his brother
Josef in Ranst, Belgium, and they did
reasonably well. It was then that the
strains base was laid and the foundation
consisted of Pittevils and Wegges.There
then followed a sale of most of the birds
in 1906 but with the remainder Horemans
seriously started again in a place called
Schoten (Belgium) where they experienced
good results at the distance especially
at the end of the 1914/18 War. The successes
then involved the outstanding racing by
a hen of a fancier named Desirant. Sometime
near- to this period the partnership also
obtained 2 squeakers from Vincent Marien
of Antwerp which left their mark in the
strains development.
In
the beginning of the 1920s Corneel Horemans
started with a loft of his own and great
success was to follow his decision to
go it alone.Then as a close inbreeder
he succeeded in breeding many outstanding
pigeons. During the 2nd World War the
Nazis took control of his pigeons but
he received 20 birds at the end of the
conflict and upon breaking in 19 of those
the success returned to the Horemans.It
was then that Victor Desmet blood was
brought into his strain although the Desmets
originated from the Horemans initially.
As
usual the space is not available to refer
to all the great breeders and racers of
the Horemans but let's look at a few.
De Oude Vos was a great racer and turned
into a great breeder. With 2 x 1st, 3
x 2nd, and 2 x 3rd amongst other positions
in Nationals he also sired Witpen which
reached the heights of Belgian pigeon
greatness and would be considered as an
icon of the sport amongst sports historians.There
was also Little Red Eye who recorded 6
positions in the first 100 in Nationals.Through
being a bad trapper this bird lost 2 x
1st.Then The Rode who along with Zwarte
34 won 1st and 2nd in the Angouleme National.
Just a few of many who at the crawling
stage of the sport contributed to the
emergence of the modern racing pigeon.
Yes I have no doubt that although far
removed from the period of the Horemans
that this Belgian was an artist in the
sport.It is he and others who remain in
our gratitude forever.

by: Liam O Comain
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