A little more than a year ago, Laheeb died. Superheros like Laheeb are not supposed to die in their life story. Death is conquered, just like any other villain they come up against, right? In March of 2022, I was not ready for my superhero's flame to be forever extinguished. Laheeb, for me, matured into a larger-than-life character because he was great, in the same way that *Serenity Sonbolah was great. Horses, possessing the level of courage that both horses possessed are rare. Standing on the sidelines of each horse's life, I learned of what is really possible, when life is lived more courageously. And yet, despite these courageous life lessons, maybe, there's a little of "the manana man" involved in this story too. Manana man? You know, Manana man, there's always tomorrow. You get comfortable thinking these wonderful horses will always be there. You live your life, while these horses live their lives in the background of your life. You are totally aware of them but there are other things happening in your life that demand more attention. I'll breed to them tomorrow and pretty soon, tomorrow becomes next week, next year and then, you read that the horse ran out of mananas. He died. When Laheeb died, I really thought that greatness had also died with him. There would never be another horse as great as he was, during my lifetime. So, here I am a year later, really missing Laheeb and out of the blue, my wonderful friend, Christine, sends me photos that she had recently taken of Nour Al Kamar MH and there, in this one particular photo, is him!
GREATNESS IN ALL IT'S GLORY HAS COME BACK TO LIFE!
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| Nour Al Kamar MH (Imperial Al Kamar x Binte Aziza MH) as photographed by Christine Emmert |
Genetically, Laheeb and Nour Al Kamar MH are more similar, than they are different. The majority of each horse's pedigree represents a blend of *Ansata Ibn Halima with Moniet el Nefous, Rodania, Sameh and Babson ancestral elements. Not to mention that courage, manifested through *Serenity Sonbolah, also exists in Nour's pedigree. In phenotype, the genetic similarity, also expresses phenotypical similarity. While you may notice that Nour favors the Kuhaylan influence and Laheeb favored the Saqlawi influence; I think those differences are miniscule. Laheeb was a strongly built horse, as Nour is also, both horses are impressive in their conformation.
Nour Al Kamar has stepped into the role that his sire, Imperial Al Kamar, once enjoyed at Rancho Bulakenyo and also, in the void that Kamar left in Jody's heart, when he died. Nour has even moved into Imperial Al Kamar's stall at the farm, a sure sign for all, of the high expectations that Jody has for his beloved stallion. Jody says of Nour, "he sires lots of front end, necks, super bodies, tail and trot."
Nour has not yet received the level of opportunities that Laheeb enjoyed in his lifetime, which allowed him to establish a legacy in various parts of the world, across a wide variety of bloodlines. Imagine if Nour Al Kamar MH went to Janow Podlaski and Michalow State Studs for a breeding season? I think if this opportunity would manifest itself, it will connect these two horses even closer than they currently are, while leaving the Polish Stud farms a collection of broodmares not seen since Laheeb stood in Poland. In honoring Laheeb's life, I can't think of anything more important to do, in his memory. Well, maybe, ending all of my mananas today.
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