Freialdenhofen

HISTORY

Freialdenhofen & Shöne, success over long distances

This pigeon fanciers' family is one of the best in Germany. They have won numerous internationals and each of their races are, extraordinarily, incredible. One of the first achievements was the first place in the Pau race against 8.399 pigeons in 2012. We are talking about the loft of Freialdenhofen & Sons or, to be more precise, father Heinz-Josef and his sons Dirk and Heiko from Aldenhoven. This town lies between Cologne and Düsseldorf. This means that the location is not the most favourable for long-distance running, but even so, they have set themselves apart in this discipline. However, we all know that the quality of a pigeon breed is the decisive factor and the Freialdenhofen is undoubtedly of great strength.

One of their first successes was winning the first international prize in Pau in 2012. The winning bird beat 8,399 opponents. An international victory is something quite special for a loft in Germany, because the distance is, if possible, longer and they are usually won by Belgian or Dutch fanciers, because they often benefit from the wind direction. But also because they have excellent long distance racing pigeons, of course. The Pau race took place on 22 June 2012 and 8,399 of the best long distance pigeons were released from Pau at 6:45 a.m. There was a strong north-easterly wind. As a result, the birds flew at high speed. The first lofts, which were approximately 800 km away from the release site, reached speeds of almost 1,500 m/min.

The Freialdenhofen family recorded the first pigeon at 17:11:34, which had covered 941,838 km with a speed of 1,567.01 m/min. This bird was later awarded as the international winner. The Freialdenhofen family thus added another spectacular victory to their already impressive list of achievements.

Forrest Gump, the extraordinary breeder

The number one male in this loft is undoubtedly the fantastic breeder, Forrest Gump. He won the third position in the International Pigeon As in 2002. However, his racing record is rather limited, especially in comparison with his offspring, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His descendants have achieved basically everything that can be won in the sport. Many people are willing to pay a lot of money for this pigeon, but the Freialdenhofen family, fortunately, has never wanted to sell it.

Other, also very successful, pigeons have never been sold either. His outstanding Forrest Gump has become an outstanding breeding pigeon in the Freialdenhofen family loft. Some of the most outstanding descendants of Forrest Gump are: Son Forrest Gump or Forrest Junior, among others. His son, Son Forrest Gump, is the father of Forrest Junior, winner of the first Pau International prize in 2012. Forrest Junior's dam was a daughter of Carcassonne who, in turn, has bred several high quality offspring. Forrest Junior was also paired with Pozzato's sister (by Wijnands), which is the 1st National prize winner in Bordeaux against 1,451 pigeons in 2009.

It is also worth having a look at the pedigrees of the 1st and 2nd position at the National Agen in 2015, as they give us an insight into the breeding strategy used in the Freialdenhofen loft. One thing is clear; the Freialdenhofen know how to breed first class pigeons and this explains why they have been so successful in long distance racing. The Freialdenhofen family carries out DNA checks for each of Forrest Gump's offspring. In fact, they have taken a number of precautions to maintain the breed with more than 10 Forrest Gump males and 20 Forrest Gump females in the breeding loft.

Forrest Junior

Forrest Junior has excellent origins. His sire is Son Forrest Gump, a son of the famous Forrest Gump paired with Jenny. Both Forrest Gump and Jenny are top breeding pigeons and have bred numerous exceptional long distance and prize winners. A trophy record with trophies such as the Pau race against 8.399 pigeons, a third place in the Bordeaux national against 966 pigeons in 2011 as well as 28th place in the International against 11.444 pigeons are only some of the great successes of the Forrest Junior. At only 1 year of age he had already won a third prize in Bordeaux and it was there that he showed his great potential.

In fact, that competition was a total success for the Freialdenhofen loft because they won first, second, third, fifth and seventh place nationally with the offspring of Forrest Gump. When we take a closer look at the origins of all these birds, we see national long distance winners in competitions like Perpignan, Marseille and Barcelona. The Freialdenhofen's aim was always to search for the best pigeons and to obtain first class specimens.

Source: PIPA