Seren Arabians - 100% Crabbet stallion stud

Halal is a 100% Crabbet arabian stallion. He was bred at the Imperial Arabian Stud in 1989 by Geoffrey and Barbara Plaister, a repeat of successful breedings by the outstanding stallion Hanif out of Sherilla, one of Imperial's equally outstanding foundation mares. We believe he is the last surviving full brother both of our own late stallion Hanson and of Shatir, the US winner at Scottsdale amongst his many other accolades.

He has been standing successfully in Eire, though the majority of his foals have been out of coloured sports mares. As a result he has very few purebred arabian offspring, none being straight Crabbet.

Until a few years ago he was ridden regularly and successfully both in eventing and in hunting. Then he was involved in a serious accident that led to a bone infection. This in turn resulted in him losing 35% of one of his pedal bones. Though he has recovered in every other respect, he is now permanently unable to move freely on hard or uneven ground.

He has been brought here to fill a void in our breeding programme, a fuller history of that being below. As soon as we met him, we realised that he shares more than just parentage and some genes with Hanson, and as we get to know him better we discover more and more excellent things about him. We would be proud to own him, though we never will, not for being Hanson's brother but because he has wonderful temperament, superb conformation, and great presence. When he begins to move on the sand/rubber you feel the hairs rise on the back of your neck as you realise what a wonderful ridden horse he must have been up to the moment of his accident.

Halal at Stud

Halal:				ORAN	RIFFAL(NAUFAL/RAZINA)/ASTRELLA(RASEEM/AMIDA)
			SILVER VANITY
				SILVER GILT	INDIAN GOLD(FERHAN/NISREEN)/SILVER FIRE(NASEEM/SOMRA)
		HANIF
				DARGEE	MANASSEH(JOSHEP/AATIKA)/MYOLA(ALGOL/RHYMA)
			SIRELLA
				SHALINA	RISSAM(NASEEM/RIM)/SHARFINA(RYTHAM/SHARIMA)

	HALAL
				RADI	RISHAN(NADIR/RISH)/RAZINA(RASIM/RYALA)
			BRIGHT SHADOW
				PALE SHADOW	RIZZALIX(FARIS/RISSLA)
		SHERILLA
				DARGEE	MANASSEH(JOSHEP/AATIKA)/MYOLA(ALGOL/RHYMA)
			SIRELLA
				SHALINA	RISSAM(NASEEM/RIM)/SHARFINA(RYTHAM/SHARIMA)

Notes

SILVER VANITY One of the finest stallions of the Sobha line. Exported to America in 1962, he left only a few sons and daughters behind.

HANIF Out of Sirella by Silver Vanity, and bought at Crabbet's dispersal by Mr. Plaister for his Imperial Stud. He sired the multiple champion Haroun, the U.S.A. Scottsdale winner Shatir (full brother to Hanson and Halal), and British National Champion Zarafah, amongst many others.

SIRELLA Though shown only occasionally while at Crabbet, Sirella was supreme female champion at the Arab Shows in 1956, 1959 and 1962. She was dam to many successful Arabs. At the 1962 Arab Show, Silver Vanity and Sirella were the supreme male and female champions, and Hanif was best foal.

BRIGHT SHADOW Selected by Lady Wentworth, he was renowned for his kind nature, which he has consistently passed down the generations.

SHERILLA Out of Sirella by Bright Shadow, and also bought at Crabbet's dispersal by Mr. Plaister. She was dam of Hanson, Shatir, ten other colts and five fillies. She was shown only once, as a three year old with her sister, when they took first and second in their class.

HANSON Bred at the Imperial Arabian Stud in 1988, and brought to Cumbria both because of his "Bright Shadow" temperament and to fill a need in the North of England for a stallion by Hanif. Hanson bore a striking resemblance to Silver Vanity. He competed in endurance until our own injuries prevented us from taking this further.

HALAL Bred at the Imperial Arabian Stud in 1989, and exported to Ireland where he hunted and evented. He was severely injured in an accident that has left him unsound for ridden work, but he retains his wonderful presence and temperament. On the right ground he still moves gloriously. Brought to Seren Arabians for one year, 2010, as a result of Hanson's death.

How Halal arrived at Seren Arabians sounds improbable. It depended on good luck at a bad time, tremendous help from Becci Niotis, and phenomenal goodwill on the part of Ali Cox.

When Hanson died in July, not only did we lose a wonderful horse but also we lost the use of the central stallion in an important breeding attempt for us. At that time, our elderly mare Silver Ingot and Hanson were attempting an Embryo Transfer (ET) to a young recipient (surrogate) mare at the Beaufort ET centre. We specifically chose a centre that uses non invasive techniques and offers a herd existence for the horses, and everything was perfect. The hoped for foal would descend from three grandparents and eight great grandparents all themselves bred at Crabbet (we were not sure about the fourth grandparent), and both of its parents would be of the specific type of Crabbet horse that we so admire.

Hanson died a few days before providing the semen needed for the attempt. This left the plan in ruins, with Silver Ingot on the verge of coming into season.

Having told the people who knew Hanson and us of his death, we then made a more public announcement in order to avoid missing anyone we had overlooked in the stress of the moment, on www.arabianlines.com We received numerous kind and supportive messages, including one from Becci telling us that Hanson's full brother Halal was alive and well in Eire.

Becci was good enough set up contact immediately with Ali, Halal's owner, through the www soup. We agreed in principle to use him by AI to continue the attempt. However, a technological failure meant that the contact was then lost. On Friday evening, with Ingot needing to be inseminated on Sunday, the link was restored. AI was now out of the question. It only remained to thank everyone for trying to save the situation - bad things tend to come in groups.

To cut short a long story of appalling weekend weather and closed ferry booking offices, Halal landed in Holyhead on the Monday morning in a sunny flat calm, and arrived in Gloucestershire that afternoon.

Ingot had still not ovulated, so the attempt was still on. On Tuesday morning we were privileged to be able to watch the whole process of collection and insemination, in a wonderfully relaxed piece of expertise and teamwork.

The outcome of this last ditch attempt was unsuccessful. Ingot ovulated, but also had another follicle that did not ovulate. These are linked to failure to produce viable embryos. It only remained to thank everyone for trying to save the situation - bad things tend to come in groups.

Ali offered straight away to let us keep Halal for the next year (2010), to continue with the ET attempt if appropriate and to stand here for the rest of the season.

As an added bonus, on the way north we were able to call at his first home, Imperial Arabians, and reintroduce Halal to Geoffrey and Barbara Plaister, the first time they had seen him for sixteen years.

We will assess Ingot in the spring to decide whether she is up to sunbathing again in the lush deep south. The effort of another ET attempt will be minimal for her if so. Halal will probably take over the majority of stud duties with our mares from his nephews, and some from Winged Saint. It would be a huge loss of opportunity if we did not alter our plans for 2010 to try to breed some 100% and high % Crabbet foals from this wonderful old goat (Ali's loving words, not ours...)

Royal County Equine Rehabilitation

Ali and James Cox-Purcell own and run Royal County Equine Rehabilitation in Co Meath, Eire.

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