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Archive Article #8 - 03/25/04

 Hansi Heck-Melnyk

Hansi Heck-Melnyk is a woman driven by an inner fire that is forever fueled by her passion for life and her love of horses. In the saddle from the age of 4, she learned from some of the best Master Dressage instructors. Her extensive first-hand knowledge has been gained through her lifetime as a horsewoman, Grand Prix dressage and jumping equestrian, trainer, and teacher, holder of a racetrack license, and decades of riding hunt with the Eglinton Hunt Club in Canada. Hansi is an accomplished breeder, trainer, and competitor with warmbloods such as Trakehners, Hanoverians, and Holsteiners, but always her first love has been the Asil Arabian horse. Her love for all horses led her to develop a keen eye, able to recognize instantly a good horse from a bad horse.

It wasn’t until 1967 that her dream of owning purebred Arabian horses was finally realized. What extraordinary circumstance took her to Texas on a route that just happened to pass by Gleannloch Farms? She glanced over and saw the most beautiful young colt that she had ever seen and stopped to watch him. Driving up to the ranch house, Hansi met for the first time Doug Marshall who told her he could never part with *Khofo as he was the backup for his herdsire *Morafic. When she was shown *Morafic, Hansi could only stare at him with tears running down her face. She knew she was looking at a great stallion and he indeed went on to become one of the most influential sires of the twentieth century. But she could not turn away from the 2-year-old *Khofo, and pleaded with Doug Marshall to let her buy him. She promised that if anything happened to *Morafic she would send *Khofo back to Gleannloch and eventually, Mr. Marshall could see her heart was lost to the colt and agreed to sell him to her. A friendship was formed between Hansi and the Marshalls that is still strong today.

Earlier in 1967, she had purchased a 165-year-old estate farm in Queensville, Ontario, Canada, and built new stabling and three indoor arenas needed to accommodate the horses for exercise during the long hard winters. The name "Serenity" was selected because the peaceful, beautiful farm contained some 160 acres of excellent land and soil. With the discovery and purchase of *Khofo (Morafic x Nabilahh), Hansi made the switch from warmbloods to straight Egyptian Arabians and never looked back. She says she can train five Egyptians in the time it takes her to train one warmblood due to their exceptional intelligence, willingness, and the fact that they take care of their rider. "*Khofo was the best horse I ever knew," says Hansi. "He produced 252 children, and over half of them became international champions. No other straight Egyptian stallion has yet accomplished this.

In 1968, Serenity became the only privately owned quarantine for the USA and Canada. It was the point of entry for Egyptian horses imported over the next four years and saw the horses that formed the foundation of American straight Egyptian breeding. Hansi personally cared for every horse that came through the quarantine and rode many of them to ensure they received enough exercise and were put in the best possible condition. In the same year and with the assistance of Doug Marshall, Hansi imported five very special mares including the 1971 unanimous US National Champion mare *Serenity Sonbolah (Sameh x Bint Om El Saad). *Khofo was bred to these mares creating the next generation of multichampions in halter and performance. " *Khofo was bred to Gleannloch’s *Magidaa while at the quarantine and she produced Bint Magidaa, the dam of Ruminaja Ali, Ruminaja Bahjat, Ruminaja Majed, Alidarr, and many others. These are the mares that Hansi imported in 1968:

Serenity Sonbolah (1967), National Champion mare
Serenity Shahraa (1966), Triple Supreme Champion mare
Serenity Sabra (1965), Multiple Champion mare
Serenity Sagda (1966), Supreme Champion mare
Serenity Montaha (1966), Champion mare.

 

In 1970, Hansi imported the following mares:

SF Bint Mamlouka (1959), never shown
SerenityBintNadia (1960), Champion mare - shown only once
Serenity Luftia (1967), Multiple Champion mare
SerenityBintNoha (1969), Supreme Champion mare
Serenity Bint Hemmat (1957), deceased in 1970
SerenityAbuSimbel (1969), sold as a yearling.

These championships were earned in Canada and the United States, the horses having been trained and shown mainly by Hansi.

In 1981 the following mares were imported from Germany:

Galila (1980)
Bint Sania (1980), bred by the EAO
Bint Nawal (1980), bred by the EAO.

Over the years, Serenity produced excellent offspring from these great imported mares, and many of them became multiple champions in their own right. Serenity became known as the leading producer and exporter of foundation breeding stock and defeating a "Serenity" horse in the show ring was not an easy achievement. Many non-SE mares were brought to Serenity to top breed with her straight Egyptian stallions. Most of the outcross offspring were exported to several different countries.

In 1973, Hansi went to Egypt looking for another stallion to breed to the daughters of *Khofo. She was able to purchase the 19-year-old *SF Ibn Nazeer (1953), son of the legendary Nazeer out of the beautiful and well-bred Lateefa.  Before his death in 1975, the year he was named Leading Sire in Canada, *SF Ibn Nazeer sired 44 foals, including 24 daughters (12 straight Egyptian) and 20 sons. Although he never produced a son while in Egypt, he produced six straight Egyptian colts for Serenity.

One of *Khofo's remarkable grandsons was SF Untouchable (1976). "Touch" was by SF Ibn Nazeer out of the champion *Khofo daughter Serenity Kamila (1971). At age 4 months he stood about 14.3 and was already Junior Champion. He was severely injured as a yearling running through a farm gate that twisted all around him, cutting up both of his hocks.  The vet was going to put him to sleep, but Hansi would not allow it and placed him in a paddock next to *Khofo.  *Khofo watched over him like a hen."  Touch never did pick up in height because he was fed little to prevent founder during the time of his injury.  When he was four years old, Hansi rode him and says of him "He moved just like Sakr." Touch became an excellent sire, producing 39 daughters and 61 sons, of which there are 17 straight Egyptian daughters and 29 straight Egyptian sons.  He was even used to tease mares with only a halter and light lead shank.  "He was child-safe and had a huge eye and could really fly!  So human was he, that he could even be brought into the house, as was once done with *Khofo."

"All the Serenity stallions have their own large paddock with their own house and automatic water.  All live side-by-side so to speak and cause no problems. All are highly affectionate and love people,

The Serenity herd became world renowned and in 1974 the King of Fujairah, Sheik Hamid el Sharqui, stopped at Serenity on his way to the United Nations to see the famous Serenity Arabians for himself. The staff at Serenity quickly put together a performance for the King that included authentic costume, driving, western pleasure, and English pleasure. Hansi then demonstrated her horses in dressage.

As an accomplished dressage rider and instructor, Hansi evaluates horses with an eye to athleticism based on correct conformation.  She schooled many horses in the basics of dressage for the purpose of evaluating their suitability as breeding stock, and she daily exercised the horses in her care while they were in her quarantine.

In 1976, Hansi moved the herd to Florida to escape the hard Canadian winters. There she established what is today known as Serenity Arabian Farms, a name recognized worldwide as synonymous with excellence. She still maintains her residence in Canada while leaving adequate staff in Florida to take care of the horses during her visits to Ontario. Serenity still has some 45 straight Egyptians including the 2003 crop of 10 foals -- 4 fillies and 6 colts. Serenity will not breed from a stallion that has not been tested by them and they still have the following straight Egyptian stallions:

SF Ibn Lateef (1976)
Serenity Ibn Khofo (1977)
Serenity Mamlouk (1979)
Serenity Lazan (1986)
AK Shah Munifeh (1988)
Serenity La Khofo (1993)
Serenity Mujib (1993)
Serenity Muhamid (1995)
Serenity Aruf (1997)

Sadly in 2002, Hansi lost SF Untouchable (1976) and Serenity Aristu (1981). Serenity Inifeh (1995) was sold to Lee and Dennis Ackerman in Monument, Colorado as was Serenity Aruf (1997). They also stand Serenity Taruf (SF Untouchable x Serenity Marufa), and other Serenity-bred stallions.

The contributions of Hansi Heck-Melnyk spring from a lifetime dedicated to the research, breeding, and preservation of the Asil Egyptian Arabian horse.  Her philosophy led to the production of horses that are both beautiful and capable of great athletic feats.  When you hear people talk about "true Arabian movement," think about the Serenity horses that move the way the desert horse evolved -- beautifully illustrated by this picture of Serenity Sharaf.  Only perfect confirmation moves out like this, and Serenity horses were all proven as performance athletes before they were incorporated into the Serenity breeding program.  Consistently, Hansi has bred the finest bloodlines and dispersed them to others who are equally dedicated to the preservation of purity.

In addition to her extensive breeding program, Hansi invited young ladies to become students, to learn everything about horses "from the womb to the tomb." She gave many lessons to beginners free of charge to educate them with the Arabian horses. A few of them graduated after two years and held high, well-paid positions with other establishments. Universities also used to send her students, ready to graduate, for their last 90 days to earn extra credits. This included Ted Gibson, from Cal-Poly. Hansi has given seminars on Arabian horses in South America and Europe, never promoting her own, but encouraging others and teaching them to understand the sensitivity of the straight Egyptian Arabians. She never charged for any of her seminars. Always keeping the welfare and promotion of straight Egyptian Arabians foremost, Hansi was a founder of the Pyramid Society and serves as a Director on the board of the Asil Club.

From a very early age, Hansi’s love for Arabian horses led her into the addictive world of research. Her many books have preserved irreplaceable documents and facts gathered in personal trips and interviews to every country she could visit in her tireless search for information about the origins of every straight Egyptian horse she could find.  A serious writer, Hansi published her works herself in order to ensure quality and selective distribution through limited edition publication.  Each volume of her massive work is numbered and signed. Her quest sent her to foreign countries all over the world and she has established relationships that have lasted a lifetime and stretch from the sands of the desert to every major breeding center in the world. Wherever she could track down a bloodline or find another source, she spared no expense in authenticating and documenting her research. Hansi knew that the data she was discovering was priceless and must be shared with others and so has published some 24 books, including the most important work, the Straight Egyptian Index in six volumes. In it, she lists straight Egyptians and their ancestors from day one until 1993, including progeny, birth date, breeder, strains, exported or imported, labels such as Blue List, etc. Another of her books outlines in detail horses with questionable pedigrees and/or insufficient available data needed to clearly define their status as straight Egyptian.

Hansi has never quit verifying facts and welcomes all new information and corrections, putting aside her ego to collect and preserve information to support her beloved Egyptian Arabian horses. Her books are sold out except for a few complete sets of the Straight Egyptian Index that she holds, and they will not be reprinted. To the best of my knowledge, no other publication containing such detail and consequence is available anywhere in the world. Hansi is known around the world as one of the foremost researchers of Egyptian Arabian horses as well as other bloodlines.

Hansi Heck-Melnyk has devoted her life to her beloved horses. She has given everything to preserving straight Egyptian Arabian horses and helping others to do the same. She has given selflessly of her time and research in an effort to educate others, promote the breed, and ensure their survival. She has done more than document history – she has become a part of it.

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