This article is long overdue, it concerns a good friend of mine known in many magazines worldwide as "TEACHER." Many fanciers worldwide have read these informative and timely articles without realizing that the author was none other than, Mr. Joop Ekstijn of Grave, Velp in Holland. He wrote for years under the pen name of teacher because in fact he was an educator, administrator , lover of fine music, good wine and great food,( I know because I sampled his incredible cuisine for 7 days in 1996) in the Netherlands. He was a great lover pigeons, but he loved people at least as much or possibly more, and developed life long friendships worldwide. He was great friends in Holland with many people including Gerrit Spanjaards. His multi decade friendship was probably closest with Mr. "Wout Smeulders" of Nunen.

Figure 1 Happy times, one of many visits between good friends Joop and Wout Smeulders at Wout's home.

Certainly Joop Ekstijn know's the "Smeulders" birds better than any person living today( he also has the very best of these birds as most Europeans will attest to)! The sudden death of his life long friend was devastating to Joop , and he took some time recovering from it.

I personally first came across Joop ( TEACHER) in the early issues of " Pigeon Facts International " edited by Ralph Forbes. I have often wondered at the incredibly good fortune of "Forbes" in first meeting these Dutch pigeon world giants and it is sad to think ( in his case) of all the missed opportunities. Through Joop Ekstijn so many Americans, Canadians and Asians etc were introduced to some of the greatest pigeon fanciers of that generation. Giants like " Smeulders" who 's blood is still producing champions the like of "Mr. Bond".

Ekstijn because of his educational background, his writing skills and his fluency in English was often sought out by Dutch Champions he introduced so many Americans and Canadians to s many great fliers like Spanjaards ,

Figure 2 Joop and Gerrit Spanjaards were great friend for many decades untill his death they always enjoyed each others company and birds!

Smeulders, De Pruit, Borgmans, Koopman, etc. In many cases these long term friendships resulted in these Dutch Champions asking "Ekstijn" to act as their exporter and agent.

Figure 3 Joop and De Klak looking at the great "613".

Without Joop Ekstijn so many things would have been so very different for so many pigeon fanciers on several continents, including this writer. In time Joop Ekstijn and I became good friends, we visited each other and spoke to each other often, by phone , fax and email. We still do so more now than ever before. Joop Ekstijn is my eyes and ears in Europe. We have exchanged birds and Joop had great luck with the nest mate of my Combine Champion "Phar Lap". I was proud to have sent some of my birds to this incredible breeder of racing pigeons.

Also I wish for all of my readers to know that I am proud of "Joop Ekstijn" not only as a good friend, but even more important as an author , exporter and breeder of racing pigeons who I believe has played a major role in the improvement of Racing Pigeon stock in Canada , Asia as well as the USA.

Now just in case you might believe that I have gone a little overboard here I am not going to ask you to believe what I say but I intend to give you direct published evidence of the veracity of all that I have said and more. You all know that it is important to give credit to your source. It is even more incredibly important to do so when you seek the time, experience, and input of a man when you offer nothing in the form of compensation other than the satisfaction of knowing that you helped a young person in trouble. One would certainly think that in such a case the recipient of such generosity would scream the truth of it from the housetops. Or at least one would think so?

Now here is the "rest of the story" that will certainly be new to almost ( not quite everyone) but almost everyone in Europe, North America and Asia. Once you read this do not lose too much time in taking action because those really great Dutch Champions who found out about this are certainly not wasting any time in making contact!

Now I will allow Joop to tell the story in his own words, as he recently wrote to me in an email:

When did you meet Cees Suykerbuyk?

"In 1993 I met Mr. Cees Suykerbuyk for the first time when I bought from him a brother of GLAMOURBOY. I told him, after seeing his birds, that the quality of his birds was going down if he wouldn't do something."

What type of birds did he keep?

"He had all Smeulders birds, mostly from the line of famous #05 Camphuis, that later on was sold to Eijerkamp. Bertie Camphuis was his neighbour just a few years before I met Suykerbuyk and because of that Suykerbuyk had his birds from Camphuis. But Bertie Camphuis moved to another house in Eefde and sold his birds to Eijerkamp. When he was settled in his new home he went to Mr. Smeulders to start allover with Smeulders pigeons a.o. youngbirds and eggs from the #64, a direct son off #531 and also the father of "Oscar". He became the father of Wonderboy 05 and Wonderboy 06."

The famous James Bond!

"Later, after Camphuis moved, a blue cock returned home and came into Suykerbuyks loft. Caphuis told him to keep the bird because he didn't want to break him to his new loft. This birds last 3 numbers were #007 and he became famous as James Bond."

Why did you think you could help Cees Suykerbuyk?

" I also told Cees Suykerbuyk that I was able to help him because I still had the Smeulders birds with the real pearl eyes that he needed. So I told him to send me 4 bands 1994 to breed youngsters for him. One of them was NL94-2539274. He won for Suykerbuyk a.o. 1st 3157 birds, 1st 2541 birds, 1st 2625 birds and 1st 1384 birds and a whole lot of other top-prize.

Cees Suykerbuyk asks Joop to help his young friend Alwin Petrie.

"Around that time Suykerbuyk called me if it was OK for him to bring a young guy named Alwin Petrie, who also had his birds and a whole section for them to breed youngsters together. I agreed and after seeing my birds he asked me for help to see if he had the same problem as I indicated at Suykerbuyk. a few days later we went over to Petrie's loft. He had a whole lot of brothers and sisters to Glamourboy and they also had the same problem: the colour of the eyes was going down."

Who were the Parents to Mr. Bond?

"So I promised to help him by bringing him a cock from my race loft for free. This cock was NL93-2213664. I also looked for a hen to fit with him and advised him to NL96-1633588. They became the parents of Mr. Bond".

Joop I would think that Mr. Petrie would have screamed your name from the housetops in appreciation for what you did in giving him "FREE" the Sire of Mr. Bond and then finding a suitable mate for it from his own non performing loft?

"A couple of times Alwin faxed me the results of the offspring of my birds and in the middle of the racing season 2001 Alwin called and asked me to look on Teletext, where I saw that Mr. Bond won 1st National against 10.221 birds from Bourges, which is close to 600 km for them. I phoned Alwin to congratulate him and asked him to be honest about the story of Mr. Bond in the magazines and he answered he gave them the pedigree. Later, when the reports were in the magazines he mentioned that he owed a lot to Mr. Suykerbuyk but never mentioned my name".

Now that is really disappointing that you should take the time effort, know how to assist greatly a young fancier who requests your help and then gives you NO credit! Further the nest mate to Mr. Bond ( I think his number is "501" is even better than Mr. Bond!) is according to Mr. Petrie even better than his brother.

Figure 4 This is a copy of one of the adverts that appeared in the official Dutch Magazines announcing the purchase of Mr. Bond by the Eijerkamp family. The Sire of Mr. Bond is listed as NL 93 2213664 with a few other basic details however no mention is made of who the breeder of "664" was?

Figure 5 This is an enlarged version of the above advert that shows the Sire of Mr.Bond as being "664". This cock NL 93 2213664 was bred by Joop Ekstijn in 1993 and was later given as a gift to a young man Mr .Alwin Petrie. who had asked Joop Ekstijn for his expert breeding assistance because his birds were not breeding and performing as they should. Though Mr. Petrie gave credit , in the Dutch pigeon press, to his friend Cees Suykerbuyk he unfortunately failed to mention that Joop Ekstijn gave him the Sire of Mr. Bond as a gift and then also choose the hen to mate it to. The result of this pairing was Mr. Bond!

I took the time to ask Joop Ekstijn how he bred the Sire to Mr. Bond and the background of this exceptional bird. I was truly astonished as in fact I knew only too well the background of Smeulders "Terminator"!

Who was the "Terminator"? The "Terminator" ( winner of 26 prizes, 13 times in the top 10, plus 5 X 1^st,bred by Wout Smeulders and eventually exported to Canada, however he was breeding at the loft of Joop Ekstijn for two seasons before he could be exported to Canada) was a direct son of NL 75 2467637 , winner of 42 prizes. the "637" was also the sire of the "General" NL 85 1809461 who himself was the winner of 87 prizes including 4 X 1^st and 30 times in the top 10. The "637" was a son of NL 72 2246900 which bred the "Strik" NL 78 7815262. The "Strik" was the winner of 3 X 1^st combine. So you clearly see here the heritage that goes into the breeding of "Mr. Bond" in a direct male line , starting from the famous Smuelders super breeder " 900" to his son also a super breeder "637" to his famous son ""The Terminator" to his great son bred by Joop Ekstijn " 664" who was the sire of the famous "Mr. Bond" (who was purchased by Mr. Eijerkamp in late 2001 from Mr. Alwin Petrie). Mr. Bond has already bred several top birdsincluding the winners of 1st (13176 birds), 1st (1528 birds), 38th National Troyes (9809 birds) etc. Mr. Bond's race record is as follows: 1st National Bourges (10221 birds), 1st (4621 birds), 1st (1964 birds), 2nd (2865 birds), 3rd (11404 birds), 5th (3189 birds), 7th (4932 birds), 8th (2833 birds) etc. In addition to these impressive results he was also 2nd Long distance Ace and 3rd Ace Bird against 4500 members. From 46 entries he won 41 prize cards including 6 x 1st prize.

Figure 6 So we can see that Mr. Bond derives from the Smeulders famous "637" line through his son "Terminator" and his grandson "692" the son of the "Terminator" which when mated by Joop Ekstijn to a daughter of Klaks hit pair produced Mr. Bonds Sire NL 93 2213664. NL 93 2213664 is the cock that Joop Ekstijn gave to Mr. Alwin Petrie as a gift and then Joop Ekstijn went to Mr. Petries loft and personally selected the hen to mate to "664".

The Koopman family has always taken great pride in giving full credit to any fancier that supplied them with exceptional pigeons. They fully credited Joop Ekstijn in their pedigrees as well as the Dutch press for his breeding abilities

Figure 7 Koopmans exceptional "410" This detailed article on the world famous Koopman and Son appeared in Holland in the official Dutch Magazine in the issue of 4 January 2001. NL 98-5821410 was one of two cocks that made Koopman and Son Loft the Midfond Champion of all of Holland in 2000.

Illustrated above, is a copy of the official Dutch Magazine issue dated 4 January 2001. In the pedigree of NL98-5821410 you will see on the Sires side the line of the “Kanon”, and on Dams side a bird bred by “Ekstijn” NL94-2539274. Note that full credit is given to “Ekstijn” as the breeder. This bird “274” was a gift from “Ekstijn” to Mr. Cees Suykerbuyk of Eefde. This bird demolished all the competition including Camphuis and Eyerkamp. Suykerbuyk is the man that made "007", James Bond famous. It is interesting to note that Mr. Cees Suykerbuyk told “Ekstijn” that he considered “274” as better than James Bond. Now take special note of the incredible compliment being made by an incredible , world famous breeder of racing pigeons to another incredible world class breeder ( but little known) Joop Ekstijn! Such a candid statement is remarkable! Key players in Europe are taking note others around the world would be wise to remember this statement.

Figure 8 This is the detailed pedigree of Koopmans exceptional Nl 98 5821410. You will notice that Koopman gives full credit to Mr. Joop Ekstijn as the breeder of C.Suykerbuyk great Champion racer and breeder Nl 94-2539274 .This image is from the official Dutch Magazine making a report in the issue 4 January 2001.

Before breeding the Sire to Mr. Bond Joop Ekstijn had also bred a number of exceptional birds including NL 94- 2539274 which he bred and then gave as a gift to the famous Cees Suykerbuyk (of James Bond “007” fame) . This bird “274” raced exceptionally for Cees Suykerbuyk and amongst others won:

1^st St. Ghislain against 3157 birds

1^st St. Ghislain against 251 birds

1^st Lommel against 2625birds

1^st St. Quentin against 1384 birds

His dam NL 93 1341142 was a direct De Prut hen and is still breeding in the loft of Joop Ekstijn. His Sire NL 922497698 is a Smeulders that died last year in the loft of Joop Ekstijn. It is also interesting to note that Koopmans great NL 98 5821410 is a grandson of NL 94 2539274 that was also bred by Joop Ekstijn and then given as a gift to Mr. Cees Suyerbuyk!

C and G. Koopman exchanged birds with Joop Ekstijn in 1996 in an attempt to get from Joop the “Kanon Line” ( this is the line of my foundation cock and exceptional breeder “St. Thomas”). In 1996 Koopman gave Joop Ekstijn two daughters of “De Zwollenar” who was a full brother to “De Zitter” as well as the “Beatrixdoffer”.Further Joop Ekstijn also received a direct daughter of “Ons Louis” that is a son off of “De Zitter” and won a 1^st National Bourges.

The famous Dutch Champion “Bertie Camphuis” also arranged in 1996 to purchase birds from Joop Ekstijn clearly evidencing the well known fact that Joop Ekstijn has without a doubt the very best of Smeulders stock after Wout Smeulders untimely death.

Gerard Koopman and his father were very good friends of Cees Suykerbuyk. So they also exchanged birds. Suykerbuyk had a son off of the “BEATRIXDOFFER” of Koopman and Koopman and Son had youngsters off Joops #274. Gerard Koopman phoned Joop to ask for brothers and sisters of #274 and he also wanted to buy the pair that bred #274 but Joop refused but they exchanged birds. So they asked for youngsters from his good pair and brought Joop daughters from a brother to “DE ZITTER” and a daughter off “ONS LOUIS”, which he still has.

Later Gerard Koopman bought from Joop 12 youngsters off his“Kanon” sons and best of Joop's Smeulders, because “DE ZITTER” had also “Kanon” blood from his father as did the “BEATRIXDOFFER” and “ZWOLLENAAR”.

Bertie Camphuis bought birds from Ekstijns good pair (274) and some youngsters off his 800-cock that he still has.

This year even Harm Vredeveld of Coevorden Holland who won in 2003 ,1st and 2nd Orleans young birds (9000 + birds) (and is a very good friend of Gerard Koopman) bought 2 birds down from the full brother of # 664 (father Mr. Bond) from Ekstijn.

Personally I also feel very fortunate to have been allowed in 2003,to import, from Joop Ekstijn, direct children from both the full brother to the Sire of Mr. Bond and also from the full sister to the sire of Mr. Bond these birds being “692” and “693”. These were the first two children bred from the “Terminator” when he was at Joops loft in 1992 ! I was fortunate because young from these two birds are no longer for sale to anyone. Some things money cannot buy, in this case the only reason I got these exceptional birds was our friendship!

In 2002 Mr Joop Ekstijn retired from teaching and will now devote more of his time to his racing pigeons. If the past is any indication then I fully expect great things from this exceptional racing pigeon breeder in the future. After reading this incredible story anyone who may be interested in contacting Joop Ekstijn can email me directly at silvio@silvio-co.com . And as Paul Harvey always says “and now you know the rest of the story!”

Racing Pigeons Section Contents

Ashdon Farms

Background on Silvio Mattacchione, his pigeons, his loft, and inbreeding program.

Articles

A group of articles and editorials addressing various aspects of the sport of pigeon racing and the history of Silvio's line of Spanjaards/Janssens pigeons.

Pigeon Books

Buy fantastic pigeon books online! Selections include The Will to Prepare by Robert Kinney, Rotondo on Racing Pigeons by Joseph Rotondo, and The Pigeon Guide by Dr. Jon Esposito and Shannon Hiatt.

Pigeons For Sale

Some of Silvio Mattacchione's own winning stock is for sale.

Pigeon Consulting

Sivio Mattacchione offers a wide range of racing pigeon consulting services and consults with owners as far away as Australia, Mexico, Taiwan, The Philippines and the United States. Each consultation is tailored specifically to meet the client's needs, and is conducted in as thorough a manner as possible.

Charity Events

Good causes supported by Silvio and the racing pigeon and parrot communities.

Emoticons

Clever pigeon pictures constructed of keyboard strokes by artist Jerry Downs.

Pigeon Links

Links to other racing pigeon sites including those of clubs, products, and information resources.

An easy way to navigate a series of pigeon web sites!

Silvio's e-mail, mail, phone, and fax contact information.

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