Horseman Thief Pouters

Because there seems to be some confusion regarding the definition of a Horseman pouter I would like to explain them a bit further.

There are three types of Horseman Pouters: show, flying, and working.  The show type is obviously bred for the show pen (but not necessarily only for the show pen).  Of the three Horseman pouter types only the show type has a show standard that it is judged against.  It is possible that a show Horseman could be a good thief pigeon, but that can be hit or miss since the drive to thieve, and fly is not necessarily what their breeder's strive for.  These birds are bred to compete in the show pen under a standard based largely on appearance.  For most breeders involved in the game of thieving, appearance falls behind breeding for seductive behavior and flying ability.  There are some breeders who select for both show and performance in their birds.  These birds are termed "dual purpose" Horseman thief pouters.  Show Horseman are often kept "pure";  that is, they are usually only bred to other show Horseman pouters in order to keep the appearance of their offspring from straying too far from the show standard.

The flying Horseman pouters are flown for the pleasure of their owners.  They can fly well, but may not necessarily have the drive to thieve.  On the other hand, some of these birds could be excellent thieves if the proper character was selected for in their breeding.  Flying Horseman pouters are easily recognized as Horseman, but they may have other pigeon breeds in their genetic makeup.  If another breed of pigeon can enhance the flying skills of a breeder's Horseman, then he/she does not hesitate to bring in the genes of another breed. 

Then there are the working Horseman thief pouters.  These birds are bred to fly well and bring other pigeons back to their lofts.  Flying and thieving skills are the two main attributes of the working birds.  It should be pointed out that an experienced breeder can produce excellent working Horseman without actually having other pigeons around for his/her birds to thieve.  Their seductive nature can be selected for and combined with good flying ability to create excellent working Horseman thief pouters.  In fact, there are Horseman thief pouter breeders who do just that.  They breed excellent working Horseman thief pouters which they send to larger cities and towns where they put to use their thieving skills.  Like the flying types, these birds tend to have a classic Horseman thief pouter appearance, but they can be made up of any number of breeds.  Typically, the birds are heavily pouter in ancestry (hence the pouter look), but should a Horseman thief pouter breeder find something valuable in another breed, he/she would not hesitate to cross that breed into their Horseman thief pouters to enhance them.