Pigeon man Jos Thoné has held a place in the gallery of the ‘very best’ out our pigeon sport for years. Whoever in his career has been declared ‘WorldChampion’ four times, has won the ‘Gouden Duif’ (golden pigeon) 4 times, was 1° National Champion KBDB youngsters, has already Olympiad pigeons to his name, and on top of all this 5 x 1° National victories, in addition to 2 x 1° International victories, is without any doubt a ‘mister Big’ in the pigeon sport. The first prominent titles 2008 are just rolling from the press and once again we discover the name Jos Thoné at ‘Nr 1’ as brand new General Champion by the ‘Belgische Verstandhouding’ and who knows what else will follow? Because let one thing be clear, the Thoné pigeons raced hard again in 2008, battering to their heart’s desire, once again sowing ‘destruction’ in the pigeon platoon!
A characteristic fitting the ‘master to the rudder’!
Self-made story
One thing you have to say for Jos Thoné… it is a man that doesn’t run away from a challenge. When he gets his ‘teeth’ into something, it is his intention to succeed. Not only because he is connected to the pigeon sport professionally, but because he can also carry on perfectly as ‘ambassador’ of our pigeon sport. His philosophy over the pigeon sport speaks volumes. Belgium has not only its ‘chocolate’, its ‘beers’ or its ‘chips’… we also have our ‘Belgische reisduif’, a unique product that we should use and promote optimally because … Belgium is still the place of birth of the pigeon sport! According to Jos there is hardly anything or nothing done to maintain this… as a result of which we are in danger of losing our ‘status’ of ‘pigeon country nr 1’, it is more than 5 to 12! The ‘decline’ of our sport is one of the impacts of this! The set-up of the WPC was unique in that field, something that Jos spent a lot of time and energy on… maybe Belgium was just not ready at the time, or should we conclude that Jos didn’t receive enough support for his initiative from the KBDB-circles or even from the ministry? The fact is that at the moment ‘one loft races’ are rising up out of the ground like mushrooms worldwide… and initiatives such as ‘Belgian Master’ have proven that it can even succeed here. The idea behind the WPC was broader, and had the intention of involving the people (from home and abroad) in the pigeon sport, to let them come into contact with the sport, to train them to become fully independent pigeon fanciers. An idea that is not forgotten and one which Jos will continue to work for. An idea that should actually radiate from every fancier, ‘promotion’ of our ‘Belgium pigeon’ and our ‘Belgium pigeon sport’…
This apart, even though we have gone slightly astray from our subject, but with which we would like to impress upon you Jos’s ‘commitment’ and ‘ambition’, and the will ‘to succeed’ in all levels. Also in practising the pigeon sport. He is possessed by the ‘game’ and a ‘born winner’ who can hold his own in virtually all the disciplines of the pigeon sport. Even though he contributes his top successes with the pigeons to the perfect teamwork that hides behind them. Jos wasn’t even out of nappies when he used to crawl around his father’s lofts, and later he could always be found there. It has all transpired at a rapid speed since the period 1977-’91 when Jos was loft carer by father-in-law Thomas Peeters & Sons in As.
Thomas had asked ‘father Thoné’ if he was interested in being his loft carer. He wasn’t, but suggested his son Jos (then 16 years young), who could lend a helping hand in cleaning the lofts. Next to the mounds of droppings that Jos managed to scrape together, he soon became familiar with the Peeters pigeons and also learned his first tricks of the trade. Jos didn’t only meet his wife Gaby (youngest daughter of Thomas Peeters)… Leaning on the experience of his future father-in-law Thomas and ‘supported scientifically’ by brother-in-law veterinary Norbert Peeters, Jos soon brought the Peeters-colony to the top of the international pigeon sport, with a title of ‘General Nat. Champion KBDB’ and 2 national victories. It turned out there that Jos Thoné had much more up his sleeve than just cleaning lofts… that he could let the pigeons thrive, and bring them to their climax! The line of their ‘Gouden Grijze’ , and pigeons such as the ‘Boeing’, ‘Pegasus’, the ‘Reus’, the ‘Witte Reus’, the ‘Perigueux’, the ‘Generaal’, the ‘Kleine Molenaar’ and not the least figurehead ‘Diego Armando Barcelona’ were kneaded in the hands of Jos Thoné to pigeons with ‘world fame’.
In 1991 he started out by himself in the current lofts in Niel bij As. A loft that is the result of a thoughtful study in order to achieve a combination of minimal cleaning, minimal moving of the pigeons (hens sit at the rear of the cock’s loft), and exploiting the space to a maximum… in addition to integrating the pigeon sport into the family life. Jos Thoné clearly knows what he is doing, supported by his steady team. His parents now live next door and have become his faithful helpers in the lofts. They are to be found in the lofts every morning between 5am and 7 am! They take care of the breeding pigeons, clean the corridor in front of the pigeons and clean the drinking bowls and in the summer. They also release the hens early in the morning for their training. By then Jos and his permanent loft carer Robert Clemens take over the duties. Robert takes care of the training and the administration (performances, pedigrees, championships…), we can consider Jos as the ‘general manager’, who is in charge, who sets out the ‘outlines’. The ‘pigeon-story’ Jos Thoné can be described as a ‘permanent search’ to be and stay the best, from Sprint to Barcelona.
Stock building
When Jos Thoné started in the pigeon sport on his own in 1991 he had the fortunate advantage of being able to richly draw on the breeding source that he had himself built up by his father-in-law Thomas Peeters, say, the sort based on the world-famous ‘Gouden Grijze‘. He couldn’t have imagined anything better for the Long Distance and ‘Grand Distance’… moreover they were pigeons that he knew inside out, that held no secrets for him. He knew all the best breeding couples and in keeping also the capacities of
these pigeons. Whichever way you look at it, success in the pigeon sport is based on ‘good pigeons’, and these are produced in a ‘rich class’ breeding loft! Not every hit is bulls-eye, everybody knows that… but top successes in the long term, over many years, find their origins in the ‘rich class basis’ of the breeding loft. It is without doubt the ‘most important link’ in the chain. The toppers of the calibre Jos Thoné know that better than anybody. When they discover a ‘flaw’ or ‘shortcoming’, or when one is threatening, they take action directly to correct or.. get rid of it! So as mentioned, Jos wanted to shine in all the disciplines of our sport, from Sprint to Barcelona. For this reason he went looking for suitable breeding material that would live up to his demanding treatment. There was especially the need for a supply of ‘fresh blood’ for the Sprint and the Middle Distance. In that framework the purchase of ‘Superman‘ 253/82 (1° Nat Ace pigeon Middle Distance KBDB’86), was without doubt a ‘direct hit’ and lies at the basis of the widely-acclaimed ‘Sumo-line‘, who have several times during the last season sown ‘terror’ in the group of pigeons.
There were also pigeons bought for this reason from the ‘teaching master of the first hour’ Jan Grondelaers, from Gust Christiaens, Pros Roosen and of course the Clerinckx-pigeons… all this for the Middle Distance. For the Grand Distance Jos visited Steenbergen by ‘Van der Wegen‘ and Neer by ‘Gebr Kuijpers‘! Later the ‘Sars‘ via Gebr Herbots (direct son of the ‘National I’ Karel Schellens, winner 1° Nat Bourges) also joined the rich breeding loft.
When Jos looks back over his 18 years as independent pigeon fancier, he considers that he has had 4 real supers for Sprint and Middle Distance. And when Jos Thoné speaks of ‘supers’ he doesn’t only mean ‘supercracks’ as racing pigeons, but also pigeons that have later played a role as breeding pigeon in the expansion of his colony!
Times change and… racing successfully and continuing to race successfully with the pigeons, is also anticipating the reality. For this reason Jos has not only over the years introduced ‘total widowhood’ into his colony, later there was also use made of lighting and darkening… he also slightly copied the ‘succesformula’ of Michel Van Lint, which was also used in the Netherlands… whereby the pigeons are basketed almost every week. Not all pigeons are made for this, or are capable of this… especially when the 500-600 Km races start! Jos discovered that the Grondelaers line especially had difficulty… This was the reason that the input of the ‘Sars’ was so important, it brought extra ‘strength’, so that these pigeons fitted perfectly in the system of ‘racing weekly’! That proves once again that ‘real toppers’ musn’t only anticipate the reality, but that sometimes they are forced to make modifications in the pigeon colony! It is no longer possible to make it with 1 sort of pigeon, you have to have ‘supers’ in all disciplines to count, explains Jos. Every year you have to anticipate ‘per discipline’ what is available in your loft, and try to breed ‘new toppers’ for every branch of the sport. Pigeons are continuously becoming faster in all disciplines, that is why a selection per discipline (Sprint + Middle Distance, Long Distance, Grand Distance) and per racing system is necessary. If Jos discovers that he doesn’t have enough toppers for the Middle Distance, then he has to bring more Sprint into his pigeons… is it the other way round, that there are gaps threatening in the Long Distance team, then he has to breed more ‘Long Distance’ in his pigeons… that’s what the people of ‘Niel bij As’ understand as anticipating the reality in the colony! Being watchful and attentive is the message! Is strengthening necessary, then you have to answer to the market whereby Jos especially has an eye for ‘National winners’, ‘Ace pigeons’, exceptional ‘Front racers’ and ‘1° Prize winners’, or exceptional ‘breeders’ that lie at the basis of a ‘rich family’ of descendants! 
A few examples to illustrate this are the ‘Superman-line‘ from where ‘Sprint’ originates… this lies at the basis of the ‘Sumoline‘… and this ‘Sumoline’ x Long Distance gave excellent Long Distance racers. An excellent example of this is the wonder breeder ‘Emperor 968/98‘ (son of Sumo 042/94 x Eva 023/93) who is father of the 1° Intnat Dax 19.400 p, 2° Intnat Dax 17.000 p, 1° Nat Dax, 6° Nat Saintes agianst approximately 5000 p etc…! Also ‘Sedna I‘ and ‘Sedna II‘ respectievely winner 1° + 2° Intnat Narbonne 5.870 p. in ’05 both have the ‘Sumo’ as grandfather!
The ‘Napoleon-line’ (the ‘Napoleon’ won 1° Prov Reims 6.459 p, 1° Marne 1.514 p… and is Grondelaers blood) for Sprint and Middle Distance, in crossing with the ‘Sars’ gave excellent racing and breeding pigeons for the Grand Middle Distance and Short Long Distance. And for the 400-700 Km races Jos is sitting pretty with this ‘Sumo’ x ‘Sars’-line coupled with each other, while for the last seasons the ‘National II‘ line Turlinckx was imparted here with overwhelming success. Pigeons that offer great possibilities from Sprint to roughly 600 Km.
Where the pure Long Distance is concerned, these lines are still based on the ‘Gouden Grijze, ‘Poco Diego‘ (Poco won 1° Int Barcelona YL ’93 and 1° Nat Barcelona Hens ’95) or the line of the favourite pigeon of Jos Thoné at the time in the lofts of Thomas Peeters, namely ‘Diego Armando Barcelona’! Here the line of ‘Full Try‘ (1° Nat Ace pigeon ‘Grand Distance’ 2004 from Jozef Bracke) was successfully introduced. This big challenge that Jos now faces and what he is working hard at is the development of a special team of ‘Barcelona pigeons’! So as already mentioned, Jos doesn’t run away from a challenge… always thinking that it can be ‘better’ and the highest top has not yet been reached. Pigeon sport is a permanent search with the developing and trying out of new ideas! How beautiful and exciting our pigeon sport can be… because it is not an ‘exact science’, but each and every day… a new challenge!
Composition of the team
In order to realise his objectives, Jos owns 44 breeding couples, being 22 Long Distance couples and 22 Short Middle Distance couples. Although, the first 2 rounds all the cocks are given a Short Middle Distance hen, while starting with the 3rd round the Long Distance cocks are coupled with Long Distance hens. The racing team consists of 16 real Long Distance pigeons (1 loft), 2 lofts for Long Distance and ‘Grand Middle Distance’, and 1 loft with pure Short Middle Distance pigeons, which in total adds up to 64 racing couples (cocks and hens) which are raced in total widowhood.
Let us introduce you to a few of the current toppers
– Molokai 05-5148540 (son of ‘Full Try’, 1° Nat Ace pigeon ‘Grand Distance’), won:
Gien Prov 2.060 d. 1
Narbonne Nat 5.051 d. 98 Intnat 9.326 d. 134
Gien Prov 4.263 d. 16
Vierzon Prov 1.185 d. 19
Orange Prov 849 d. 42
– Temptation 02-5051992 (out son of ‘Poco’: ‘Faldo 839/98’ x ‘Half sister Gerda’ (Gerda won 1° Nat Barcelona ’96): Won 8 x within the ‘Top-100’ National, including
’05 Brive Nat 20.310 p. 51
’06 Barcelona Nat 11.802 p. 63
’05 Marseille Nat 4.398 p. 67
’04 Marseille Nat 5.738 p. 81
’07 Barcelona Nat 12.612 p. 251
’08 Barcelona Nat 11.484 p. 531
– Iruna 05-5148313 won:
1° West-European Ace pigeon ‘Grand Distance’ 08
1° Nat Ace pigeon DBL ’07
1° Nat Ace pigeon Fond LCB ’07
1° Nat Ace pigeon Fond BDS ’07
’07 Irun Hens Int 2.509 p. 2
’07 Irun Nat 5.846 p. 4 Intnat 15.627 p. 10
’08 Montauban Prov 661 p. 4
’07 Montauban Nat 6.187 p. 9
’08 Salbris Prov 4.022 p. 35 Nanteuil 4.871 p. 89
’06 Bordeaux S/Nat 6.223 p. 285
– Deep Impact 06-5150043, comes out ‘son Sars 666/03’ (nest brother 2° Nat Vichy + 1° Prov La Souterraine ’03) x ‘daughter Napoleon 057/00’.
Co-winner National Championship 2006
Won 4 x 1° Prize, 4 x 2° Prize and toppers like
Bourges Nat 26.984 d. 83
La Souterraine Nat 13.965 d. 46
– Avril 03-5071209, inbred to the ‘Superman-lijn’ (Superman x Napoleon x Milton…)
Won no less than 20 x 1° Prize, 6 x 2° Prize, 6 x 3° Prize , 93x Prize… and became ‘Olympiad pigeon Oostend’, next to
1° Nat Ace pigeon LCB ’05-’06-’07
1° Nat Ace pigeon Duivenblad ’07
1° Nat. Ace pigeon BDS ’05-’06-’07
– Gouden Grijs 02-5051102, daughter of ‘Molnar 742/94’ x ‘Chelsea 288/98’ (granddaughter ‘Poco’):
Brive Nat Hens 1.232 p. 1
Nat Zone C 7.467 p. 1
National 19.487 p. 4
– Magna Carta 04-5026068, super hen in the ‘Grand Middle Distance’ with toppers like:
1° Semi-Nat Ace pigeon 2007
7° Olympiad pigeon Fond ’07
1° Ace pigeon GM ‘middle distance’ 2008
’06 Bourges Nat 19.061 p. 28
’07 Chateauroux S/Nat 9.432 p. 44
’05 Chateauroux S/Nat 14.082 p. 61
’05 Montlucon S/Nat 8.410 p. 77
’07 Montlucon Nat 11.933 p. 126
Won 71 prizes in 5 racing seasons without doubles!
– Ovi 06-5051200, super racing hen with:
3° Nat Ace pigeon ‘Grand Middle Distance’ 2007
’08 Gueret Prov 292 d. 1 Nat Zone C 1.162 d. 1 Nat 2.608 d. 2
’07 Gien Prov 1.985 p. 2
’07 Melun 1.149 p. 7
’08 Chateauroux S/Nat 8.216 p. 26
’07 Chateauroux S/Nat 8.218 p. 54
’07 Bourges Nat 16.023 p. 103
’08 Montlucon S/Nat 7.302 p. 126
’07 Argenton Nat 5.927 p. 159 etc…
– Dora Mar 05-5148430, daughter of ‘Bonk 358/01’ (grandson Sumo) x ‘Artificial Jutta 667/03’ welke 1° Prov + 2° Nat Vichy 11.510 d., 2° Prov Chateauroux etc… won (a daughter of ‘Sars’).
‘Dora Mar’ won:
1° Nat. Ace pigeon AVR Middle Distance ’06
1° Prov + 2° Nat Bourges 11.215 d.
Wint in totaal 9 x 1° Prize, 2 x 2° and 17 x ‘Top-10’!
– National Hero 05-5148408, son of ‘National II 211/01, winner 1° Nat Limoges 12.743 p. (Turlinckx) x 2 twice line 1° Int Barcelona via Arnold x Polanova.
Won 11 x 1° Prize, and was 7° Olympiad pigeon in Oostende ’07!
These are just a few examples out of the ‘large group’ of ‘top pigeons’ who are part of the ‘Thoné-racing-team’,but who reflect perfectly the ‘all round’ capacity of the colony… because there are real ‘crackduiven’ in the lofts for all the disciplines!
Conclusion
As suggested in our title, the pigeon happenings in the Jos Thoné Household is a ‘self-made story’ from a ‘self-made man’. a man that wants to ‘shine’ in all the disciplines of our sport, and knows perfectly which pigeons are necessary for this aim, which breeding and racing system he has to use… and can also play to the market, so that any shortcomings, defects or adaptations in both the loft components and/or loft accommodation, as racing method… can be carried out, in order to realise his goal, and that is… to be the ‘best’ from Sprint to the ‘Grand Distance’, say Barcelona! A real challenge, where day in, day out he works hard with an eye for every detail… knowing that it is often the ‘smallest details’ that make the difference at the end of the day between winning (read 1° prizes, and prominent titles of 1° Champion) or a near place of honour! Whoever thinks or thought that ‘toppers’ success just landed in their lap, has got it completely wrong! Jos Thoné is not only the perfect example of this, who via ‘hard labour’ managed to work his way to the absolute top of our pigeon sport and has managed to stay there for years! With this he is not only the ‘prototype-pigeon fancier’ of our modern pigeon sport, but also one of the ‘flag bearers’ and at the same time ‘pioneer’ in promoting our national pigeon sport! Takei t from us, an ‘ambassador’for our ‘Belgium sport pigeon’!
A grasp of the ‘Highlights’ 2008
As we stated earlier, the 2008 sport season was once again a chain of highlights, with virtually a recital of ‘top performances’ and ‘chain results’ every week. To spare you from long lists of results and performances we have made a concise summary wit the absolute highlights from 2008:
1st Prov. Gien, 1st Prov. Melun, 1st Prov. Gueret, 1st Prov. Chateauroux
1st Semi-Nationaal Chateauroux 2.186 p.
2,16,17,.. Nationaal Gueret 2.608 p.
4e Nationaal La Souterraine 4.659 p.
6e, 15, 18, …. Nationaal Cahors 5.425 p.
15e Nationaal Souillac 7.312 p.
39e Internationaal Tarbes 12.537 p.
1, 4, 5, …. Prov. Gien 1877 p.38 x first prize from 100 km to 1000 km.
