About Sheila Varian
Sheila Varian (August 8, 1937 – March 6, 2016) was an American breeder of Arabian horses who lived and worked at the Varian Arabians Ranch near Arroyo Grande, California. She grew up with a strong interest in horses, and was mentored in horsemanship by Mary "Sid" Spencer, a local rancher and Morgan horse breeder who also introduced Varian to the vaquero or "Californio" tradition of western riding. She started her horse ranch, Varian Arabians, in 1954 with the assistance of her parents. Raising and training horses was her full-time occupation beginning in 1963. She used vaquero-influenced methods of training horses, although she adapted her technique over the years to fit the character of the Arabian horse, which she viewed as a horse breed requiring a smart yet gentle approach. Varian produced a number of influential Arabian horses whose bloodlines are found in a significant number of winning Arabian show horses in the United States. She began her breeding program with a small number of mares whom she bred to her national champion stallion, Bay Abi. She then acquired three mares from Arabian farms in Poland at a time when that nation was still behind the Iron Curtain and importation of horses to the United States was very difficult. These mares and Bay Abi formed her foundation bloodstock. As of 2016, the Varian horses at stud represent the sixth generation of her stallion breeding line, and her foundation mare lines have produced nine generations of offspring.
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