THE THREE AMIGOS HIT THE TOP
A LOFT REPORT ON THE TREALAW PARTNERSHIP
OF
NORMAN AND JASON BRIGHT.
The title of this article refers to the long standing partnership of the “two amigos” Norman and son Jason Bright ably assisted by the third “amigo”, 74 year old Evan Howells. The now 83 years old Norman and son Jason have flown in partnership since Jason was a teenager and have enjoyed their fair share of success over the years. I remember featuring the loft in an article I wrote on the partners some 30 years ago that was published in the Racing Pigeon Gazette. At that time they had a highly successful team of Janssen Van Den Bosche that was winning out of turn in the Tonypandy club and Welsh North Road Fed which in those days boasted more than 1,500 competing lofts.
The above successes were achieved when racing a small team of 8 widowhood cocks and 18 youngsters to a 10ft x 8ft double decker loft in the garden of the family home.
In recent years the birds have been moved to a different site, just a stone’s throw from the old loft, to a loft vacated by Evan Howells when Evan retired from the sport. At this point I should make it clear that Evan, Norman and Jason’s next door neighbour, was himself a highly successful fancier and he now helps out with the birds when Jason is at work. Jason’s job entails long hours away from the birds sometimes on 12 hour shifts seven days a week. So as you can imagine, Evan’s help and experience have proved invaluable in the continuing success of the loft.
So to the present and a recent visit I made to the partners following their outstanding results over the past few seasons but more particularly their superb 2015 season where they won 12 x 1sts;9 x 2nds;8 x 3rds; 9 x 4ths & 10 x 5ths at club level , topped the section of the Welsh South Road Fed and also topped the section of the Welsh South Road National Flying Club. The Bright team were consistent from first race to last with young birds and also through to 300 miles with the old birds.
The present loft is one to which Evan Howells raced his pigeons with excellent results. In the three seasons that Jason has taken over possession, many alterations have been made to the structure to allow the birds to be raced on widowhood[ both cocks and hens] and the young bird team on the darkness system. The loft measures some 22ft x 8ft and has four sections. Two of these house the young bird team and the others the widowhood cocks and hens. There is also an aviary at one end which allows the birds to bathe during the winter months. A small stock loft with aviary and comfortable look out shed complete the set up.
The floors of all sections have wooden grids fitted and these are underlayed with newspaper and cardboard sheets which are removed and replaced at regular intervals so there is no build up of droppings.
Everything within the loft is spick and span and the birds’ every needs are catered for.
The race team amounts to 25 widowhood cocks supplemented by a 70 strong young bird team plus a few “spare hens” which are kept in with the young birds. Twelve pairs of stock birds are housed and many of these originate from the Premier Stud and are of Koopman bloodlines augmented by birds exchanged with Martin Jarman, Colin McCarthy and Richard Stokes.
The usual practice is to mate the birds around Christmas time when Jason has a long period off work. All birds are then mated at the same time and once the widowhood cocks have reared their first round they start their preparation for the coming season, beginning with once weekly exercise building up to twice daily exercise once the days get longer. During their twice daily exercise Jason might resort to flagging the birds but he is hampered by the close proximity of neighbouring houses so can’t really push the birds too hard or they start to land on the houses. The cocks get a few trainers out to 25 – 30 miles before racing begins and thereafter the training baskets are put into mothballs until young bird training begins.
The young bird team, which is raced on the darkness system, undergoes a comprehensive training programme with as many as 40 trainers before being entered in their first race. They are trained regularly throughout the season with some of the more consistent young cocks being put to one side at various stages in the young bird race programme. The young hens on the other hand, are raced throughout if in good health and feather.
Gem mixtures and products are favoured, with the stock birds having a hopper of food available to them at all times. The widowers however are fed individually in their boxes and the young birds fed communally by hand twice daily. Jason likes to use multivitamins on a regular basis and his product of choice in this respect is Vita Pro Combo which incorporates vitamins along with probiotics.
At the time of my recent visit the birds were coming through an excellent moult. I handled a number of the top racers and stock birds and they were not surprisingly, of a very high quality which bodes well for the future success of the loft.
Congratulations Norman, Jason and Evan on your excellent results you certainly deserve them.
Gareth Watkins
A LOFT REPORT ON THE TREALAW PARTNERSHIP
OF
NORMAN AND JASON BRIGHT.
The title of this article refers to the long standing partnership of the “two amigos” Norman and son Jason Bright ably assisted by the third “amigo”, 74 year old Evan Howells. The now 83 years old Norman and son Jason have flown in partnership since Jason was a teenager and have enjoyed their fair share of success over the years. I remember featuring the loft in an article I wrote on the partners some 30 years ago that was published in the Racing Pigeon Gazette. At that time they had a highly successful team of Janssen Van Den Bosche that was winning out of turn in the Tonypandy club and Welsh North Road Fed which in those days boasted more than 1,500 competing lofts.
The above successes were achieved when racing a small team of 8 widowhood cocks and 18 youngsters to a 10ft x 8ft double decker loft in the garden of the family home.
In recent years the birds have been moved to a different site, just a stone’s throw from the old loft, to a loft vacated by Evan Howells when Evan retired from the sport. At this point I should make it clear that Evan, Norman and Jason’s next door neighbour, was himself a highly successful fancier and he now helps out with the birds when Jason is at work. Jason’s job entails long hours away from the birds sometimes on 12 hour shifts seven days a week. So as you can imagine, Evan’s help and experience have proved invaluable in the continuing success of the loft.
So to the present and a recent visit I made to the partners following their outstanding results over the past few seasons but more particularly their superb 2015 season where they won 12 x 1sts;9 x 2nds;8 x 3rds; 9 x 4ths & 10 x 5ths at club level , topped the section of the Welsh South Road Fed and also topped the section of the Welsh South Road National Flying Club. The Bright team were consistent from first race to last with young birds and also through to 300 miles with the old birds.
The present loft is one to which Evan Howells raced his pigeons with excellent results. In the three seasons that Jason has taken over possession, many alterations have been made to the structure to allow the birds to be raced on widowhood[ both cocks and hens] and the young bird team on the darkness system. The loft measures some 22ft x 8ft and has four sections. Two of these house the young bird team and the others the widowhood cocks and hens. There is also an aviary at one end which allows the birds to bathe during the winter months. A small stock loft with aviary and comfortable look out shed complete the set up.
The floors of all sections have wooden grids fitted and these are underlayed with newspaper and cardboard sheets which are removed and replaced at regular intervals so there is no build up of droppings.
Everything within the loft is spick and span and the birds’ every needs are catered for.
The race team amounts to 25 widowhood cocks supplemented by a 70 strong young bird team plus a few “spare hens” which are kept in with the young birds. Twelve pairs of stock birds are housed and many of these originate from the Premier Stud and are of Koopman bloodlines augmented by birds exchanged with Martin Jarman, Colin McCarthy and Richard Stokes.
The usual practice is to mate the birds around Christmas time when Jason has a long period off work. All birds are then mated at the same time and once the widowhood cocks have reared their first round they start their preparation for the coming season, beginning with once weekly exercise building up to twice daily exercise once the days get longer. During their twice daily exercise Jason might resort to flagging the birds but he is hampered by the close proximity of neighbouring houses so can’t really push the birds too hard or they start to land on the houses. The cocks get a few trainers out to 25 – 30 miles before racing begins and thereafter the training baskets are put into mothballs until young bird training begins.
The young bird team, which is raced on the darkness system, undergoes a comprehensive training programme with as many as 40 trainers before being entered in their first race. They are trained regularly throughout the season with some of the more consistent young cocks being put to one side at various stages in the young bird race programme. The young hens on the other hand, are raced throughout if in good health and feather.
Gem mixtures and products are favoured, with the stock birds having a hopper of food available to them at all times. The widowers however are fed individually in their boxes and the young birds fed communally by hand twice daily. Jason likes to use multivitamins on a regular basis and his product of choice in this respect is Vita Pro Combo which incorporates vitamins along with probiotics.
At the time of my recent visit the birds were coming through an excellent moult. I handled a number of the top racers and stock birds and they were not surprisingly, of a very high quality which bodes well for the future success of the loft.
Congratulations Norman, Jason and Evan on your excellent results you certainly deserve them.
Gareth Watkins