EYEsIGN AN AMERICAN VIEW - Hamilton Racing Pigeons

E Y E s I G N AN AMERICANVIEW
by Bob KinneY
Bo= Kioney is owner of Silverado
Ra:;nq Lofts in America, a.
na: oiallv known lolt and familY of
bir:3 that has won National awards
as 'ollo s: Thrce times vanous
Pr::idential CuP Awards which is
th: hiqhest loft award given bY the
Ar er-rcan Racing Pigeon Union
,vi:n.all lofts in America permitted
to aomset? and runner-uP A U Hall
of Fame (National Bird Award). Bob
Kirney is publisher of The
Tl- rroughbred magazne, th?-laryest
ar i reoatded as the besl u)
oc=licition because of its articles
'or
methods of to7 fanciers world'",,,Ce.He is also verv acttve on a
Redonal and National basis in the
pa .ltical, promotional and charitY
v,,ark of the Sport.
the eve. lf you don't know what
vou are doing or only think you
know what you are doing, selecting
by eye alone will get you a loft full
ol misfits with good eyesign.
What Bill and HenrYdon't have in
common with me is that they are
full of talk and l'm not. TheY both
want to be eYesignor selection
exDerts and work at it as a Parttime business.TheYcan do that
becausethey are good! However,
you've got to give a show when
i t ' s a b u s i n e s sl,d o n ' t w a n t t o b e
an exDert,or a selector,or give a
show.
Anvbodv that knows them can
confirm they both have more talk
The Experts
I have only met two experts that I
think mav be worth a damn. The
two qood ones are Bill CarneY of
Engltnd and Henry Sodewater in
the States. TheV have something in
common with me. TheY select bY
the whole bird with an emPhasis
on the eye. That is verY important.
I will repeat it. TheY select bY the
w h o l e b i r d w i t h a n e m p h a s l so n
After a certain point, a certaln
amount of eyesign, enough eyeslgn
- then the heart and the head oi
the Diqeon takes over. What made
Joe Nimoth, Walter Payton or
other American football superstars
better than the other quarterbacks
or runninqbacks. TheV all
oor""ssei a certain level of the
heeded physical ingredients. A
select few have a little more in the
head. in the heart, that allows
them to utilize their equal physical
Circle o{ Co..elation
t :3ve not done eyesign in a long
tir 9 and quit doing seminars on rt
a :ouple of years ago because too
m:ny beginners 'IJereusing eyeslgn
r s r h e o n l y t o o l i n s e l e c t i o n -L e t
rF: qive vou mv credentials to
s c : i k o n t h e s u b i e c t .I h a v e n o n e !
Er:ept that lhave studied it for
o'.er 20 vears. ManY toP lanclers
h:ve seen me select birds ior
b r : e d i n q 3 b i l i t Y .l t i s m o s t l y l u c k
bu: l //ould not adviseYou to let
m3 taRe my choice of Your loft.
I've done local and National
eyesign presentations, written more
anicles in some form than most
t h e e x p e r t s .l ' v e s t u d i e d t h e
n:erhods or knowledge of most of
t h a s e e x p e r t s u s u a l l Yi n
c o l l a b o r a t i o n .T h e r e a r e a t e w
p e o p l ea r o u n dt h a t d o s o m e .
ietecting that I have taught l will
take rhis subiect Phases In noplng
to cover ali aspects which probably
!r'on't happen' lwill tell You
e v e r y t h i n gl k n o w a n d s o m e t h i n g s
I suspect. What I know comes
from lvorking experience, not
scientific fact, what I susPect
comes from observation. but not
enough to move it to the'know'
cate9ory.
the speed they fly like Bill CarneY
can, I can detect form in race
season by eye - but lcan bY other
methods as well. I will tell You why
I can't select racers - | mean
chamDions - not homers-
No 2
Inner eve muscle No 1
Entire lris
lris No 3
No 4
Pile
Outside Circle
No 5
Eeak
arca you wi find the
Ihfs is onlv herc to show You your base eYe and apprcximate
shown
not
but
numbered
ae
which
va ous circles
than a ranqe full of long hornbulls
- and so do theY. Would I have
t h e m g o t h r o u g h m Y . b i r d s ?I n a
second! | have had Henry 90
throuqh mv loft because he is
close.-l would have Bill but he
would be so dazzledwhen he got
b a c k t o E n g l a n d ,h e ' d b e c u l l i n g
birds tasteithan they can breed ! I
value competent secono oplnlons' I
can miss sdmething. and..that.is
whv l'm no expert. lreallse that
a n d t h a t i s \ , v h yI d o n ' t w a n t t o b e
an expen.
Racers
Do lthink You can select racers? I
can't. lcan select potential racers.
lcan even tell You what distance
they should excel at. I can't tell you
structure beyond that of their
Deers.
A very famous fancier one time Put
slides up on the wall and had me
identify the qualities I saw.
B r e e d i n gr,a c i n g ,d i s t a n c ee t c , l g o t
ine. pEtty well without a bird in
hand 6ut knowing what Potentialis
there does not tell You what the
realitv will be- In case You doubt
that storv it was Armand Zazueta
that grilled me that way.
Breeding
Here is the value.How verY
valuable-Let me put it like this' In i
hen, it is the single critical tool you
can employ but You had better
know about the whole eye' not,usl
t3
d o b u t l a l l a t s o m e P o i n 1 .l w a n t t o
help, but you have to co-oPerate.
The Whole Eye
First thing you have got to do is to
own an eyeglass and learn to hold
it in vour eve and focus it properly'
Use natural sunlight i{ possible.
otherwise a 10O watt bulb will do
but not as well. The evebox, I
No1
or the circle of
inner eve..'nuscle
c o r r e l a t i o na, l l o f w h i c h I w i l l s h o w
later. ln a cock. it is a slightlY
dif{erent matter. 997o o{ the time
- no 90% of the time. it is a
v a t u a b l et o o l . l s u s p e c t a c o c k
carriesa totally hidden genetic
Dackaqe.90% of the time. You can
see *-hat and whY he is the great
breeder.However,any exceptionto
eyesignthat lhave ever seen, that
is a great breeder - Proven
breederof 1st place wlnners
has
eyesign
poor
or average
with
been a cock! Never a henl
So in a hen you see what You may
get. In a cock, most of the time
5ut if he is provenor the result of
Drovenoarenis,vou better give him
b t r v . J u s t h o w s t r o n gd o l t h i n k
the hen is? | believei{ the hen is
o o o d e n o u q hi t w i l l P a s si t o n t o
iome of thi children,almost
reqardlessof the cock. I suspect
hauea tendency when they
"o?ksa suPerstrong breedingeye to
have
oroduce breeders.I also think they
c a n b e b r e dd o v r ni f t h e { a n c i e ri s
smart enough,and You will get
some racersand mayoe a
c h a m o i o n I. s u s p e c tt h e c h a m p i o n
will ciosely resemblethe hen but
be carrying some of the suPel
quality of the cock.
Caution
D i a o r a m sw i t h e x P l a n a t i o ni sn
sorie detail will follow Pieaselearn
about muscle structure and texture,
the winq in relationshipto the
body, bouyancYor balance Learnto
use a svstem to race and {eed. To
observethe birds. To make friends
\,viththem. Learnto be a handleroi
racino stock and don't use any one
theor-y,which is what it is without
scientific documefltation,as Your
qolden ladderto success' You will
iind the rungs on the ladder
missing below You when You get
hal{-wav up, so there ts notnlng ro
#
30O miles, then 35O miles, then
600 miles. lf they home on thelr
own from any of these Pointsthey
are able to home to the next cutoff point. tn other words il a bird is
sinole-tossedat 50 miles, he will
stili be there {assumingno smash
or disaster)at 20O miles. A bitd
that wins 3OOmay be lost at 35O
or 36O as that is the next cut-off.
A bird that returns decently at ovet
3 5 0 m i l e sw i l l g o t h r o u g h5 O Oi n
i l ier d s
o o o d s 1 e a dF
. i v e - h u n d r e d - mb
irav be last at 600 - they may
not but it is also a cut-off. All this
is in correlationto the annereYe
m u s c l e- p l u s i t h a s t o h a v e .
p r o p e rm u s c l ew i n g e t c , b u t t n r s
ir"t mote affect on racing potentiel
Homing and racing are distinctly
difJerent!
No2
think. is a seriousrisk to the bird's
e v e a n d l d o n ' t u s e t h e m e x c e p to n
a rare occasionand then with great
cautron.
Practicelookingtor every delail in
the eve. Look at the blood vessels,
the different colours.Soon you will
see on most birds about the same
eve make uP in design.Most will
havethree or mavbe four circles.
When vou look into the Pupil,
which is the black hole in the
centre.i{ vou come back looking 1o
t h e o u t s i d ee d g e so l t h e P U P ibl .u t
still in the black hole, eventuallY
you will spot ttle inner eye muscle'
This is the first circle.most of the
experts put great emphasison it. I
did also and still do to some extenl
b u t n o t n e a r l va s m u c h a s l u s e d
t o a s l o n q a s t h e r e i s e n o u g h !T h i s
I know: The heavierand wider etc,
it is - is a direct correlationto the
homing ability to the bird' Note: I
said homing abillty,not.racrng
ability! No matter the shape or
design which will change over lne
vears as the bird matures,lr lr ls
ihere. it is an indicationyour birds
c a n h o m e a n d c a n b r e e dh o m e r s '
B i o i n n e re v e m u s c l eg e n e r a l l y
indicatesthe abilitYto home long
distanceas well as short' Narrow
inner eye muscle indicates-the
uUifitu-io home short or middle but
not likelv long.
There are distinct cut offs on
nomino abilitv.The first is at 50
m i l e s i.h e n i O O o t 2 2 5 m i l e s ,t h e n
No3
Now let's look lor the twitch
before we go to the next-clrcle
are
There are t!,vo twitches. botn .'vhc
movements o{ the iris - the
iris. One is a twitch. The other is
p'i
more a rotation. Take your llst.
it in {ront of vou. knuckles up N'-'
tilt vour {ist forward. lt will go or
i
so far. This is the same moveme:
a
I
n
s
e
e
vou will occasionaliv
i u p e r i o r p i g e o n . T h e r w i t c h i s .a l s?
a n e x c e l l e n ts i g n o f a s p e c l a l D r r c
Next before the rest o{ the^circl€-=
look al the blood vessels some
call them the worms. See ii ther€
ii" unv *otms coming uP to th€
o u D i li n t h e c e n t r e o f t h e e y e '
Frdquently when You see thrs arr'j
vou have rhe twitch, you have z
winner in Your hands. lt could or'
be one "worm" or it might be a
couple or there.Thele seems Io t-'
s i o n i f i c a n c et o t h e i r p l a c e m e n t z : '
bu"t I am not Posilive hov-' much'
Bottom side toward the front if I
recall is a good indicator'
Next look for a spot that doesn't
seem to belong to where il is at'
Yit;{*r:,;*:it;i:{ttfir-i*!,:*!X{*:ril*t"'i
not Dracticed at this, look at them
with a glass. In the batch will be
one with a deeoer cut-in circle o{
correlation. Write down the
number. lf luck is with it, it will be
your best young bird racer.
The third circle is your base iris. lt
tells vou if the bird is a yellow,
Dearl etc. The fourth circle is the
:oo
; usuallv black, beYondthe circle
,{ correlation,in the iris and
owards the beak. You won't often
,ee it. And vou thought this was
,asv No wonder those selectors
'haige so much! And we aren't to
he meat vet.
Jutside the PuPilshould be a black
rrangy circle.lf it's there,-it is the
;eio"nb circte and is the circle o{
:orrelation.A couple of things to
ook for here.See how deep lt rs
iet into the eYe.You have-to-look
rt some variousbirds to distinguish
ihu di{fer"nce.DeePones look like
thev are cut with a back hoe into
rhe iris. Now look and see i{ it sets
close to the Pupil on the front
(beak)side and is wider and further
i*rv t-m the PuPilon the top and
bacliside.lf vou have both these
qualitiesor either one for tha.t
i,attet You have a suPeriorbird.
most Ii(ely. I will give You a tip I
we
.l^n'r
Vou wean
often share When you
don't ofien
babies,a bstch of them if You are
The number one thing I want and it
is rare, is 10 have all five circles.
Then I look for details How good
are thev each as individual circles?
What c'olour and richness do I
have? How does the whole eYe fit
tooether? ls the circle of correlation
bulging on the top back side ot the
ouplt?ls the pupil dilation good?
'Give
me a bird with the qualitiesas
described in the eve. Plus good
warm, pliablebut not soft muscle
and a short steP in the first wing
ioint next to the body and we have
a supeTpigeon.
I hoDethis is of help and interest. I
out in 999o of what I know or
susDect.The 196not in here,is
how to sex bv the iris shape.The
"oild'. This is the build uP of blood
vessels. The fitth circle is the
Carney Circle. Where the pile drops
off can be all the way on the
outside edge of the iris, or it can
be beforeYou get to the oulsloe
edge. lf th6 fitt-h circle exists, the
No6
oile will drop oft before You get to
ihe outside edge ot the iris. ln
suDerbirds. it will look like it
comes back into the iris. This is mY
final indicationoJ the breeding
ability of the bird. Basicallythe
wider this circle, the better.
reason is, "that when lwas taught
it bv Bill Carneyit was obvrous
with his glass.With our eYe
o l a s s e s i,t h i n k l c a n s e e i t , a n d
ihen I am not sure." I sugg-est.Vou
start bV studYingdiagram /, tnen
progress to the others.
outside edge'
and beginning to deteriorate a5 shown by the rcgged
No 4 shows the circle ol cofielation. This is a wide circle
N o s s h o w s t h e c i r c l e a g a i n , w i d e r w i t h b o t h d i s t a n pupit
c e a n xj
g i pth"
l , e !ty;;td;';;;;-i;;;;
! ! . e s , D i s t a n c e l i n eiav
s r ube
n i nsome
c o n ccorreldtion
e n t r i c c i r cto
l e sthe
w i toverctl
hintheci|cle
corretation. The speed rines,ur'
of
two
srsns'
these
or
"":ri"i6ii"
"#ii{i'7ri^'ini
devetopment
ii ine oira n iiportion to the
Inside
""ii'qitlitn'f
You will have to visualise it as t wilt describe'
a. t':111d:!:eve
beakt
the
ftowatds
No 6. t have tried in my limited attistic abitity.to s.how chcle *.r"1irii"
trcnt.end
iiti'ii"'aiip
a"lined
91
theDupil is the innef muscte ur i'ii ii-irit
aieais thethirdcircleanc teltsvou
nack.s iat.-iii'iLit;'*-iii"i "-ooth
ii iiii top.and
cotou' fteckins
and wideningandchanging
andmav.show
rnx tn"iii iiii-iiitt diiinpg.anot
"naae"Ti"ioiilui
,iibii'ii'tiiii'iuii.Eri'
*
No
4
c!rcte
the iris cotout,the
havethiscicte as the p e w t
iitt
oia"
'ti-i'iiii""u
;iJ-uoii
v", 1r:,!1!;;
thiscircte
ThenNo s i" *nur" tiZ FliZiriii-itt-iiitn"rrb.
thrcuqhout.
a widecircteOccasionallv
ciraeneriZii a
Eir"
when
but
ot tn"
vou
circle
run to tne outsrcte
outside
trigis-'t-ii'is'*efi aeneioped
"
Oene'O'eeaing
"y"oru--i"Ei'iiti
and some
ovet iii'iiti"biiZ- i{rn"
{ive
all
have
not
do.
wil aopearto "come bac:
airas.
a
inZ"mijornv
w" ltt .. an ercuttuiiiiJ.
ot
simitatto *nii'i"'il3"iiii
haveatt five circres
-"iiii tii'*;
iii" ihtoushtheirisintothecircte
ot.,.,w:Tr::'.oillogduessets
onty thrceI atsodrcw in.acoupte
at 5 and 7pm
iili"iiri.i'. iiJ,i" iiie tiev aie posniooed
RACTI\GPTGEOI{S
bY Colin 0sman
PaPerback, 188 hges f585 incl P&P'
WCIX OHn
The Racing Pigeon, Unit 13, 2l Wren Street' London
Phone:071-8335959.Fax: 071-8333151'