Erik and his close friend Geert De Clercq
A key role for Jef De Ridder
The pigeons of Jef De Ridder are undeniably at the basis of the Limbourg pigeon family. Several years ago Erik paid a visit to the late Jef De Ridder from St.Ulriks-Kapelle to ask for reinforcements. This proved quite beneficial for the wonderboy from Brussegem, who managed to win his first international top results thanks to this bloodline. It goes without saying that Erik has an eye for talent and his attention was drawn to the pigeon breeds of De Rauw-Salbon and Marcel Aelbrecht (Lebbeke) in the early 1990s, long before they became internationally renowned lofts. These breeds were also based on the old De Ridder line. Pigeons were being exchanged between Lebbeke and Brussegem on a regular basis, which you can tell from the line of Smallen: the dam of Smallen is related to Blauwe Erik BE92-2237069, from the line of the 1st Nat. La Souterraine 1983.
Great racing and breeding champions such as Blue Ace, Lucky 848 and 970/96 were then bred from the line of Smallen. Limbourg soon realised that these lines were complementary to his existing family so he decided to purchase the best pigeons from Lebbeke: De Crack, Tam Witkopje (1st Nat. La Souterraine 1997), 1st Nat. Perpignan, top class breeding hen Dochter Marseille 348/02, an entire round of De Rauw-Salbon in 2003 and many others were successfully transferred to Erik Limbourg’s loft, where they developed into great champions. The same applies to his latest purchase, Remy BE07-2060539, which he obtained from Remy Speltdoorn. This pigeon won the title of best long distance of Belgium 2013 with a 4th Nat. Montélimar, a 17th Nat. Orange and a 28th Nat. Marseille. Remy originates from the old bloodline of De Ridder! Click here for the pedigree of Remy.
Remy – be07-2060539
Some of the champions of today’s Limbourg breed
BE11-2014215 Crazy Boy
1st Nat Zone Souillac 1,459 p 703km ‘13 2nd Nat Souillac 5,282 p 703km ‘13 10th Nat Bordeaux 5,480 p 800km ‘12 12th Internat. Bordeaux 10,622 p 800km ‘12 10th Nat Zone Châteauroux 5,997 p 496km ‘12
Crazy Boy – be11-2014215
Sire: BE09-2119370 De Libourne, winner of a 1st Nat. Z Libourne 2,212 p. over 750km ‘10. He is a grandson of Marseille x Fijn Blauw and a grandson of Tam Witkopje, 1st Nat. La Souterraine ‘97 for Marcel Aelbrecht.
Dam: BE09-2119403 Granddaughter Lucky 77, 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB Long Distance 2005. The 403/09 is a sister of Axelle Red, 15th Nat. Argenton 23,904 p., 201st Nat. La Souterraine etc. and best young hen 2009 in the loft of Limbourg. Click here for the pedigree of Crazy Boy.
Crazy Boy won no less than three national top 10 prizes in two seasons and his result from Souillac 2013 was particularly impressive. He won a 2nd national prize all on his own with a strong headwind and he took the provincial first prize with a 35 minute advantage over the second pigeon, which was, in fact, a loft mate.
BE12-2002492 New Ace
3rd PIPA Ranking best one year old pigeon in the Belgian long distance races 2013 1st Nat Z Tulle 2,376 p ’13 628km 1st Prov Tulle 694 p ’13 628km 2nd Nat Tulle 6,972 p ’13 628km (2nd fastest of 14.322 p) 5th Prov Souillac 265 p ’13 703km (behind 3 loft mates) 7th Nat Z Souillac 1,081 p ’13 703km
New Ace – be12-2002492-2
Sire: BE09-2214881 Grandson Lucky 77, 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB Long Distance 2005.
Dam: BE09-2119372 Queen Blue Ace, a daughter of Blue Ace, 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB Long Distance 2007. Queen Blue Ace is the dam of Ballonneke, 1st PIPA ranking long distance 2012, 5 x Top 100 Nat. Z over five long distance races in 2012. Click here for the pedigree of New Ace.
New Ace originates from the Blue Ace family. Descendants of Blue Ace BE03-4290095 have won an impressive six national victories or national victories in the zone in four different lofts, as well as many ace pigeon titles. Click here for the impressive list of achievements of the descendants of Blue Ace.
BE10-2135076 Ballonneke
1st PIPA ranking long distance 2012 - Best Belgian long distance racer 14th Nat Z Souillac 2,447 p 703km ‘12 19th Nat Z Limoges 3,986 p 610km ‘12 34th Nat Z Tulle 2,033 p 628km ‘12 77th Nat Z Montauban 1,950 p 800km ‘12 99th Nat Z Brive 3,271 p 677km ‘12
Ballonneke – be10-2135076
Sire: BE09-2026906 Favoriet Marseille x Grandmother Gilbert
Dam: BE09-2119372 Queen Blue Ace, a daughter of Blue Ace, 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB Long Distance 2007. Queen Blue Ace is the dam of Ballonneke, 1st PIPA ranking long distance 2012, 5 x Top 100 Nat. Z over 5 long distance races in 2012. Click here for the pedigree of Ballonneke.
Geert and Erik, nest brothers from inbred Eagle Eye
Geert BE11-2014239 and Erik BE11-2014239 are two nest brothers that perform really well. They have both finished in the top five in an (inter)national race: Geert won a 5th Nat. Limoges 14,271 p. 2013 and a 42nd Internat. Bordeaux 10,622 p. 2012; Erik won a 3rd Internat. Bordeaux 10,622 p. 2012. They were both bred from an outstanding breeding pair: New Eagle Eye BE09-2214886, a son of Eagle Eye x Dochter Favoriet Marseille BE09-2230746. Click here for the pedigree of Geert.
New Eagle Eye – belg.09-2214886
belg.09-2230746
The achievements of the Eagle Eye pigeon breed are quite impressive, both in Erik’s loft and in other fanciers’ lofts. Descendants of Eagle Eye have won, for instance, the following prizes:
5th Nat Ace Pigeon KBDB Long Distance 2011 with BE09-2119275 Eagle Ace 5th Nat Ace Pigeon KBDB Longer Middle Distance 2013 with BE12-4253807 for Willy Den Haese 1st Nat Z Souillac 1,081 p. 703km 2013 with BE12-2002438 1st Nat Z Limoges 3,986 p. 664km 2012 with BE10-4014073 for Marc De Cock 1st Nat Z La Souterraine 448 p. 550km 2013 with BE11-4175001 for Roeland-Mille
Click here for further references of the Eagle Eye descendants.
The Gilbert bloodline
Gilbert is the international winner of Bordeaux 2010 against 6,686 pigeons, as well as the fastest of 13,386 pigeons with a 15 minute lead. Also, he won an 8th nat. Limoges 14,211 p. 2010, an 8th S-Nat. Libourne 1,815 p. 2010, a 16th Nat. Z Limoges 5,896 p. 2011, a 60th I-Prov. Angerville 3,078 p. 2010, an 85th S-Nat. Châteauroux I 5,077 p. 2010 and a 95th S-Nat. Châteauroux II 4,056 p. 2010. His son, Gilbert Junior, won an international first prize from Agen/Bordeaux against 10,622 pigeons two years later, which is quite exceptional! And there is more: a daughter of Gilbert, Miss Blois BE13-2022049, won a 1st I-provincial Blois 1,146 young birds in 2013. Gilbert is related to nothing but great pigeons: Lucky 85 (1st Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB Long Distance 2006), Bourgeske (2 x 1st Prov. Bourges and half sister Lucky 85), Iron Lady (10 first prizes), Albert x Paola (original De Rauw-Sablon) and Daughter Marseille x Fijn Blauw 348/02 Orig. M. Aelbrecht. Click here for the pedigree of Gilbert.
The Gilbert
Gilbert Junior
BE05-3177156 De Zitter
Zitter is a direct A&R De Saer pigeon. He is winner of a 1st Prov. Ace Pigeon long distance 2006 and he developed into an outstanding breeding pigeon in the loft of Limbourg. He was paired to a daughter of Lucky 848, with which he bred Lucky De Saer BE11-2014222. Lucky De Saer is winner of:
1st PIPA Ranking best one year old pigeon in the Belgian national long distance races 2012 21st Nat. Bordeaux 5,480 p 800km 2012 34th Internat. Bordeaux 10,622 p 800km 2012 45th Nat. Z Tulle 3,448 p 628km 2012 46th Prov. Vierzon 932 p 440km 2012 47th Nat. Z Bourges 7,285 p 449km 2012 58th Nat. Z Limoges 6,052 p 644km 2012
Sire: BE05-3177156 De Zitter, a direct A&R De Saer, a 100% Gaby Vandenabeele from the lines of De Stier, Kleinen, Ilse etc.
Dam: BE09-2230750 Daughter Lucky 848, a great breeder of De Rauw-Sablon and a granddaughter of Slimmen, which is an equally talented breeding bird. Click here for the pedigree of Lucky De Saer.
This fancier has bred an incredible number of top quality pigeons that have been successful in other lofts as well. Erik is indeed the Wonderboy from Brussegem. He has quite a collection of pigeons!