Halef

photo: In The Focus

The bay stallion Halef was born in 1937 at the Polish state stud of Janow Podlaski where he was better known as 'Towarzysz Pancerny' which means 'Armoured companion'.
His sire was Enwer Bey, a son by Abu Mlech out of the beautiful Koalicja by Koheilan IV. Enwer Bey sired 9 foals, four stallions and five mares. Besides Halef, Enwer Bey produced the stallion Trypolis. Trypolis was a race horse sire in Poland. The grey stallion also sired Taraszcza, a little grey mare who was taken to Russia in 1939 as a two years old where she became a significant broodmare, producing the stallion Negatiw by Naseem and the mares Nitochka and Teplitsa.
Enwer Bey was lost during WW II before he could sire more foals.
Halef's dam was Kasztelanka, a moderately successful racing mare. She was a daughter by Koheilan I who was a paternal half-brother to Koalicja. Kasztelanka's dam was the grey Bialogrodka by Orjent. Bialogrodka traced to the dam line of Elsissa, a Hadbah Enzahiyah mare.
In 1938, Kasztelanka - in foal to Ofir - was sold to Henry B. Babson in the United States. At Babson's farm she gave birth to Warsaw in 1939; followed by a son and a daughter, both by the Egyptian stallion Fadl. The mentioned son by Fadl was the famous Fadheilan who was the sire of Fadneeka (maternal granddam of Khemosabi) and of the 'Fabulous Fadjur'. Fadjur was leading sire in the 60's leaving around 800 foals.
Back to Halef: Grewing up at Janow Podlaski where he sired only two foals, he had to be evacuated in 1939. Ridden by a corporal, he came to (West) Germany.
Before ending up as a farm horse, the bay stallion was acquired by Getraude Griesbach for her Achental Stud in Bavaria. Mrs. Griesbach was one of the first private German Arabian horse breeders after WW II. Halef was described as a solid and correct horse with less Arabian type though. But he was a perfect match to Griesbach's mares from Babolna bloodlines.
At Aachental, he sired the stallion Kalif and the mares Joschi, Kassandra and Koralle, all excellent broodmares and foundation mares of the German breeding program. Another daughter with influence was Sabine (x Sabha), privately bred by Dr. Kurt Entress, Nuertingen/Germany who was the dam of Sawih Ibn Wisznu (by Wisznu, a Witez son).
Through his successful offspring, Marbach state stud leased him between 1951 and 1958. At Marbach, Halef sired the stallion Haladin and the mares Hathor, Hajar, Hamdi, Hawisad and Haita. The mare Hathor was the dam of Smoky and of the two full-sister Shari and Sanacht, latter who founded her own family in Canada. Hamdi was the dam of Dschadaah, World Senior Champion Mare in Paris.
Descendants of these Marbach daughters are still part of the stud's broodmare band today.
Halef spent his final years at the Osthoff manor near Osnabrueck, Germany where he died in 1964 at the age of 27.
He was credited German Elite stallion postmortem.