In breeding horses there are a number of different ways to create homozygosity and the resulting trait of prepotency. In doing so one must first develop and possess a discerning eye for a good horse (or rely on those who do).
Linebreeding is one method of breeding two superior individuals of similar bloodlines either through the sire or dam (or both).
Another method is to select individuals, regardless of their relatedness, who are similar in the phenotypic traits one is hoping to “fix,” establish, or preserve. In the case of El Hilal, both his sire (Ansata Ibn Halima) and his dam (Bint Nefisaa) are by the world-renowned Egyptian stallion, Nazeer, a son of the influential, but rather rare, Mansour. Rare because outside of Nazeer there weren’t a lot of others who bred forward. In El Hilal’s case, however, he also has Mansour blood through his paternal granddam, Halima, who is by the Mansour son, Sheikh El Arab, and through his dam’s tail female line to Bint Farida (Mansour x Farida). Additionally, his sire and dam both descend through the broodmatron, Farida. Halima is out of the Farida daughter, Ragia, and Bint Nefisaa’s dam, Nefisa, is by the Farida son, Balance, and out of the Farida granddaughter, Helwa, through Bint Farida.
Next, Ansata Ibn Halima and Bint Nefisaa were similar in type, overall balance and conformation. Each possessed large, dark, prominent, and well-placed eyes. Ibn Halima’s head had a more pronounced jibbah, while Bint Nefisaa’s head had a flatter forehead, but very refined and elegant. Thus, both genotypically as well as phenotypically, El Hilal’s sire and dam were very similar, and they were also superior individuals. The stage was set, then, for El Hilal to be both a superior individual and a great breeding horse. And he did not disappoint.
He did exceptionally well with mares of Crabbet, Davenport and some of the early Spanish imports. And with Straight Egyptian mares he did well with a wide variety of dam lines: RDM Maar Hala, Imperial Al Kamar, AH Abraxas, Hialeah, Hansan, Halima’s Tiara, Mohummed Sadden, Kachina Moon, Moon Danseur, Le Baroque, Lu Aiba, Hi Fashion Hitesa, Moon Mystique, Mona Lai, VP Regal Heir, PH Flirtatious, MFA Bint Maar-Ree, RDM Maar Halima, Sidra, and SW Maar Aliah. He also had two full sisters, Negmaa and Nourah, who were excellent broodmares, and Bint Nefisaa’s full sister, Nadja, is the tail female ancestress of the lovely and well-known RN Farida.
El Hilal was also a top show horse, garnering Top Ten honors in extremely large and competitive classes at both the Canadian and U.S. National Championship shows three years in a row.
All of the right elements came together through selection, planned breeding and him ending up in the right hands at the right time to make him an all around great breeding stallion and show horse. Even today, as we approach the 60th anniversary of his birth, his influence is felt through his progeny in both Straight Egyptian circles and the general Arabian population at large.
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