| Bint Helwa
GSB #140 Egypt #121 Color: Grey Sex: Mare Foaled: 1887 Died: 1907 Sire: Aziz (Harkan x Aziza) Dam: Helwa (Shueyman x Horra) Breeder: Ali Pasha Sherif. Purchased in 1896 by Wilfrid Blunt and Lady Anne Blunt as a foundation mare for their Crabbet Arabian Stud in Egypt (Sheykh Obeyd) . Dam of 7 registered foals (4 colts and 3 fillies) including her daughter *Ghazala, a mare of tremendous significance for her tail female influence. When visiting this stud (Crabbet Park/cp) in September 1905, the writer [Borden] had first one and then another particularly attractive animal pointed out as the offspring of "the broken-legged mare". Finally he asked "What is the broken-legged mare, and where is she?" "You shall see," said Lady Anne Blunt, leading the way to a box stall, of which Bint Helwa was the sole occupant. Here we saw a broken-legged mare sure enough. Were it not for her injury she is such a beauty, pure white, with a head such as Schreyer would seek as a model! But, her off fore leg! This was broken between the knee and shoulder so that it wobbled loosely. Her shoulder was also broken, and the gentle creature stands always on three legs, the fourth can support no weight, the toe just touches the ground, and when she would move about the mare rears a bit, hops around with the good front leg, dragging the poor useless member. The exclamation was spontaneous, "For heaven's sake how long has that mare been in that condition?" "Oh, for eight years" answered Lady Blunt. Then she told the story ~ 'Bint Helwa had come from the Egyptian stud [Sheykh Obeyd] with two other mares [Johara and Fulana] and the three turned to pasture together on arrival in England. In the evening the other two came up to the stables but Bint Helwa was missing. On searching, she was found in a ditch. She had jumped the enclosing fence of the pasture, landed in the ditch so that her leg and shoulder were terribly broken, and the other mares following had jumped on top of her, breaking two of her ribs. As she was within six weeks of foaling it was decided not to destroy her, but take her to the stable and try to save the foal. The mare was gotten out on to a drag, pulled as gently as possibly to her box stall, suspended in slings, and cooling applications made to the injured parts. The breaks were too extensive to knit, but such was the soundness of her health and constitution that the days passed and no rise in her temperature ensued. When the day came for her foal to be born, she was lowered gently in the stall, the little one came into the world all right, and since that time the mare has bred seven perfect foals. Now in 1906, the broken-legged mare is 19 years old and she is due to foal this spring." Sadly this beautiful chestnut filly by Mesaoud mentioned in Spencer Borden's story above died as a yearling caused from what is believed to have been a case of the disease of Strangles, but Bint Helwa's several other foals played significant roles in carrying forth the Crabbet Stud's foundation bloodlines. In addition to her daughter *Ghazala's dynastic dam line strength and influence, Bint Helwa's Mesaoud son Harb sired *Rodan, and her daughters Hilmyeh by Ahmar and Hamasa by Mesaoud founded strong international dam lines. Of special interest is that Bint Helwa was the only Blunt foundation mare other than Rodania to have three line-founding daughters, but Rodania does not actually breed on through a son as does Bint Helwa through her son Harb. The Bint Helwa dam line eventually and regretfully died out at Crabbet in 1918, though in later years it was returned to England through two mares descending from the Bint Helwa granddaughter Gulnare. Source of quotation: Borden, Spencer. The Arab Horse. Doubleday, Page & Company, New York, New York. 1906. pp. 60-63. |
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