We left on a sunny, but windy winter afternoon for Snellegem… situated west of ‘Bruges city’, near the busy main thoroughfare in Jabbeke… to visit one of the most renown colonies of our country over the last few seasons, that of Marc and son Geert Pollin. In the middle of an oasis of calm, between the broad fields… Marc Pollin enjoys his pigeons. His extensive and beautiful loft accomodation houses a wealth of pigeons! The Pollin colony has been competing at the absolute top of our national pigeon sport for more than a quarter of a century. His reputation came with the legendary ‘Montauban’… a pigeon which was not only a real ‘super crack’ in the national long distance races, but also developed into a real powerful ‘top breeder’… in other words a ‘stock pigeon’, which up until today demands a leading role in the stock building of the colony… and can be found in the pedigrees of almost all the top pigeons which are performing well at the moment in Snellegem! Let’s take a short look at the honours list of this wondrous top athlete:
-The ‘Montauban’ B89-3382432 won a.o.:
’91 Montauban Nat 6.721 p. 27 ’92 Montauban Nat 5.335 p. 5 ’93 Montauban Nat 6.814 p. 20 ’93 Brive Nat 23.510 p. 41 ’94 Brive Nat 23.475 p. 150
He lies at the basis of the arisal of ‘the’ success lines by far at the moment in the Pollin lofts, namely these of the ‘Nai’(already self father of ‘As-Trix etc…), the ‘Dortmunder’ and ‘Cruyff’… as described later in this report.
From the same blessed year ’89 as this ‘Montauban’, is that other ‘icon’ of the Marc Pollin colony, namely the illustrious ‘Perpignan’… who also makes his mark on the current stock building… he was previously also a powerful long distance crack, before being allowed to do his best in the breeding loft!
-The ‘Perpignan’ B89-3115187 caused furore with a.o.
’94 Perpignan Intnat 14.383 p. 1 ’92 Perpignan Intnat 17.335 p. 90 ’91 Perpignan Intnat 13.673 p. 96 ’90 Perpignan Intnat 10.444 p. 144 ’93 Perpignan Intnat 18.447 p. 677
A real top athlete which we can at the moment find in that other ‘wonder boy’ from Snellegem… namely the ‘Mortifer’! A selection from his honours list gives us the following summary of ‘Top 100’ performances at national level:
-The ‘Mortifer’ B03-3002141
Olympiad pigeon Marathon ‘Cat C’ 2009 in Dortmund
’08 Montauban Nat 5.438 p. 2 ’05 Limoges 2-Y Nat 6.617 p. 9 ’05 Limoges Nat 12.266 p. 20 ’07 Irun Nat 5.252 p. 26 ’08 Tarbes Nat 4.460 p. 57 ’07 Perpignan Nat 5.547 p. 58 ’06 Brive Nat 9.446 p. 91 etc…
All exceptional ‘crack pigeons’ which understood the art of, as racing and breeding pigeon… to write history, even more… make their mark on the further development and expansion of the colony of Marc and Geert Pollin!
Building up of the colony
Marc has a sizeable colony of pigeons, with 100 racing pigeons (inclusive old birds and yearlings), in addition to a few old and yearling hens which reside between the youngsters. The old and yearling racing cocks mix together freely in the lofts… when we visited the old cocks were in the aviary, whilst their yearling colleagues are allowed to build a nest with their hens. Marc was planning to separate some of them after brooding for 10 days, whilst others may be allowed to raise a youngster, but Marc hasn’t yet made up his mind. Then the oldies’ come back into the loft… and the pigeons sometimes have to be locked up for a few days, to prevent fighting and the detrimental consequences this brings. Around the 25th of March the widowers come together again and, by favourable weather, the training starts. Normally the pigeons are then separated again directly after laying the 2nd egg… although Marc also tried the alternative system, as is used by many other toppers… namely the pigeons are allowed to stay together for 4 or 5 days (without lay), and are then separated again… after which the widowhood can start. Them being together has the advantage that I can easily get hold of my pigeons to put them into the basket, says Marc… because getting 100 pigeons into the basket to train them, entails a lot of work! His wife Diane drives a distance with the pigeons, and usually liberates them in small groups. Before leaving, the widowers only get to see their dish during the season, no hen… on Saturday they are only given their hen, both those returning from the race, as the pigeons which have remained home.
By our visit 60 youngsters from the first round were making their first exploration rounds on and around the loft. After a time the sexes are separated… Marc throws a few hens into the loft of the young cocks for motivation… the young hens can lust after each other, the ladies with ‘lesbian’ tendancies often come with a nest. The young cocks from the 1° round usually race the programme Blois-Brionne-Nantes-St.Junien and then Tours twice. In this way the wheat is separated from the chaff, says Marc… you immediately see the performance capabilities of the young folk. The young hens are usually entered for the ‘national long distance’ for youngsters… and/or the provincial ‘grand middle distance'.
Marc’s system is in fact based on ‘simplicity’ and in particular… ‘good pigeons’! In the lofts the floor is covered with a thick layer of straw, which makes cleaning a lot easier… for the rest a natural health prevails and of course… performing. Sharp-eyed readers will have already noticed that the Marc Pollin colony is based on ‘performance pigeons’. First and foremost they have to perform (read: top prizes)… then the Pollin household looks at the lineage of the pigeon in question. Via this course of action, Marc Pollin built up his pigeon empire, which is punctuated with many glorious moments, a cartload of ‘throbbing titles’, and numerous series of 1° prizes and important victories up to provincial and national level… the 2010 sport season formed no exception to this, and only brought proof of all this good stuff. No less than 6 x 1° provincial victories were booked down, we have located the leading toppers from 2010:
‘Top-3’ PROVINCIAL out 2010
Chateauroux 2.095 p. 1 Sint-Junien 1.736 p. 1 Tarbes 1.104 p. 1 Bordeaux yl. 512 p. 1 Bordeaux o.b. 577 p. 1 Gueret o.b. 283 p. 1 Chateauroux 2.211 p. 2 Soustons YL 1.699 p. 2 Poitiers 2.128 p. 3
In addition, an endless list of Ace pigeons were raced, too many to name here… we will limit ourselves to the most prominent titles at provincial and national level, with,
1° General Champion KBDB West-Flanders 2010 1° Provincial Ace pigeon Middle distance Yearlings KBDB W-Fl 2010 1° Provincial Ace pigeon Long distance O.b. KBDB W-Fl 2010 1° General Champion Inter-West Flemish 2010 1° General Champion Cureghem Centre 2010 2° National Ace pigeon Long distance KBDB 2010 3° National Champion Long distance KBDB 2010 1° Champion Interprov. Criteria Inter-West Flemish 2010 1° Champion O.b. Inter-West Flemish 2010 1° Champion Yearlings Inter-West Flemish 2010 1° Champion O.b. Cureghem Centre 2010 etc…
The titles and victories above speak volumes about the performance capability and class of the Pollin pigeons… simply the very best that our land has to offer at the moment. Behind these titles and ditto successes there is of course a very strong breeding source and superior team of racing pigeons. After we were allowed ‘nose about’ in the archives of the Marc Pollin colony, we made the following selection of ‘crack pigeons’ for you, which we would like to highlight:
-‘Cruyff’ B08-3090014
2° National Ace pigeon Long distance KBDB 2010
He is a half-brother of the ‘Dortmunder’ and full brother of ‘Nai’… and also son of the super breeding hen ‘J & B’ 314/03. His father is the ‘Son Tony 030/00’ (1° Dax 302 p., 5° Nat 5.026 p., 13° Intnat 19.420 p…). This ‘Cruyff’ has already raced an impressive honours list together (we limit ourselves to his prizes achieved per 10 from the ‘extreme middle distance’) :
In 2008: St.Junien 346 346 p. 23 Prov 1.186 p. 38 Intprov 1.857 p. 54 Tours 247 p. 7 In 2009: Tours 528 p. 33 Prov 2.249 p. 109 Argenton 452 p. 22 Prov 3.251 p. 235 Tulle 185 p. 13 Prov 718 p. 39 Nat 7.467 p. 79 In 2010: Chateauroux 420 p. 39 Nat 20.330 p. 1327 Cahors 226 p. 1 Prov 1.194 p. 7 Nat 8.651 p. 17 Limoges Nat 10.448 p. 872 Derby Nat 5.607 p. 460 Souillac 269 p. 3 Prov 1.568 p. 15 Nat 7.045 p. 23 Tulle 296 p. 2 Prov 1.081 p. 7 Zone A 2.571 p. 14 Nat 6.695 p. 25
-‘As-Trix’ B07-3080019
A top athlete and self son of crack pigeon ‘Nai 112/04’ (which is self half-brother of the ‘Dortmunder’ and full brother ‘Cruyff’… see above) x ‘The 075-hen’ 075/04
1° Provincial Ace pigeon Long distance Youngsters 2007 Nantes 224 p. 1 Intprov 1.889 p. 1 Poitiers 206 p. 1 Intprov 1.099 p. 6 Tours 228 p. 6 Prov 1.930 p. 39
He was then directly allowed to show what he was made of in the breeding loft, and he did this with ‘verve’!
-‘Hamilton’ B09-3050037
Son of ‘As-Trix 019/07’ x the ‘Nanteke 052/05’, self 1° Intprov Nantes 1.498 p. (mother of both ‘Hamilton’ and ‘Alonso’…). This ‘Hamilton’ is also a class bird and won:
1° Ace pigeon Middle Distance KBDB Yearlings 2010
In 2009: Won 8 prizes, including Ablis 1.037 p. 44 Blois 623 p. 64 Brionne 1.336 p. 47 Prov 11.193 p. 613 Nantes 156 p. 3 Prov 1.185 p. 6 I.Prov 2.883 p. 14 Tours 239 p. 14 In 2010: Ablis 440 p. 4 Orleans YL 485 p. 1 O.b 584 p. 1 Chateauroux1 395 p. 1 Prov 2.095 p. 1 Nat 18.725 p. 3 Chateauroux2 531 p. 2 Prov 4.107 p. 27 Nat 22.718 p. 80 Argenton 348 p. 2 (after loft companion) Prov 3.250 p. 17 Nat 19.816 p. 47 Poitiers YL 119 p. 2 Prov 801 p. 36 o.b. 134 p. 5 Prov o.b. 964 p. 65
-‘Alonso’ B08-3090052
Full brother of ‘Hamilton’! This clapper also knows what ‘front racing’ entails… he performed as follows
In 2008: Won 6 prizes as a youngster with.. Clermont 613 p. 40 Ablis 648 p. 14 Blois 547 p. 57 Nantes 310 p. 19 Prov 1.304 p. 76 I.Prov 2.579 p. 134 Tours 247 p. 22 Prov 2.410 p. 729 Tours Prov 2.349 p. 655 In 2009: Ablis 569 p. 42 Prov 4.181 p. 284 Tours 528 p. 6 Prov 2.249 p. 21 Argenton 498 p. 7 Prov 5.251 p. 103 o.b. 374 p. 4 Prov 3.387 p. 81 Argenton 452 p. 13 Prov 3.251 p. 153 Nat 21.092 p. 2141 Limoges 534 p. 5 Prov 3.326 p. 35 Nat 16.893 p. 275 Poitiers 196 p. 5 Prov 1.147 p. 122 o.b. 199 p. 3 Prov 1.318 p. 200 In 2010: Arras 346 p. 2 Ablis 389 p. 5 Orleans 584 p. 2 Chateauroux 420 p. 10 Prov 2.036 p. 82 Nat 20.330 p. 384 Chateauroux 334 p. 1 Prov 2.211 p. 2 Nat 17.109 p. 4 Limoges 314 p. 10 Prov 1.929 p. 42 Nat 10.448 p. 105 Derby 179 p. 7 Prov 1.104 p. 28 Nat 5.607 p. 64 Souillac 269 p. 27 Prov 1.568 p. 92 Nat 7.045 p. 155 Tulle 296 p. 7 Prov 1.081 p. 49 Nat 6.695 p. 197
-‘The 12’ B09-3090012
A phenomenal top athlete with a pedigree to dream of:
F: ‘Dortmunder’ B04-3003154, 2° Olympiad pigeon Long distance KBDB 2009 in Dortmund with 1° Poitiers 397 p., 1° Poitiers 185 p., 4° Argenton 397 p., 5° Nantes 747 p., 7° Prov Poitiers 1.443 p., 13° Prov Poitiers 1.687 d… and half-brother of ‘Nai’ and ‘Cruyff’ (out the ‘Provincial Chateauroux 154/04’ x ‘J & B’ 314/03… which is also mother of ‘Nai’ and Cruyff’).
M: ‘Half-sister Limoges’ B03-3002015, and so half-sister of the 1° Nat Limoges 2003 (via her father ‘Late Bert 428/00’).
This ‘12’ has already won a.o. the following toppers upward of the middle distance:
In 2009: Brionne 1.331.336 p. 88 Alliance 11.193 p. 931 Nantes 156 p. 1 Dubb 1.185 p. 3 Prov 2.883 p. 4 St.Junien 199 p. 1 Dubb 1.071 p. 5 Prov 1.706 p. 6 In 2010: Chateauroux 531 p. 3 Prov 4.107 p. 29 Nat 22.718 p. 125 Argenton 348 p. 4 Prov 3.250 p. 24 Nat 19.816 p. 94 Limoges 385 p. 1 Prov 3.079 p. 19 Nat 14.211 p. 144
-‘Provincial Poitiers’ B07-3080116
Brother of ‘As-Trix’… and so also son of ‘Nai’!
In 2In 2008 o.a.: Poitiers 227 p. 1 Prov 1.457 p. 1 Chateauroux 592 p. 14 Prov 4.793 p. 273 In 2009: Chateauroux 394 p. 15 2y 94 p. 6 Prov 4.293 p. 86 Limoges Derby 214 p. 1 Nat 6.138 p. 25 Limoges o.b. 319 p. 2 Nat 11.869 p. 45 Souillac 228 p. 2 Nat 7.597 p. 261 In 2010: Chateauroux 364 p. 7 (15 May) Prov 4.093 p. 117 Chateauroux 334 p. 4 (13 June) Prov 2.211 p. 19 Nat 17.109 p. 78 Limoges 314 p. 8 Prov 1.929 p. 38 Nat 10.448 p. 88 Souillac 269 p. 5 Prov 1.568 p. 20 Nat 7.045 p. 36
-‘Ironman’ B07-3080237
A chap for the ‘heavy fire’… and son of ‘Gerardje 196/99’, out joint breeding with Marc & Gerard Santens (out the ‘Jonge Rubex 093/96’ x ‘Daughter Perpignan 156/97’ Marc Pollin) x ‘The 101-hen’ 101/05 (daughter of 3° Bourges 303 p. ’01 and the 5° Bourges 264 p. ’02: ‘De 021/05’ x ‘Paola 138/01’).
Montauban 186 p. 14 Nat 6.654 p. 296 Tarbes 225 p. 1 Prov 1.104 p. 1 Nat 4.576 p. 3 Intnat 15.035 p. 5 Perpignan Nat 6.257 p. 172 Intnat 15.756 p. 245
-‘Yearling Bordeaux’ B09-3091260
A half-brother of ‘Ironman’… as son of ‘Gerardje 196/99’ x ‘Daughter Mortifer 023/09’… won there again 1° Interprov Bordeaux 595 yearlings in 2010!
This whilst a ‘Brother Mortifer’, the ‘Blake’ in turn, is grandfather of the 1° Intprov Bordeaux 857 o.b. in 2010!
Breeding out winners… out Ace pigeons!
Whoever reads all this, can come to any other conclusion that the colony of Marc Pollin is bathing in a wealth of top talent at the moment… mainly based on the basis lines of the ‘Montauban’ with his descendants in a straight line so as the ‘Nai’, ‘As-Trix’ and the ‘Dortmunder’ on the one side… and the time-honoured success lines of the ‘Perpignan’ and ‘Mortifer’ (Olympiad pigeon Marathon ‘Cat C’ in Dortmund) on the other side! A combination of these breeding lines… seasoned now and again with a dash of ‘fresh blood’… lie at the basis of the supremacy that the modern Pollin pigeon has once again displayed over the last few sport seasons! The ‘1° prize festival’ continued unabated during the 2010 sport season… more than 30 x 1° prizes and 6 x 1° Provincial victories don’t just happen… but are the result of a well-considered stock building, whereby the accent lies on… breeding out winners and Ace pigeons! This was the only straight road to top successes there in Snellegem, which have been continually booked down for more than a quarter of a century… and has brought the Marc Pollin colony to the highest rung on the ‘value ladder’ of our national pigeon sport!
The marvellous honours list 2010
03/4 Arras 87 Oude
87 o.b. 1–3–14–27 (4/12)
15/5 Orleans 584 o.b.1–2–11–24–73–83–92–161 (8/24) Orleans 485 YL 1–4–12-16–27–28–29–52–59–60–89…(14/22)
22/5 Poitiers 256 o.b.2–4–9-10-11–14–19–32–42–61 (10/10) Poitiers 72 2y. 2–3–4–7-11 (5/5) Prov. 1.827 o.b. 17–54–94–121–132–173–196–293-338…(10/10) Prov. 359 2y. 7–17–50–64–75 (5/5)
29/5 Chateauroux 395 YL 1–29–50–66–69–90–97–126 (8/16) Prov. 2.095 YL 1–125–210–283–310–382–418–533…(10/16) Nat. 18.725 YL 3–713–1212 … (10/16)
05/6 Tours 385 YL 2–6–7–11–37–66–70 (7/9) Poitiers 229 o.b. 2–10–11-22–30–37–46–53–57–60 (10/11) 64 2y. 1–5–7–9-14–16 (6/6) Prov. 2.128 o.b. 3–31–34–139–210–262–317–356–385…(10/11)
13/6 Chateauroux 334 p. 1–4-5–21–26–35–46–63–75–92–98 (11/15) Prov. 2.211 o.b. 2–19–24–148–171–220–285–451–532… (11/15) Nat. 17.109 o.b. 4–78–88–665–780–1020–1332… (11/15) Chateauroux 531 YL 2–3–12–21–32–55–56–76–80–82–88… (16/19) Prov. 4.107 YL 27–29–80–116–176–316–317–455–477… (17/19) Nat. 22.718 YL 118–125–299–453–716-1175–1181… (17/19) Cahors 226 o.b. 1–21–22–66 (4/6) Nat. 8.622 o.b. 17–300–342–1295–1875–1968 (6/6)
27/6 Argenton 348 YL 1–2–4–6–10–20–49–75–86–92–96 (11/14) Prov. 3.250 YL 6–17–24–34–60–158… (11/14) Nat. 19.816 YL 14–47–94–119–183–482… (11/14) Argenton 177 o.b. 1–6–21–23–30–31–42 (7/10) Prov. 1.398 o.b. 11–81–216–219… (7/10) Nat. 10.549 o.b. 32–294–814–827… (8/10) Bordeaux 100 YL 1–2–3–5–12 (5/9) Prov. 512 YL 1–12–27–34-76 Intprov 595 YL 1–14–33–40–85 Bordeaux 88 o.b. 1–2–11–14–23–25 (6/8) Prov. 577 o.b. 1–10–65–69–116-122 Intprov 857 o.b. 1–12–74–82–143–149
04/7 Limoges 10.448 o.b. 88–105–451–459… (11/14) Limoges 5.607 2y. 64–250–265… (8/9)
02/7 Soustons 342 YL 2–15–39–110 (4/6) Prov. 1.699 YL 2–57–215 Nat. 8.433 YL 3–373–1034 I.Nat 10.190 YL 3–417–1263
10/7 Tarbes 225 o.b. 1–3–7–31-37–61–65–68 (8/13) Prov 1.104 o.b. 1–15–45–175–227–329–344–358 (8/13) Nat. 4.576 o.b. 3–49–120–489… I.Nat 15.035 o.b. 7–97–242… Limoges 385 YL 1–4–16–18–26–27–34–43–56–62–84… 16/29) Nat. 14.211 YL 144–396… (13/29) Poitiers 161 p. 3–11–17–26–36–38–41–45–54 (9/12) 61 2y. 1–5–13–21 (4/5) Blois 318 young 1–13–29–36–40–50–51–61 (8/13)
18/7 Souillac 7.045 p. 23–36–99–155–321… (12/14)
24/7 Brionne 1.295 young 1–70–79–87–91–114–115–139… Verb. 10.388 young 7… Poitiers 119 YL 2–3–4–5–15–17 (6/7)
31/7 Tulle 296 o.b. 2–6-7–48–67–83–84 (7/18) Nat 6.695 o.b. 25–195–197… (7/18)
14/8 St.-Junien 86 young 1–2–3–4–5–6–7–9–11–12-13–14–16–20… (19/37) St.-Junien 3 o.b. 1–3 (2/4) WFV 172 young 1–2–3–4–6–8-11–13–20-21–22-23–25… (24/37) Prov 982 young 1–9–10–12–17–24… (22/37) I.Pro 1.736 young 1–12–13–15–21–31… (25/37)
04/9 Gueret 188 young 1–9–15–17–39–41 (6/12) Nat 13.885 young 49-531-691-792-1734-1792-3186-3319-3387 (12 Gueret 37 o.b. 1–5–13 (3/6) Dub. 147 o.b. 1–6–16–26–28–48 (6/6) Prov 283 o.b. 1–8–25–42–44-87 (6/6) Nat 2.953 o.b. 13-110-262-434-445 (5/6)
