Barakah yesterday after two years
I was pleased to see how my 2016 mare Barakah Al Arab (Wadd Al Arab x Jadah BellOfTheBall) had developed over the past two and a half years. I left her a gangly two year old, and she has filled up since. She certainly has some more growing to do.
Wadd improved the shoulder angle and the length of the shoulder, added much needed depth of girth and breadth of ribcage; he left the head pretty much the same as her mother’s, except for adding more distance between the eyes, the ears are as long and prickled as her mother’s.
On the other hand, Belle’s beautiful level croup and highly set tail are gone; instead Barakah inherited Wadd’s slightly sloping croup and the short hip which is a legacy his dam Wisteria. When going you don’t notice it as much. I did not pay as much attention to her feet as I should have. Overall, Barakah is an improvement over Belle, without having lost her “desert” look.
By the way, I feel breeders needs to be as openly candid about their horses as they can, if they want to improve on them in the long term, especially if they do not breed for sale and profit (what profit?). A barn-blind breeder is his/her worst enemy.
Well, 5 years old looks good on Barakah. She has definitely filled out since her photos a couple years ago. The multiple generation Kuhaylan Haifi of Wadd is probably what added width between her eyes. I tend to find some Kuhaylan Krush Davenports to be a bit narrower in that respect or possibly it is perspective, as I think they may have slightly longer skulls vertically, JMHO. I wish I could see her hindquarters in a side view. Overall, she has improved nicely with maturity.
I added a photo. I agree that the narrow forehead in Belle comes through her Krush sire. Her dam Belladonna had a broad forehead, and so did her grand-dam judging from the photos.
Oh, yes, it is very obvious that Wadd is her sire. Prepotent!