Out of the blind spot – Ep and Harco Poelman, Erica, NL

Out of the blind spot – Ep and Harco Poelman, Erica, NL

Fashion breeds appear from year to year, just to disappear beyond the far horizon as fast as they appeared! Then there are those names who rarely appear in the spotlights for all the wrong reasons. Call it modesty or just not having the ambition to be on the front cover week by week, smiling their way towards fame and glory but still achieving exceptional performances with their favorite winged gladiators and just as equal to their place in the spotlights.

In this series we want to reflect on some of the names who earn a place in the sun, for the simple reason of producing top class results past and present. In this issue we want to focus your attention on the father & son partnership of Ep and Harco Poelman from Erica, NL. True strain makers who have been successfully racing as a family and have stood the test of time. Many of the lofts  successful bloodlines are from the supreme quality birds of Gerard Koopman. Not many can say that but Ep Poelman can! Still the same family is proving to be competitive in the highest level of racing from 60/400 miles, finding its origin in the world class Janssen and Meuleman lines. In the early 90s Ep Poelman was one of the most feared competitors of Gerard Koopman but was forced to have a total clearance sale. Being the smartest of them all it was Gerard investing in brother and sister Black Power and Black Power Lady excellent racers direct from the foundation pair, which brought  Gerard immediate success.

Gerard bred from these two gems his

   Emperor Qin: 1st World Champion youngsters VerseleLaga,
   Amore: Olympiad ace bird allround Lievin,
   Wonder Lady: 1st. Nat. Orleans and in the second generation
   Miss Wonderfull: 1st.Nat. ace bird Long distance Fondspiegel.

These magnificent lines can still be found in todays Koopman winners. How about that for a return on investment? But also the Poelmans themselves where smart enough to put their trust in their own strong family baselines. When they restarted building their loft, Wander a full brother to Black Power proved to contain the same outstanding genes and became the new founding breeder. Wander bred no less than 18 first prize winners with different hens and almost all of todays successful Poelman racers have his blood. To create a perfect mix of endurance and exquisite orientation, the Dirk van Dycks Belgian elite ;Super son Bourges’ was brought in. Just to remind you, Den Bourges won 2nd. Nat. Bourges for Dirk and is a full brother to probable the most influential ace in pigeon racing of the last two decades the world-famous Kannibaal. This genepool boost brought six direct children winning 1st prizes from 1,200 to 12,000 competitors into our world, and an uncountable number of first prize winners in the following generations.

Next to the Van Dyck upgrade, also the best from Belgian sprint champion Frans Rondags made their move to Erica, NL and have had a huge influence on todays winners. Is the loft of Ep and Harco Poelman still able to compete on the highest level? Bear in mind the Poelmans are racing in the area in which the Koopman Vredeveld colonys are also competing. In the last three seasons Ep and Harco took no less then 40 x 1st prizes on club level, 12 x 1st prizes plus & 7 times 2nd prizes on Federation level, and on provincial/NPO level they took 2.,3.,4.,4.,4.,5.,5.,6.,6.,7.,7.,8.,9.,9.,9.,9. and 10. against 4,500 – 12,000 birds. So do you agree the "Black Power" birds have stood the test of time?

The system they practice is the classic widowhood with cocks, as their hens seem to be too interested in each other to be interested in racing. Harco is the third generation of this successful family with Ep proving to be an excellent teacher and even Harcos grandfather was a champion racer in his day. The Poelmans own some 25 stock pairs which provide them with 36 widowers to race coming from some 85 youngsters being raced on the darkness system. Besides that, they also race a 9 pair small team on natural, still being competitive at the top level of competition. A down to earth method with just a canker treatment and the usual respiratory treatment before the start of the season is enough to sustain good health. Not so much special as just smart is the use of a two-inch layer of grits in the young bird loft which creates an excellent atmosphere and playground for the new born champions. The big message Ep and Harco want to share with the rest of the world, plain and simple is, enjoy the sport, breed from your best x your best, only results count but in the end it all comes down to the quality of your birds.

Sjaak Buwalda, NL

good read

yes very interesting read Ep & Harco....look forward to more of your posts and any tips or info you may want to share.

remember my old friend henk de brueijs saying that koopman sends 200 ybs to a race if I was sending that sort of birdage I would want to find a few winners too ....what sort of birdage do your partnership send ...nice read all the same thankyou for sharing

oldstrain wrote:

remember my old friend henk de brueijs saying that koopman sends 200 ybs to a race if I was sending that sort of birdage I would want to find a few winners too ....what sort of birdage do your partnership send ...nice read all the same thankyou for sharing  

Its always the same Daz they have large numbers trying to find that one champion from every 5,000 birds they breed a year

Don Webb wrote:

oldstrain wrote:

remember my old friend henk de brueijs saying that koopman sends 200 ybs to a race if I was sending that sort of birdage I would want to find a few winners too ....what sort of birdage do your partnership send ...nice read all the same thankyou for sharing  

Its always the same Daz they have large numbers trying to find that one champion from every 5,000 birds they breed a year

5000 the 25 pair mentioned above, would be well & truly knackered I suspect Don to reach those numbers.

85 ybs.......quite a big team that

oldstrain wrote:

85 ybs.......quite a big team that

Maybe for you O/S . But, put a nought after 5 etc & I will show you what some of them get up to down here etc. No names but a world renowned expert here, I will for safety reasons just call him Dr Spock who last year had 280 odd birds & got cleaned out sadly before the season finished. This year he has everything under control for what I'm told at this moment in time, with a wee mob     of 750 odd, just to help him see out the season .

Knackered wrote:

oldstrain wrote:

85 ybs.......quite a big team that

Maybe for you O/S . But, put a nought after 5 etc & I will show you what some of them get up to down here etc. No names but a world renowned expert here, I will for safety reasons just call him Dr Spock who last year had 280 odd birds & got cleaned out sadly before the season finished. This year he has everything under control for what I'm told at this moment in time, with a wee mob     of 750 odd, just to help him see out the season .

madness ....dwarfs my team of 24 ybs we have 27 members in our club the biggest team i have seen on basket night is about 70 but generally around 40 to 50 ybs would be the norm ,i think its all about air space and ventilation as to how many ybs to breed ...we have a 8x6 with a small flight at the front half way up where they trap

oldstrain wrote:

Knackered wrote:

oldstrain wrote:

85 ybs.......quite a big team that

Maybe for you O/S . But, put a nought after 5 etc & I will show you what some of them get up to down here etc. No names but a world renowned expert here, I will for safety reasons just call him Dr Spock who last year had 280 odd birds & got cleaned out sadly before the season finished. This year he has everything under control for what I'm told at this moment in time, with a wee mob     of 750 odd, just to help him see out the season .

madness ....dwarfs my team of 24 ybs we have 27 members in our club the biggest team i have seen on basket night is about 70 but generally around 40 to 50 ybs would be the norm ,i think its all about air space and ventilation as to how many ybs to breed ...we have a 8x6 with a small flight at the front half way up where they trap

Big fish Little fish O/S Besides you have certain medications you have to buy I suspect etc & he get's all his for nothing.

would that be a certain mr walker

oldstrain wrote:

would that be a certain mr walker

MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmm Have you heard the saying O/S I know nothing     in regards to your request    .

Knackered wrote:

oldstrain wrote:

would that be a certain mr walker

MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmm Have you heard the saying O/S I know nothing     in regards to your request    .

that will do me

oldstrain wrote:

Knackered wrote:

oldstrain wrote:

would that be a certain mr walker

MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmm Have you heard the saying O/S I know nothing     in regards to your request    .

that will do me

It will have to do O/S I'm walking on glass here     I suspect & it's time I went to bed for safety so say goodnight/morning to my little mate there please.