Background Into the Canadian National Jacobin Master Breeder Program

by Clint Robertson

 

                    

In the mid 1990's after we had great success in establishing the Canadian National Jacobin Show many of our most progressive Canadian Jacobin Breeders (with the support of the Jacobin clubs in Canada) felt it was time to establish a Master Breeder program as the next step in the evolution and progression of the Jacobin fancy in Canada. It was the general feeling that the program must recognize the BREEDERS as the program name states. It was also felt that the program must be based upon a point system and be made very difficult to achieve and must be made so that it would take many years to accomplish. Meetings between the Canadian breeders began and negotiations, ideas and a great deal of research was done. Finally at a meeting of the Canadian National Jacobin show committee with the elected representatives from all of the Canadian districts a set of rules governing the program was finalized and adopted. Since then we have made amendments to clarify issues and to improve upon the program. We are very proud of this program and to date (August 2005) no one in Canada has achieved Master Breeder status under the program guidelines. The purpose of the Program is to acknowledge those fanciers displaying excellence in the BREEDING of superior quality Jacobins. Some of the rules governing the program that you may find interesting are as follows: 1.) The breeder of the jacobin must be listed on the entry form and listed in the show report even if the breeder is not the exhibitor and owner. When the breeder is not the exhibitor the name of the exhibitor must be followed in the show results listings followed by the name of the breeder (Exhibitor/Breeder). 2.) You must be a paid up member in good standing of at least one of the Jacobin clubs in Canada. 3.) Each breeder must pay a small one time start up fee of $10. to participate in the program. This allows for names and information to be gathered. 4.) Only the Breeder accumulates points. This means that even if the breeder is not the exhibitor - the breeder still gets the points. In the beginning members were required to submit their band numbers at the beginning of each year so the Master Breeder recording secretary could monitor points. However this proved too confusing so now participating members must purchase their bands from the Canadian National Jacobin Show Committee so each members band numbers are now on file and follow sequence and it is easy to know the breeder. The bands all have the call letters CNJS on them which stands for Canadian National Jacobin Show. In order for points to be awarded at a show there must be a minimum number of Jacobins and exhibitors in each class for the show to be eligible for points. Each class must have a minimum of 5 Jacobins from 3 separate lofts to be eligible for points. Their must be a minimum of 75 Jacobins in a show for that show to qualify for points. Canada is divided into 3 districts and each district is allowed to have one show per year at which points can be awarded. To encourage participation at our feature show- The Canadian National Jacobin Show which revolves between districts, double points are awarded. 1000 points = Master Breeder In order for a show to qualify for points the Judge must have bred Jacobins for at least 5 years within the last 10 years. Recently we have enhanced the program with a distinguished breeder award program. This award recognizes breeders within certain colours. ie: if you accumulate 250 points in one colour you will be recognized as a distinguished breeder of that colour. There are many more rules which govern the program too numerous to mention here. If anyone has more questions on the program please feel free to contact me. It should be noted again that through this program Exhibitors are not recognized unless the exhibitor is also the breeder. Now if someone wanted to start up a PREMIER EXHIBITOR AWARD that would be different however ours is a MASTER BREEDER AWARD. I would urge all breeders who are trying to make progressive changes in your own country, not to try to change the entire pigeon fancy at once. Start with your own Jacobin Club where your own breeders can be in more control. Have your club take control over your Jacobin shows and do your own recording and paperwork. Have your shows in conjunction with other all breed meets but at the same time run your show independently with your own book keeping, judge, awards and so on. This has worked well for us. We simply contact the host organization, tell them how many pigeon holes we need, and they allot us that much space and a judging area. The Jacobin club then pays the host organization one lump sum for the space and the rental of the show pens and then collects entries and fees from our Jacobin exhibitors on our own. We try to be very co-operative with the host club and work with them as much as possible.

 Clint Robertson        Email: clint@jacobins.ca
  
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