| Author: Guy Barrett | Title: Introduction |
| Date: 2002-09-07 18:30:43 | Uploaded by: webmaster |
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Ever since I was a child, I have gained much happiness and pleasure from my love of racing pigeons, and my association with pigeon fanciers. The excitement and thrill which I experience when a bird arrives home from a long race never seems to fade, and if a friend suggests that he is thinking of taking up the sport, I always encourage him to do so.
In horse racing you are either the owner or the breeder, the trainer or the punter – in pigeon racing you are all of these and there are no jockeys!
According to figures published recently, there are in the International Federation almost half a million fanciers, of whom there are nearly a hundred thousand in the United Kingdom alone. All these men and women, boys and girls, from many different countries of the world, are united by a common bond - the love of the racing pigeon - a creature weighing only a pound, which will travel over tremendous distances (often against fierce head winds) to reach its home. Indeed every year, many birds reach their lofts after travelling distances of five hundred or more miles in the day, flying possibly twelve, fourteen, or even sixteen hours without rest.
I have often felt this spirit of international friendship and co-operation, particularly at the International Pigeon Olympiads I have attended, and I have always found when visiting a fancier abroad (and I have visited many), that I have been welcomed as a friend, invited into his home and treated as an honoured guest.
As the years go by, life seems to become more and more complicated, and I believe that every man and woman should have at least one worthwhile hobby with which to occupy the leisure hours and relieve the tensions of the working day. It should be one which is entirely divorced from his or her work, one which gives food for thought for the long winter evenings, and provides a continuing occupation and interest in later years after retirement from daily work. I offer you Pigeon Racing as such a hobby!
Used with permisson. © RPRA.
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