Pigeon Beat FULL Episode, One Loft Racing in America 

Welcome to the pilot episode of Pigeon Beat, created and produced by David Stephenson and sponsored by Kastle Pigeon.
*Update: Since filming this doc in 2019, the Breeders Fall Classic moved to Ohio and has since stopped racing. The Mid-America Challenge is also not flying anymore. The Hoosier Classic is still going strong but has a new loft after a tragic fire leveled the original loft.*
Pigeon racing began as a sport where fanciers could breed their birds and race them back to their home lofts. But new forms of entertainment and technology now compete against the hobby. Traditional club racing has shrunk, many clubs have dissolved, and the number of racers is declining.
But in the 1980’s, a new form of the sport began to take hold: One Loft Racing. No longer did feed, training or wind play a role in determining a winner. Nor did a breeder need to belong to a club to race his pigeons against some of the best in the country. It is both a revolution and evolution of the hobby and many fanciers believe it will save the sport. It has become a lucrative breeding competition with prizes in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In this episode of Pigeon Beat we take an insiders look at three of the smallest and largest races in America. We meet their owners and learn more about the highlights and struggles from their lofts. Join us as we travel to Tim Kirschner’s Breeders Fall Classic in North Carolina, Stephen Michael’s new Mid-America Challenge in Iowa, and Jim Ward’s Hoosier Classic, the first million-dollar purse in pigeon racing in America.
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Pigeon Beat documents the great people, places and pigeons of the world. With individual stories of pigeon fanciers and their birds, we will focus on themed episodes to help celebrate, inspire and educate through the unique characters and tradition of the pigeon sport.
Pigeon Beat is brought to you by Kastle Pigeon www.KastlePigeo...
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Websites of the One Loft Races featured in this episode are:
www.breedersfal...
midamericanchal...
hcrace.com