A Living Legend

There are moments in life you will never forget, and as Om El Sanadiva made her first steps on European soil the Heckenbücker family was thrilled by that little filly they had been eagerly awaiting for.

No pictures nor video could give justice to what Ralf’s eyes saw in that container. The two other horses standing next to Om El Sanadiva were hardly seen, Ralf only had eyes for her.

Her name already reveals were she comes from. She was born in California at the world wide famous Om El Arab International in 1990. Sired by the famous Sanadik El Shaklan and out of the beautiful De La Reina, Sanadiva has become along the years a living legend giving birth to some of the most famous horses in Europe.

For sure a once in lifetime mare. What a treasure she is for the Heckenbücker family and for the whole Arabian horse business. “Om El Sanadiva is the queen of our farm, and she knows it very well” – Ralf says.

At the age of only two she gained the highest merit a show horse can aim to: the World Champion Title. On the lead of her trainer Frank Spönle, Sanadiva conquered the judges in Paris and became World Champion filly. The following year Frank leased her and decided to breed her to Kubinec. This was the beginning of a legacy of champions sired by these two amazing horses. This first mating gave birth to FS Bengali, who gathered honours all over the globe, among them the title of Scottsdale and US National champion stallion.

FS Bengali was the first of a long list of full siblings, all of them speaking for the qualities of their parents.

Somebody named this combination the “ideal match”: besides FS Bengali this mating gave birth to Bay Diva, who was named European Champion Filly, Sweet Sanadiva who became German National Champion Filly and his brother Shakaar Ibn Sanadiva, National Reserve Champion Stallion who has been consistently siring champion offspring.

Because of the many champions Sanadiva gave birth to, the VZAP (German Arabian Breeding Association) named her “elite mare”. And as one more marit to this mare, recently her son FS Bengali was himself named “elite stallion” because of the many successful offspring he sired.

Being a big fan of El Shaklan and being tempted to change stallion for Sanadiva, Ralf picked the tipey CH El Brillo. The resulting colt pleased him so much that the year after he repeated the cross hoping for a filly and his expectation were fullfilled.

Ralf’s breeding intuition made his small farm well known all over the world. As the famous Ansata Sinan came to Europe he sent to him Sanadiva’s full sister, Om El Deladiva. The resulting filly became known as Bint Deladiva, an especially feminine grey mare who was named National Champion Filly and later on sold to Ajman Stud, UAE.

One of Ralf’s regrets is that he never sent Om El Sanadiva to Ansata Sinan, but at that time the cross with Kubinec was so successfull and special that he didn’t feel like changing such a winning team. “I never saw foals with such extreme heads, overall type and presence” – Ralf says.

Ralf, his wife Patrizia and their daughter Lisa treasure this mare as part of their family. She is really the queen of the barn and what a picture it is to walk through their stable and see this amazing mare sorrounded by her beautiful daughters.
Ralf, Patrizia and Lisa have one big passion for the Arabian horses and share their lives with them.

Om El Sanadiva is now 18 years “young”. Her presence and charisma are the same as always. Her feminine and attractive look still catches everybody’s eyes as you walk to her and she looks at you with her deep black eyes.

The words of the breeder – Jay Constanti

To me, Om El Sanadiva will always have a special place in my heart. In 1989 we leased De La Reina. We believed this feminine and elegant mare would be an ideal cross with Sanadik El Shaklan.
In the spring of 1990 De La Reina gave birth to a delicate baby, with a fine, exotic face. I watched the foaling and I found myself staring at amazement to this little filly with the sea-horse face that we would name Om El Sanadiva. Sandik El Shaklan and De La Reina proved to be a magical cross.
Looking back we now know that she was the start for the creation of an internationally acclaimed breeding program for the Heckenbücker family and the beginning of a legendary dinasty.