Halo-A poor man's Northern Dancer?

[Shawklit Won]

I don't know why, but I didn't realize until recently how closely related Halo was with Northern Dancer. Both have the same grand dam, Almahmoud, and both are from Nearco's male line (not very uncommon these days, but a little more back in the day).

Northern Dancer is a grandson of Nearco through his son Nearctic, and Halo is a great, great grandson of Nearco through Royal Charger, Turn-to, and Hail To Reason. Northern Dancer's dam is Natalma, a daughter of Almahmoud, whereas Halo's dam is Cosmah, also a daughter of Almahmoud (Almahmoud was one great broodmare).

While Northern Dancer became arguably the greatest stallion in thoroughbred history (a million dollar stud fee at one time), Halo has never really caught on as a commercial stallion in this country, even though he sired some really good racehorses, including 2 Kentucky Derby winners (Sunday Silence and Sunny's Halo).

The Halo line seems to be getting scarce in the United States (although More Than Ready is doing pretty well). The best of the Halo's either get sent to a foreign county or die due to accident or something at an early age. Sunday Silence went to Japan where he became the dominant stallion there, and Roses In May also was sent to Japan. Saint Liam died as a result of a paddock accident after only siring one crop of horses. Sunriver, a very promising stallion, died of what appeared to be a heart attack after only siring 2 crops of foals. Saint Ballado, a very good sire, died after only siring a few crops in Kentucky.

Meanwhile. the Halo line has flourished in some other countries like Japan (Sunday Silence), and Argentina (8 time leading sire Southern Halo).

I hope that Halo's line makes a comeback in this country. I would hate to lose it, even if it continues to thrive in other places.

[Marsalon]

Agreed. I love Halo and what his genes bring to the breeding table. Here in California, Little Tyler was a great source for Halo but the current Halo stallions are having a tough go of it. Halo blood tends to yield a horse that will run on virtually any surface, being especially good in the mud. Halo's tend to be durable and extremely competitive. I've noticed a number of horses I've owned with Halo blood had bi-polar, light switch personalities that were reasonably nice most of the time but hell-hath-no-furry if you crossed them. Currently, my favorite stallion with Halo blood is Devil His Due. A stud that typically produces an iron foal that has a long, fiesty racing career.

[xfactor fan]

Didn't the Halos have a reputation of being mean, and a bit "common"? Kind of like the Dynaformers?

[karenkarenn]

ITs a myth that they are mean, my Devil His Due mare doesn't have a meaness in her.

[Bast]

ITs a myth that they are mean, my Devil His Due mare doesn't have a meaness in her.

Halo himself was not mild mannered. He was wearing a muzzle when I saw him in Maryland.

[karenkarenn]

That doesn't mean anything.
Any person can muzzle their horse at any time and give the wrong impression. They could have muzzled him like people here, maybe they didn't want him to graze because he could have eaten too much, became too fat, God only knows.
The question is to HALOS and no not all horses related to Halo have a meaness to them.

[Bast]

That doesn't mean anything.
Any person can muzzle their horse at any time and give the wrong impression. They could have muzzled him like people here, maybe they didn't want him to graze because he could have eaten too much, became too fat, God only knows.
The question is to HALOS and no not all horses related to Halo have a meaness to them.

Round Table wore a muzzle because of his nervous habit of pulling out his own hair.

But comments from handlers made me believe that Halo had attitude. Northern Dancer wasn't wearing one that day.

[Howch664]

My gelding, Valid Diablo, with Halo 3 generations back is definitely not a pleasant horse to be around, nor has he ever. Always pinning his ears back and tosses his head at you, tries to nip you when you saddle him, even if you walk past his stall let alone go inside. He is not pleasant at all. Not only does his "crustyness" get displayed against humans in his pathway, he also will go out of his way to try and trample cats and small dogs.

Other people at our barn think I am crazy, but the goal when dealing with my gelding is to touch and bother him as little as possible. You haven't met unruly until you have met my gelding.

We have always attributed his behavior to his breeding, as from research there are several horses that were not pleasant to deal with. I have heard his sire Diablo, was also a nasty one to be around.

[pfrsue]

That doesn't mean anything.
Any person can muzzle their horse at any time and give the wrong impression.

Or, maybe he was just a real nasty actor:

SOURCE: http://www.stallions.com.au/stallions/r ... llion=Halo

Exerpt:

His home for the remainder of his life was Stone Farm in Kentucky and the farm’s owner Arthur Hancock III recalled Halo as a medium sized horse with adequate bone. “He was well balanced and possessed of a fierce temperament at times. He is the only horse I’ve ever been around whose eye resembled that of a shark. It seemed as though he never looked directly at you, but you knew he saw and monitored every move you made,” he said. “When he came from Windfields he wore a muzzle which we eventually removed.

He did fine for a few months and then, bam, he attacked the stallion man, Randy Mitchell. He picked him up by reaching around and grabbing him in the stomach. He then lowered him to the ground and got down on his knees to “go to work” on him. Luckily, I always had two men turn him out and Virgil Jones ran up and hit Halo with his fist which caused him to come to his senses. From thence forth he wore the muzzle. “His offspring never sold well because they were not at all precocious. They were well made but did not seem to mature until later.

[karenkarenn]

See heres the problem with that I have been around horses long enough to know what TESTOSTERONE does to a male horse.
Hell yeah ANY stallion can get mean.
Was it breeding season when he struck?
Your talking about animals, people here not humans. What do you expect?? You can't blame Halo or any other stallion for acting up and you can't blame genetics.
By the way Shawklit
I see you have failed to meantion other studs like Devil His Due who is not a monster and Devils Bag as well. I guess when you decide to pool a very small portion of horses that have had terrible accidents and or deceased you can have a very dim view of the Halo line. I guess if people looked through your looking glass they would all be dead.
You have also forgotten the mares that he has made to...and I don't think they are " Poor man" anything.
Personally your small clippings to give reason that Halo was bad in attitude and a "Poor mans" anything is very offensive. You have taken a great sire, a sire among sire that has proven himself and trashed his name.

[Marsalon]

I never met Halo but I spent some time with his son, Lil Tyler. Tyler would run across his paddock to "greet" any visitor with a vicous bite, any season, any time of year, and under any circumstances. He was a nasty little bastard.

Our big horse, Real Temptation, was the son of Lil Tyler. He wasn't exactly mean but had absolutely no patience for people. If presented with a treat his attitude was to pin his ears and stomp his feet as if to say, "Gimme that damn cookie." On the race track he was a professional and loved to compete.

Another Lil Tyler (Halo grandson) I owned was Zyler. Zyler was a claim that turned out to be a horrible bleeder. I sold him after a couple of races to be a jumper. He was absolutely dangerous to all barn personel. Grooming him was a very intimidating experience and you never did anything with this horse in the confines of a stall.

Both of my Devil His Due fillies are sweet but will turn on you in an instant. One was nuzzling my son recently, then when he stuck some wormer in her mouth, spun and fired. He was laid out for a week and lucky she only caught him in the thigh.

I love Halos as competitive, money-making racehorses but they are not pets.

[karenkarenn]

Pfrsue
You have taken a comment that doesnt make any sense.
Devils Bag-- champ 2 year old --- does that ring a bell? Oh course he sired horses that ran when they were two. I don't know why your brought up an old article when the past has already been proven.
Secondly, You posted an article that is biased against Halo.
First what was going on at the time? Were there mares near? Was it feeding time? Was it breeding time for him? Was there another stallion present that was on his territory? What was going on in the background? Did the stallion smell anything unusual? Did he feel like he had to defend himself?



So many questions but the article doesn't give a picture that explains anything.!

[pfrsue]

Karenkarenn, did you get up on the wrong side of bed this morning or what?

I hope that Halo's line makes a comeback in this country. I would hate to lose it, even if it continues to thrive in other places.

By "poor man's" Shawklit is simply saying that she/he thinks that Halo is not as popular in this country as he perhaps deserves to be, and that some of that had to do with a.) promising Halo line sires being sold out of the country (Sunday Silence) and b.) untimely deaths (Saint Liam, Saint Ballado, Sunriver.) Why the heck should you feel insulted by someone wishing that his line does well???

As far as nasty stallions, some lines truly do seem to be notoriously predisposed toward problematic dispositions...while others are not. Some have nice personalities and some do not, regardless of bloodlines.

I worked with one very kind stallion who stood like a rock when a groom had a grand mal seizure in his stall and rolled right under him. And yes, it was in the middle of breeding season. I knew another stallion at the same farm who would test you every step of the way and take a chunk out of you if he thought he could get away with it. They both had testosterone. They were also two very different personalities.

It's nice that you have a sweet Devil His Due mare, but if Arthur Hancock III said Halo was unpredictably nasty, why argue the point? And for pete's sake, why go after Shawklit for wishing better things for the Halo line, of which your mare is a representative?

[karenkarenn]

Pfrsue
This topic is about the Halo Meaness------- People here are bashing him because of articles of the past that state it w/o providing all that was going on that day, and because of situational behavior--
Didn't you get that from my last posts?

Its not that hard to figure out.
2nd. That is nice that you had a nice stallion, probably because you understood everything about the horse and treated it with great respect and kindness. Thats probably why the horse was kind to begin with, but i have personally seen idiots being hired that don't know what they are doing, claim that the horse is acting up and they simply don't understand horses.

[pfrsue]

This topic is about the Halo Meaness

It might be now, but it was not when it started.

Pfrsue
You have taken a comment that doesnt make any sense.
Devils Bag-- champ 2 year old --- does that ring a bell?

Yes it does. I was a huge fan of his when he was racing and was very disappointed when he had to be retired. I also liked Devil His Due, but I'll cop to having liked Easy Goer more than Sunday Silence...just one person's opinion.

Secondly, You posted an article that is biased against Halo.

In fact, I posted an excerpt from the reference sire portion of http://www.stallions.com.au/ The essay on Halo, written by David Bay, is from "Great Thoroughbred Sires Of The World." It is certainly not biased against Halo, but it does mention his personality which was the point I was making. Despite your earlier conjecture, Halo didn't wear a muzzle to keep his tummy from getting too chubby. He wore it because he was unpredictable and a danger to his handlers. If you'd bothered to follow the link, you would have known that. It takes nothing away from his athletic talent or his ability to pass that talent on.

Lastly, I have never, ever, justified vicious behavior in a stallion, mare or gelding, no matter how many hormones were involved, what the season was, the phase the moon, if the mares had been reading "100 Ways To Turn On Your Stud" in Cosmo, or if there were wolves and lions circling the paddock. I'm rather surprised that you would, but to each their own.

Just out of curiosity, how many stallions have you managed?