Why I wrote the Clausing article

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” — Epictetus

I had known of Clausing since the mid 90’s. Though I knew “of” him I certainly did not “know” him . It was not until , three decades later, that I realized the cards that fate handed him that I then , for the first time, truly understood who he was and because of that insight I could finally more fully appreciate the value of the genetic line he created. Clausing, in his personal life, proved his doctors wrong, the breaking of his body did not break his mind, nor his spirit. In time the adversities in his physical life only served to magnify his many other strengths (chief amongst these his winning spirit). Regardless of what the experts and pundits had claimed he would refuse to accept what they claimed as inevitable and he would learn to “NEVER SAY DIE”. The original Clausing pigeons were declared inferior by the pundits that initially imported and owned them. Clausing decided to give alleged losers a “chance” tested them “ruthlessly, and propagated only those with “superior” survival and performance skills. He developed a “Clausing” line based only on performance. The line he developed were not birds of great beauty but they were a genetically superior line that excelled at surviving the rigors of quarantining, training, and endless racing and more often than not winning where it counted in the “final race”. Fanciers around the world have used and continue to use “Clausing” genetics to provide their birds with that “Never Say Die” spark that David Clausing infused into his line. The South African Million has seen its fair share of Clausings and Clausing infused crosses excel. Pigeon racing changed Clausings life forever.

– Silvio Mattacchione