Brothers

If you visit the Rancho Bulakenyo website (the link is in the Breeders and Horses column, to the right) you will find a tribute article, dedicated to RDM Maar Hala, written by Honi Roberts which appeared in Arabian Horse World. Do you know Halim El Mansour? Bred also by Rancho Bulakenyo, Halim El Mansour, up until April 12, 2007, was one of the last living sons of the legendary *Ansata Ibn Halima and a full brother to El Halimaar. Honi Roberts, in her tribute article to RDM Maar Hala, included the following quotation from Jody Cruz, regarding the sons that RDM Maar Hala had produced:

"What many don't realize is that her first five foals were all colts-not what new breeders would normally hope for," says Jody with a smile, "but what colts they were!"

Halim El Mansour will forever remind me of the lesson I learned in measuring the greatness of a horse. In Halim El Mansour's case, he was an *Ansata Ibn Halima son but as great as being a son of *Ansata Ibn Halima is, that is not what made Halim El Mansour great. The greatness of this particular horse, was measured by the quality of the offspring which he consistently sired. Meeting Halim El Mansour's son, the bay WK Halim El Shahkir (Halim El Mansour x Akira Zarif) was an A-HA! moment and made me immediately realize what a great sire Halim El Mansour truly was. It is a testament to Shahkir's athletic ability, that many of the people who visited him, some who had no knowledge of Arabian Horses and were looking for performance horses to train and show; were taken by the potential in this young, bay stallion. He is just brilliant. His movement is so thrilling to watch (actually unbelievable). He has the ability to go far, whether it is in reining or dressage. If Halim El Mansour or any stallion for that matter, sired only this one horse, then his name would be forever remembered for siring good horses. However, Halim El Mansour’s daughter, WK Eroticaah (Halim El Mansour x G Mafaada) is equally fantastic as Shahkir. As her name suggests, she is super-exotic, a real live fairy-tale horse come to life. She takes my breath away. She is really lovely and Caryn Rogosky's best bred female horse at Windkist Manor. Her pedigree is a rich repository of *Ansata Ibn Halima blood, not only through Halim El Mansour but also through the crosses in G Mafaada's pedigree. She is a Fa Daalim daughter out of Masada Fay Halima. With these two horses as my compass, I started to notice the consistency of the other horses that Halim sired and I started to "connect the dots". It almost became a game, as every horse that attracted my attention, upon further inquiry, shared Halim El Mansour as a sire. They are outstanding horses.

It will be interesting to see how Shahkir and Eroticaah carry on the legacy of their sire and further the influence of the aristocrat mare, Maar-Ree. Will their influence be felt through their daughters or will it be felt through their sons? Only time will tell.