She Let Me Look Deep: The Story of El Hallany

Apple Hill Ani (Ibn Sirecho x Bint Ballanni)

When Lynn and Ginny Garrett visited Rudalaro Ranch, they were already familiar with the Hallany Mistanny horses, having bred their general-list Arabian mares to the Rudalaro-bred stallion, Ru Anton. They were also enamored with *Turfa, a desert mare recognized for possessing powerful movement and for passing this action to her progeny. Rudalaro at the time, maintained distinct breeding groups which included the Babson-Turfa horses, however, every horse that Lynn noticed was not a Babson-Turfa...it was a Hallany Mistanny-bred horse. Somewhere into that visit, Darrell Perdue said to Lynn,

"you thought you wanted Babson-Turfas but I don't think you do. I think you want a Hallany Mistanny instead."

Lynn was impressed with the Hallany Mistanny horses’ overall balance, strength and beauty. 

“The Hallany Mistanny horses to me seemed to be the standouts in the large herd that Rudalaro had. They looked so beautiful and strong with the bone needed to be a working horse. They were just what I wanted for a working ranch. Also, their beauty could be something I could show off.”

The Rudalaro visit was an unexpected surprise, as both Lynn and Ginny saw so much they liked, not only in the horses they saw but also, they were favorably impressed with how Rudalaro was managed by the Perdues. After a few more conversations with Darrell Perdue, the Garretts decided on Ru Saad Malik. He was a chestnut straight Egyptian horse, sired by the syndicated Babson stallion, Fa Saad and out of the Ansata Abbas Pasha grand-daughter, Ru Melika Sabbah. 

However, it would be a last minute, impulsive purchase named Ru Misti, a Rudalaro-bred filly, who would set the course of the Garrett’s breeding program. Ru Misti's sire was a son of San Luis Marc Antony, who was by Mista-Bin, a son of Hallany Mistanny and out of San Luis Bint Dorzah, a Hallany Mistanny daughter. On the dam side, Ru Mist Mida was also a daughter of San Luis Marc Antony but out of Mistara, a Hallany Mistanny daughter. That's 5 lines to Hallany Mistanny, all in the 5th generation of Ru Misti's pedigree. While it is important to point out the role that this filly, Ru Misti, played not only as an important foundation broodmare for El Hallany, producing 3 stallions and 3 broodmares; she was also the Garrett’s first Al Khamsa, Blue List Hallany Mistanny mare, making it possible for others bred like her, to become part of the Garrett’s breeding program. Ru Misti led Ginny on a search to find other high percentage Hallany Mistanny horses.

That search, led them to April Johnson of Apple Hill Arabians and two full sisters sired by Ibn Sirecho (Sirecho x Turfara), out of Bint Ballanni (Hallany Mistanny x HMR Ballanni, a Hallany Mistanny daughter). Both mares combined many of the Al Khamsa ancestral elements like Davenport, Blunt, Sa'ud, Hamidie and Egyptian. In the pedigrees of these two mares we find a rich source of Bedouin breeding, through a variety of different sources, reflecting the contributions of several important foundational breeders. April was willing to sell one of the two mares but not both.

The Garretts had to choose between Zelebanni or Apple Hill Ani. While Zelebanni was a beautiful, proven broodmare, Apple Hill Ani had only produced 3 foals: the filly, Apple Hill Afeena by Apple Hill Azal in 1981, the stallion, Apple Hill Amaodooa by Ansata El Nisr in 1982 and the gelding, Apple Hill Night Sun by HMR Haltak in 1983. For another breeder, this may have been a difficult decision; however for Ginny, one look into Ani’s eyes and her heart spoke loudly and claimed the mare as her own. There was something really special about Ani, which captured both of the Garrett’s attention.

“She let me look deep. I felt a connection with her the minute I looked there…in her eyes and that horse was always my rock.”

When the Garretts purchased Apple Hill Ani, she was in foal to Apple Hill Azal for a second time. Apple Hill Ani possessed a 37.5% concentration of Hallany Mistanny blood. She was one of six mares, living in America, with this high percentage of Hallany Mistanny breeding. She became an influential mare for the Garretts, producing six colts (including the colt sired by Apple Hill Azal, ELH Zallany, which she foaled shortly after arriving at the Garrett’s ranch) and one filly, named ELH Nafaa by Ru Ibn Roda, who is pictured above with her dam and her daughter by ELH Mabrouk, ELH Yamama. You can say that Ani helped the Garretts to maintain a higher percentage of Hallany Mistanny blood in their herd, as all her foals carried percentages of 31.25% or greater. Three of her colts, ELH Tariq, ELH Qumiz and ELH Hassan are still in the breeding group today and carry a percentage of 34.38% Hallany Mistanny blood. Ginny says,

“Ani produced what her bloodlines were…exquisite foals, no matter which of our stallions were used.”

Later on, the Garretts were able to purchase a daughter and grand-daughter of Apple Hill Ani from Jim Hibbard of Ohio: Apple Hill Afeena and KLH Lady Anne. It is interesting to note that Ani’s full sister, Zelebanni was also in foal to Apple Hill Azal and foaled a colt, ELH Ibn Azal, whom the Garretts also purchased for their breeding program. Ginny described this colt, “as powerful, kind and trustworthy.”

As Ru Misti was significant for setting the direction of the Garrett's breeding program towards Hallany Mistanny, Apple Hill Ani was significant because she fueled their desire to concentrate solely on higher percentage Hallany Mistanny bloodlines. Because of Ru Misti and Apple Hill Ani, the Garretts went to Mardax Arabians in California, where they obtained the mare, San Luis Hamida. Unfortunately, this mare never produced for the Garretts. At Rudalaro, the Garretts were able to purchase the mares Ru Mist Mida (the dam of Ru Misti) and Ru Mis Antony, however, both mares produced colts that didn’t live for very long and the mares were never able to settle again. Of the six mares that Ginny had identified with a 37.5% concentration of Hallany Mistanny blood, at this point, they were able to purchase four of them, all thanks to Ru Misti, whose strong  attributes conveyed to Lynn that the horse he saw in his mind, really did exist in the real world and his name was Hallany Mistanny.

More Hallany Mistanny horses were obtained by the Garretts. Ru Misti had a sister named Ru Mistalina, who became Lynn’s most favorite and cherished broodmare. Ru Mis Roda was also purchased from Rudalaro, in foal to Ru Mista Mar. She foaled ELH Mabrouk, a colt who matured into a stallion of great significance for the Garretts. He was exquisite, a Hallany Mistanny look-alike and much loved by Lynn. Tragically, this stallion died in a freak accident at only 11 years of age. Ru Mis Roda, a prolific mare at Rudalaro, only produced once more for the Garretts: a filly sired by Zelebanni’s son, ELH Ibn Azal. Two more mares, Ru Mar Mida and Ru Maarmida were purchased from Ruth Fogg in New Hampshire, along with the stallion, Chyann. This stallion had a lower percentage of Hallany Mistanny blood, as compared to the other horses that the Garretts had purchased from other breeders. However, Chyann brought in a bit of diversity into the Garretts program and he sired two foals for the Garretts who are still represented in the breeding group: ELH Maraa and ELH Ibn Chyann.

El Hallany produced a total of 53 Al Khamsa horses, all carrying a high percentage of Hallany Mistanny blood. In 2007, due to the advancing age of the Garretts, the decision was made to disperse the breeding program of El Hallany. The horses were sold to breeders in Canada, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Missouri and Utah.

“I almost always cry when one leaves…It is a chunk of our lives and our hearts.”-Ginny Garrett

Ginny Garrett remains active in guiding the new breeders of the El Hallany horses, making breeding decisions and insuring the perpetuation of this bloodline within Al Khamsa.

***This blog post is lovingly dedicated to the memory of Lynn Garrett, who together with his wife Ginny, created the program we now know as El Hallany****

***you can read this article, in its entirety, within The Arabian Breeders' Magazine, Volume I, Issue III***