The dandy, doughty dozen

Punjab counrtyside is full of love for life, where shauq for more of life has taken many farmers to take to animal breeding. So, there are thoroughbred horses, greyhounds and pigeons. Sarbjit Dhaliwal & Prashant Saxena take a detour

Bakarpur (Mohali): Jitender Singh Baidwan is a much satisfied man. His wheat fields are doing fine, so are his horses — a dozen Marwadi thoroughbreds — and a variety of exotic birds that he has brought from as far as Bihar and West Bengal. “Farming and horse breeding run in our blood,”says Baidwan, smiling, patting Husn on the nape. The lovely thoroughbred’s inward turning ear-tips stand in attention as Baidwan flags it to get out of her stable. 

Right now Baidwan isn't into big-time horse racing: His private stud farm is not among the dozen-odd of the 60 stud farms (of thoroughbreds) in the country. But in a state where, starting from Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, late CM Haracharan Brar’s family and Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh’s love for horses is well known, Baidwan's shauq has led him to believe in the power of love. “Each horse knows me,” he says as he rides Buland in a large pen where his horses frolic while he feeds them fodder. 

So, where does he get his horses? “There are fairs and traders in various parts of Punjab, Maghi Mela and Kila Raipur being the main ones. The cost of a thoroughbred or a good cross-bred horse can be anything between Rs 1 and 3 lakh,” says Baidwan. Keeping horses of top quality is very costly. “When you look at a horse’s trot, the way it pelts and the deep sense of affection in its eyes, you feel no cost is high enough.” Each horse in his stable has to have roughages, grams, barley, carrots and gallons of clean water. The diet depends on the weight and age of the equine. There’s no sudden change in the diet pattern as horses can fall sick. “The average cost of handling my team of a dozen horses is about Rs 70,000 per month,”says Baidwan.

He also has a silvery white nukra, Noora, a mix of Marwadi and Europe’s Andalusian breed. Dr HS Kahlon assistant director, Punjab's department of animal husbandry, says the pure white spotless horse has taken Punjabis by storm by its sheer looks. “There are around 3,000 nukra horses in the state,”says Kahlon. The breed is largely confined to Punjab. The premium commercial value of this colour has a ready market of customers from Haryana, Delhi, UP, Bihar, Uttarakhand, MP and Rajasthan. The nukra horse is extensively used in marriage functions, religious ceremonies and also kept as an emblem of nobility and status symbol. “Police and security forces across the country have shown great interest in the breed. They are very good for ceremonial and patrolling purposes and games,” he says.

The animal husbandry department is in the process of getting nukra registered as Punjab’s indigenous breed and the genetic tests of the horses are being conducted from National Bureau of Genetics, Karnal.

Prof Surminder Sira of Punjabi University, an expert on horse breeding, says indigenous breeds such as nukra and Kathiawari were put on the endangered list and their export was banned long time back. However, breeders of indigenous horses argued that since native breed outnumbered the Arabian ones, the ban held no logic. “The indigenous breed is slowly turning into hybrid because of cross-breeding,” he says.

Back in Baidwan's farm, Noora is a stand-alone pride among the Marwadi stallions. “He is very aggressive,” says Baidwan with a chuckle as Noora stands proudly and refuses to follow his command to go back to the stable. “His arrogance takes my breath away,” Baidawn whispers and shouts: “vapas ja! (go back),” and Noora returns, this time.

Penchant for the greyhound

Wazidpur (Fatehgarh Sahib): There are no signs of caution about pet dogs as you near Wazidpur; the lush green fields mildly wrap around a few houses, one of which has lean and mean greyhounds, and neighbours call them friends of Sarabjit Singh Mann. Their presence is more than a restless yapping as Sarabjit removes covered cages to see the ferocious-looking black pack. “They are beautiful, fast and they don’t bite without being provoked,” says Sarabjit putting his fingers into Hero’s mouth. “It’s time to walk them.” 

One of his men tries to tie two of them around a pole only to be admonished. “They are so agile and quick-tempered that they will try run no matter if they break their own neck in the process,” he tells the boy. The greyhounds are tied to a strong leather leash and made to chase a white guuny bag. “They are excited for racing, they think we have rabbits in the bags, so they run,”he says.

For many like Sarabjit, dog races are becoming a passion for the Punjabis; the breeding of the greyhounds is a pastime in the countryside. There are several local-level clubs, and a Facebook page, Greyhound Club of Punjab. Sarabjit’s pack has won several competitions and earned trophies. His dogs, mostly imported from the US, are a kind of wealth to him. “Rules are very strict on importing a dog.” Plus, Sarabjit has to spend a lot on their feed and well-being. “They can run with a speed of more than 50-60 km/hour. So, their diet has to be monitored: meat, milk, eggs and prescribed vegetables.” 

Like Sarabjit, Bhupinder Singh of Raikot has a large pack of greyhounds imported from the UK. For dog races, Habib Mohammad of Malerkotla is a popular name. He is a good trainer of dogs and also an expert in dog racing.

Rules for dog races are clear: first no such competition takes place in the summer and no booster shot can be given to a dog before a competition. Violators can be barred for two years. “The prizes include cash, which is not much, and motorbikes, the favourite being Bullet (Royal Enfield),” says Sarabjit.

Besides being athletic, the Greyhound is gentle, affectionate, and intelligent creature. They are prone to short bursts of energy followed by long naps. They need moderate exercises, maybe a couple of short walks per day. They are the second fastest land creature on earth, and not reliable on the recall. “I can't walk my greyhound on a retractable leash,” says Sarabjit. “It can easily yank the handle out of my hand.” 

Always eager to please the ones they love, they need patient and consistent obedience training. They are seldom good watchdogs, as they are very quiet and rarely bark — one of the reasons why Sarabjit's neighbours aren’t much scared.

Passion for pigeons

Doomchheri (Ropar): In the village, people know him as pehelwan (wrestler), but Parminder Singh loves much lighter things, as weightless as a pigeon. So, if you see white pigeons hovering over his house, believe it, they’d come back to roost on a chhatri (a large cross-wired plate) put up by Parminder for his ‘love bird.’ “Their flight, their white colour and their muteness humbles me,” says Parminder. So much so that one of his cages has a sick pigeon which can't fly. “It needs more care.”

His well-fed (gulbadi almonds are a must) pigeons are fit for racing. “There are several clubs in Punjab which organize pigeon races and besides cash prizes, the winners are also given tractors,”says Parminder. “That’s just a consolation; passion,” he says. The passion for the pigeon is the name of the game. The only danger people like Parminder have to watch out for is eagles and vultures.

Gurkirat Singh, another wrestler, who is popular as Sant, also has a good collection of racing pigeons. He has kept his flock at Mamupur village near Morinda.

The race proceeds like this: “Usually, a bird is declared a winner on the basis of maximum flying hours it clocks, whereas in Europe, a bird that reaches first to the given destination from the place it is released is declared first. Thousands of birds are released together,” says Sarwan Singh of Shere-e-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh Pigeon Flying and Breed Show Club.

“The judges know which bird is where. The trained ones never go astray and return to the original place,” says Parminder.

At Nathuwal near Bagha Purana a jeep was kept as a prize for pigeon race winners. Though such tournaments are organized in almost all parts of Punjab, pigeon breeding is more popular in the Malwa region. A racing pigeon can fetch a price up to Rs 70,000 or even more.

Many Punjabi NRIs come from Canada, US and the UK to take part in such competitions. The biggest pigeon racing and show is held in Leelan village in Ludhaina. Though racing competitions are also held in Haryana, Delhi and other states, Punjab is a leader state in this sport. Tamil Nadu is another state known for breeding best quality racing pigeons. Want some? Ask for Firozepuri or Gurdaspuri breed.