A Fa Halima Valentine

Fa Halima (*Ansata Ibn Halima x Sabrah) as photographed by the late Johnny Johnston

In December 2021, Janie Karr posted a comment, in response to the blog titled Mare Power.  She listed her favorite mares and then, asked me to list mine. I find it challenging to choose specific horses as "favorites", only because there are so many that I admire.  How to choose, when really, all are uniquely worthy of being picked a favorite? A few weeks or so ago, I stumbled upon the Johnny Johnston photo of Fa Halima (*Ansata Ibn Halima x Sabrah),  a 1970 grey mare bred by Robert Cowling and later owned by Bentwood Farm. Seeing this photo once again, not only brought me much happiness, it also reminded me that in the not so very long  ago, I was convinced that there was no greater mare than she. Revisiting these feelings created additional questions of my own, as to what really makes a particular horse a favorite and why?

Phenotypically, it is understandable how one can choose Fa Halima as a "favorite", as she possessed a level of beauty that won her universal appeal. She also possessed a back-story, much like an equine Cinderella, which endeared her to many hearts. Pulled out of a pasture, ten years old and a proven broodmatron, having produced several foals, Fa Halima became a 1980 United States National Champion Mare, as well as a Canadian Reserve National Champion Mare. The year before, Fa Halima, along with Ansata Abbas Pasha, traveled to Paris and was named a Reserve World Champion mare, one of the first American-bred straight Egyptian horses to receive this honor. 

In the uniquely written book, The Gift, celebrated author Judi Forbis, writes in the voice of *Ansata Ibn Halima, who recalls the excitement of Fa Halima's championship win.

"One evening my mistress came to my stall excitedly and told me that I was now one of five stallions in the world to have sired a US National  Champion son and daughter. I was very honored. Then she explained to me what had happened. David made the first cut with Fa Halima wearing a very pretty green macrame halter. My mistress noticed this and worried that green was the wrong color for the finals. She had a beautiful blue beaded macrame halter someone had given her as a gift, and with blue being the color Arabs believed to ward off the evil eye, she went to David and said, 'David, you cannot go into the finals with a green halter. Take this blue one.' David accepted the offer and well, you can guess what happened! Fa Halima pranced into the winner's circle wearing her new blue halter and was crowned US National Champion Mare." - Judith Forbis, from Ansata Ibn Halima: The Gift

With respect for the old saying, "beauty is only skin deep" and looking beyond her show ring wins, to her pedigree, reveals a breeding group recognized as "Babson/Halima", which includes not only Fa Halima but also, beloved horses like El Halimaar (*Ansata Ibn Halima x RDM Maar Hala), Ra'adin Inshalla (*Ansata Ibn Halima x Allah Ateyyah), Masada Fay Halima (*Ansata Ibn Halima x Daal Aba), Bint Fa Dena (*Ansata Ibn Halima x Khedena) and Falima (*Ansata Ibn Halima x Fa-Habba). At one point in my Arabian horse life, breeding and raising horses of this cross is what I believed that I would do. Fa Halima not only brings attention to herself but also to the group of horses she belongs to. She reminds me that this specific group of horses or rather, bloodlines, more consistently produce the type of horse that my eyes are drawn to. For me, horses like Fa Halima and her sire are like a living standard, against which all other horses are measured.

"The mare Bint Serra I was an impressive dark bay mare of high quality and was already nine years old in 1932 when Jack Humphrey saw her. He was very taken by her, trying very hard to negotiate a price but was unable to buy her. She had long powerful shoulders, prominent withers and fine carriage of neck and was said to be an excellent mover." - from the Joe Ferriss article, Serra, The Beautiful Old White Mare, published by Tutto Arabi

In January 2019, I published a blog on Serrasab, the maternal granddam of Fa Halima. After all these years, I continue to be amazed that 75% of Serrasab's pedigree is made up of the cross of *Fadl (Ibn Rabdan x Mahroussa)  with *Bint Serra I (Sotamm x Serra). The remaining 25% of her pedigree (and tail female line) belongs to *Bint Bint Sabbah (Baiyad x Bint Sabah). When Sabrah (Fabah x Serrasab) is combined with *Ansata Ibn Halima (Nazeer x Halima), common ground between the new side and old side of the pedigree is established by Sheikh el Arab (the maternal grandsire of *Ansata Ibn Halima) and *Bint Bint Sabbah (the maternal granddam of Serrasab). Both horses are out of the same mare, Bint Sabah (Kazmeen x Sabah). They are maternal siblings and Bint Sabah, who appears in the 5th and 6th generations of Fa Halima's pedigree, exerts approximately 10% of her influence. Also, through Ragia, the maternal grand dam of *Ansata Ibn Halima, we add another line to Ibn Rabdan (Rabdan el Azrak x Bint Gamila), who is the sire of *Fadl, amplifying the *Fadl portion of the *Bint Serra I cross at 17%.  

Genetically, you will find an interplay of the Saqlawi and Dahman strains in Fa Halima's pedigree, starting at the very top with the Saklawi I sire line and ending at the bottom with the El Dahma matriline. This gentle "tug-of-war" between the two strains is not only clever, it reminds me of something that Walter Schimanski had once said.

"incorporating the Saqlawi type brings length back to neck and leg, which can be lost with intense use of Dahman and Kuhaylan strain types. It also yields finer bone structure and produces flatter and less prominent muscling. Too much Saqlawi can produce a long back and ears. Dahman type brings back an overall balance and harmony, including more dished heads and larger eyes, and shorter backs, but also has the tendency to produce shorter necks and legs, heavier muscling, and more bone."-Walter Schimanski

Fa Halima was bred multiple times to Bentwood's chief stallion, *Ibn Moniet el Nefous (*Morafic x Moniet el Nefous). Although she produced one daughter by him in 1978 (AK Bint FaHalima), the majority of her produce by *Ibn Moniet and other stallions were sons: Al Khalid in 1976 and AK Nazaar in 1982, Sar Fa Rafic, a 1974 son by *Morafic; as well as sons by *Refky (*Morafic x Rafica) and Shaikh Al Badi (*Morafic x *Bint Maisa el Saghira). At the time, Bentwood Farm, although focused upon breeding horses of the Saqlawi strain, had a large collection of Babson horses and secretly, I had hoped that Fa Halima would be bred back within Babson lines but unfortunately, she wasn't. Had she been my mare, I would have focused upon maximizing the *Fadl x *Bint Serra I cross, by breeding to a stallion like Ibn Fa-Serr (Fa-Serr x Fa Deene), a double grandson of *Bint Serra I. In our straight Egyptian genepool, a concentrated source of the *Bint Serra I bloodline  has become harder to find, which underscores the significance that this particular cross would have had today, for straight Egyptian breeders.  It's interesting, within this conversation, to consider how Fa Halima, a beloved broodmare and top show mare, could have offered straight Egyptian breeders another option to incorporate the influence of *Bint Serra I and prevent what at one time was an esteemed mare line, from completely disappearing.

Over the course of the last sixteen years, I have published 414 blogs, many of which are focused upon mares that I admire, like for example, *Serenity Sonbolah. So, therein, lies somewhat of an answer, in terms of identifying favorite mares. I have always wanted to write a blog on Fa Halima but there have been several articles published about her, including the popular David Gardner article featured in Arabian Horse World magazine, as well as the Babson Retrospective tome published by The Institute for the Desert Arabian horse and several of Judi's books. What could I possibly add, that hasn't already been written, by people who were closer to the mare than I was? I struggled, never really finding just the right words that would clearly convey the horse that I believed her to be and eventually, it became one of those things that are relegated to the "maybe some day" portion of a list. However, Janie Karr's question provided an unexpected opportunity to rediscover long ago horses and the accompanying feelings felt for them. Meeting Fa Halima at Bentwood, then, an elderly mare, ten or more years past her top show condition, her abdominal muscles had weakened and her strong body had started to drop a bit but she was radiant; a sparkling white mare with big, black eyes, set in a chiseled face, who loved to interact with people. More than 30 years later, it remains a wonderful memory for me. Equally unforgettable were all the intangible qualities that I encountered, namely her kindness, affection, innate wisdom (she was so perceptive, she noticed everything) and a refreshing generosity of spirit. I had always thought Fa Halima to be a beautiful mare but meeting her in person only proved how beautiful she really was, in ways that the human eye could never perceive. She was rare, in that she was balanced of body, mind and spirit.  She really was her father's daughter after all, a Babson/Halima to cherish forever, all for the love of a horse. Thanks Janie and Happy Valentines Day.