Mike Horner

To contact us:

Phone UK : 01275 836477

Phone outside UK : 00 44 1275 836477

Or sign the guest book leaving your email address and we will get back to you

When I decided to start keeping The West of England Tumbler again back in 1995. I became very much aware of the name Mike Horner. His name kept appearing on a lot of the winning certificates, so I decided to pay him a visit. He lives in Alton Hampshire with his charming wife Teresa and three boys (Tom 12, Christopher 10 and George 7 years old). I was made to feel more than welcome then and on the number of occasions that I have visited since. He pulled out all the stops for me and I will always be grateful for his help and generosity when I first started putting my stud together. His boys although very interested in the birds are also football mad, like any boy of their age and Mike has to share himself around with his boys interests as well as his own and that is why he is not always available to go to all of the shows. Christopher his middle son is the most active as far as pigeons go, keeping his own team of pigeons, which are West’s and Tipplers in his own 8’ x 6’ loft. Mikes wife Teresa gives him all the encouragement and support and can often be seen at the shows with him. Mike is self-employed and is a bricklayer/builder and his interest include watching football and boxing which is lucky when you have three boys that are football crazy. He is very involved as Press Officer with The Reading Fancy Pigeon Club and gives them as much support as he is able including writing the reports which can often be seen in the Feathered World.

A. We moved to the small market town of Alton in the Hampshire countryside in 1993. I was actually brought up and spent my childhood in Guildford, Surrey as was my wife Teresa. We married in 1985 and moved to our first home, a little small terraced house in Bordon, Hampshire before moving to our present home in Alton.

A. I have kept pigeons for 32 years. I had my first pigeons in 1967 at the age of 6 years old and have never been without pigeons since. I come from a real pigeon family, my Father kept a large stud of racing birds and later show racers. His Father, my Grandfather was also a racing pigeon fancier, specialising in the long distance channel and national racing. On my Mothers side, her Father, my other Grandfather kept exhibition pigeons in partnership with his youngest son, some of the more senior readers may well remember them, Len and Keith Farley, from Guildford, and they had a top class team of Archangels and also a few Nuns. Lens other son Roy, my eldest Uncle kept West’s for showing and flying in Red and Black Balds and from this beginning my love for the West tumbler developed. As can be seen pigeons formed a large part of my childhood and they were wherever I went as a child.

A. My first pair of pigeons I kept as a six-year-old boy was a pair of bronze tri Gazzi Modenas that came from my Grandmothers brother. Mr Fred Luck from Guildford, another family member with pigeons. My father bought me two pairs of show racers in 1969, which I kept breed and showed for many years up until I got married in 1985. My love for the Show Racer has remained and I started up in them again in 1995 after moving to a larger house and garden with room for another loft to house them. I had my first West’s in 1979, which were a pair of spangles from Ron Tucker from North Devon. Ron later sent me six more West’s as babies the following year and from these my present day family of West’s has evolved. My first exhibition Tipplers came in 1982 from Freddie Squires also from North Devon.

A. As mentioned earlier my very first birds were a pair of Modenas. For most of my childhood years it was the show racers and later in the late seventies and early eighties my love for the West Tumblers and Tipplers took over. I have also over the years kept and shown LFCL Tumblers, Archangels and a few Fantails.

A. At the present time I have three different breeds which consist of 10 pairs of West’s in Red, Yellow, Blue and Silver balds. Seven pairs of Exhibition Tipplers in Black, Dun, Self, Silver and Grizzle. Also 10 pairs of show racers in Red, Mealy, Dark Chequered and Blue barred.

A. In each of my three small studs I am looking for show quality. Powerful types in the cock birds and sweet looking hens. I also take into consideration the handling qualities of my birds, preferring a fairly large well bodied pigeon. The feathering as in all flying breeds should be of good quality, wide and well shaped. When breeding from my birds I always pair best to best and always breed for show quality rather than colour. I usually breed from what I consider to be my top four or five pairs of birds from each breed using the remaining pairs as feeders thus breeding a larger number of birds from my top pairs.

A. I have two main lofts at the present time. One loft I use for my stud of West's and Tipplers which is 18’ long by 8’ wide divided into two 9’ x 8’ compartments for cocks and hens and in the breeding season for breeding pairs and youngsters. My other loft is 12’ x 8’ divided into two 8’ x 6’ compartments for my team of show racers. I also have a converted 8’ x 6’ garden shed which is used as a spare loft to house some of my old stock birds or the birds I do not consider good enough at that time to get into my show team.

A. My main aim in this wonderful hobby of ours is to be able to carry on visiting as many shows as possible in the future, meeting as many of my friends in the fancy as possible. I always try and help and encourage as many new fanciers to the sport as I can, helping them with birds and advise, and I get a real kick from seeing newcomers do well at the shows. With regards to my own birds I always try and put down my show teams in the best possible show condition, the cleanest I can after a continuous cycle of show preparation so when they win at the shows all the hard work has been well worth while.

A. When a newcomer has decided to go into the flying breeds I would always advise him or her to visit as many of the flying breed classic shows as possible. Take note of the type of show bird, which is winning the shows, also take particular notice of the show condition of the winning birds, which is so necessary to win at the flying breed shows. Find out the leading fanciers at the shows and introduce yourself to them and ask as many questions as you can on the hobby and their own methods of management. Any true fancier will be only to pleased to offer help to the beginner. I would also advise the beginner to pick just a couple of leading fanciers from which he would like to make a start and visit these fanciers with the aim to purchase as good a quality birds as possible from their studs. When it comes to your first breeding season pair up your birds best to best, breed for quality not colour to begin with and breed as many youngsters as you can from your top pairs and after the breeding season cut the numbers right down to just the very best to be retained for the show season. For show condition, never overcrowd your loft with pigeons and have as many spare perches as possible, an empty perch is often more valuable than the bird sitting on it. Keep your loft very clean, clean out every day if possible, bath the birds once a week at least and feed the best quality corn you can afford, with regular grit and minerals and once a week feed a small amount of show condition. If you follow the main common sense guidelines you will not go far wrong. Try and form your own family of birds, it will take at least five years to create the basis of a true family line but once a true family has been created it will be much easier to breed good quality show stock reminiscent of their parents and grandparents rather than a hit and miss affair of trying to breed the odd good one from pigeons which have been obtained from various different lofts and fanciers.

Q. What are your personal views on the fancy in general, show birds, fanciers etc.?

A. I feel that the flying breed fancy in a fairly strong position at the present time. Most shows are well supported with entries from the flying breed fancy. The quality of the show birds are very good with a larger number of good flying breed fanciers each with a strong team of birds, quality wise, thus making it harder to win at the shows, which is good for the fancy. I am very pleased to see the Flying Breed Federation taking off with new ideas and administration due to the great efforts of Ian Johnson and yourself. I feel it is very good to have The Federation as the governing body of the flying breed fancy and I really wish all the people involved the very best of luck and I hope they get all the support and backing from its members.

Once again I think you will all agree some very honest and frank answers from Mike and I thought some very useful tips from someone with so much experience for the beginner. This is now the second report that I have put together and there are plenty more in the pipe line but if think that there is any way that these reports can be improved or made more interesting please feel free to phone or write to me. Yours in sport. Dave Walters