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West of England Tumblers – Page 42 – Purebred PIGEON
Breed of the Issue - West of England Tumblers
Memories of Judging
THE1991PAGEANTOFPIGEONS
by Jim Krebaum,Jr.
I
really enjoyed judging the
Pageant of Pigeons this
last December (1991). I
appreciate the membership’s
participation in showing 324
birds. The quality was high and
the show ran smoothly thanks to
Bob Christman, Dean Holcomb, and new member Bob Shoemaker.
I started with baldheads. Blacks were first and the hens both
old and young were nice but they were not as strong as the cocks.
The old cock has been the bird to in blacks for a couple of years
now and the young cock was equal to the task this year winning
best black. Both birds belonging to Master Breeder of Baldheads
Don Martin. The Reds were next and had great color but the con-
dition was a couple of weeks short. The Yellow class was a large
class with the hens lacking quality of the cocks as in the blacks.
The old cock taking best over the young cock. Bruce Rodegerdts
old cock won on condition over Jim Krebaum,Sr. (National Club’s
First Master Breeder 1984) young cock. Blue Bars were tough in the
young hens because I couldn’t get them to show. Young cocks were
real nice birds but some were dirty and others were not finished.
In the old cock class one stood ahead of the others and the same
with the old hen class. I went with the old hen, she stationed
much better and had excellent markings. Both birds shown by Don
Martin. The Red Bar lacked color and condition. The Cream Bar
old hen and young hen of Bob Shoemaker’s were close, so close
they were mother and daughter. Mother was a little fuller in body
but wouldn’t station and the young hen was a free shower that
stationed all the time. So the young hen took best. The Silver Bar
Baldheads were all pretty nice birds but the smooth young cock
of Bob Shoemaker’s was the best, even with short flights he out
did the rest. Another nice bird to go to the finals was a khaki bar
with excellent type shown by Jessica Christman (junior member).
The top birds for Champion Baldhead were the Black young cock,
Blue Bar old hen, Silver Bar young cock, Khaki Bar old hen, and the
Cream Bar young hen. I picked the Blue Bar old hen on markng,col-
or,station, and she had super white eyes. The Best Young Baldhead
went to the Black young cock also color and markings. Congratula-
tions Don Martin, Super Show Team.
Next I judged the Mottles. The Blacks were not all mottles
but we have never set any standard for mottles and I judged what
I saw. Most were real nice but not evenly marked. I liked the
head,eye,body,and condition of the old hen best so she took the
class. Don Martin did it again. The Yellows had some tough compe-
tition with good color and condition with Jim Bishop’s young cock
coming out on top. This bird had a solid body and nice whip tail.
The Reds had a lot of good birds but two stood out. The young
cock of Evan Christman, a junior member, and the outstanding
young hen of Bruce Rodegerdts. I went with young hen but it was
close. She had a little better body and head than the young cock,
but on another day who knows,real close. The Red young hen was
Champion Mottle over the Yellow young cock. This again was close,
the yellow had a little softer feather and a small stain on the beak.
Congratulations Bruce. This hen has won Champion at a couple of
shows and her number is 995. Bruce calls her “ALMOST A TEN”.
The Selfs started out with the Blacks and what a job, they
all looked alike. It took some time to judge the young cocks and I
found the best Black among them and the bird to beat I thought
at the time. It was shown by Bob Christman and the bird I have to
beat when I show my blacks. Next was the Whites and what a dif-
ference. Big, small, short, long, and the classes were pretty big. The
whites have come along way and more and more people breeding
them. The best White was old hen of Pete Engle’s, nice hen and
more of what were shooting for. Reds were real nice, the young
cock was out of condition in the back of the neck. The old cock
was nicely finished and had good color so he was best Red shown
by Danny Chagolla. The Yellows were few but outstanding. Best
Yellow was young hen of Bruce Rodegerdts’ and she edged out the
Black young cock for Champion Self. What a hen.
The Pattern Selfs can be tough because of all the different col-
ors and some in the same class looked like different colors. Some
of the nicer show birds were the Bronze Check old cock of Norm
Reynolds, Almond old hen of Jim Krebaum, Sr., Blue Bar old cock of
Jim Bishop, Blue Barless young cock and Silver Barless young hen
of Dean Holcomb, Reduce of Bob Christman, but the outstanding
bird in the variety was the Andalusian old hen of Pete Engle’s.
When the National Club voted the Andalusian from self to pattern
self it’s the color to beat. The Andalusian young cock of Pete’s was
best young pattern.
Saturday morning was time to pick the Grand Champion.
It was a close race to the top. The Yellow Self young hen took top
honors. The Black Self young cock edged out the Andalusian old
hen and the Blue Bar old hen for reserve. The Red Mottle young
hen just wouldn’t show during the finals. Junior Champion went to
the super Red Mottle young cock of Evan Christman and Reserve
Champion went to his big sister Jessica.
I want to say I had a great time judging the 1991 Pageant of
Pigeons. THANKS. P.S. After winning the 1989 and ‘90 Pageant of
Pigeons, then judging 1991, I’ll be there with my show team next
year. I know winning a third Pageant will be almost impossible
what with the birds I saw in 1991. (The only one to win three Pag-
eants – Jim Krebaum, Sr. 1972, 1976, and 1986) •
Jim Krebaum pictured
in the 1990s