FIGHTING STYLE

The first prerequisite of a short heel cock is that he must point his heels, that is, he must strike so that the blow lands on the point of the heel rather than on the side or curve of the blade. This statement would appear to be self evident – "elementary, my dear Watson," as Sherlock Holmes would say, but it is astonishing how few cocks possess this capacity. If birds pointed their heels every fly, no battle would last very tong no matter what the length of gaff. Some fowl point their heels well at the beginning of the battle, but can't cut butter when tired or injured. Others are just the opposite. They apparently do but little damage in the opening wild flurries, But when they settle down, even though injured, they cut every fly. Ability or inability to finish a down cock is largely a matter of heel pointing. 

The manner of affixing or setting the heels has something to do with a cock's ability to deliver his blow so that it lands on the point of the blade. Likewise the style of gaff: tow points or high points, the side set wide or slight. Different birds require different settings and different styles of gaffs for best results.

As a general thing, thick full breasted birdsfequire a wider side set than thin breasted slab sided birds. Perhaps an example or two will illustrate the point better than words. A few years ago a friend who had been extremely successful in the long heel major circuits sent me a dozen of his best stags to try in short heels. They were extremely round, full breasted birds. I heeled them the same as I did my own fowl which were on the narrow side, but which cut extremely well when heeled very  sharp, that is, the point being set well ahead of the leader in the cock's leg. My friend's broad breasted birds could not cut anything, and after trying half a dozen I gave up on them. At the end of the season I was cleaning out odds and ends via the pit route, which can be very educational at times, and decided, as an experiment. to try heeling my friend's birds very wide, that is, the the point way back on the hock joint. The result was electrifying. Some of them knocked off two and three opponents without ever leaving the pit.

Another example: A few years ago I added some new blood to my fowl which substantially increased the width and fullness of their breasts. The infusion was a marked success, and the pit record of the cross quite remarkble. But I noticed that if the birds did not kill in the first pitting or two that I had an awful time in the drag pit despite the fact that the opponent was down and out and my cock was stroking hard and deliberately. Finally after dropping two such fights in the drag pit which  took me out of first place in a big derby, I came to my senses: the new cross stroked differently from my old narrow fowl, and required a wider heel setting, especially after they became tired and exhausted.

Conformation alone witl not determine how to set your heels most ef fectively, but if your fowl are not cutting, that is, not striking with the point, try setting the gaffs differently, or experiment with different curve of blade or height of point. Of course if a bird strikes with his hocks or the bottom of his feet, nothing wilt help, but sometimes the manner of setting can make a difference, which cost me a lot of money to learn.

Before leaving the subject of heel pointing, or having the blow land on the point of the gaff, let's make a brief comparison between long and short heels in this respect. Of course striking with the point of the gaff is important no matter what type or length of heel is in use. But with long heels with their high points and curved blades, a cock that wades in and flails away is almost certain to get the point in somewhere, at which time he pulls and shuffles away and the gaff goes in deeper and deeper. But with short straight regulation heels most of this pulling and shuffling does not mean a thing, for the blade instead of going deeper into the opponent's body is, in atl probability, just fanning the air or scratching the feathers.

Several years ago the late Knotty Harris, a well known chicken fighter from Memphis, was attending a short heel tournament in New York state where I was competing. Now, no one ever accused Knotty of being stupid so far as chicken fighting or gambting was concerned. He knew more and saw more than most. But this was his first experience with short heels. Time after time a bird would pull what appeared to Knotty to be a devastating shuffle. whereupon he would burst into full cry with  the odds. Just as quickly they were covered. The last I saw of Knotty he was arranging a loan from Solly O'Connell ' 'to get train fare home.

Knotty's trouble was that he did not realize the tremendous difference in effectiveness between the various blows when delivered in short heels instead of long.

Frank Shy