Victor Kerr reVisited
ed mar balek, another of those intensely skowronekbred horses, was a 1961 son of safinat Afnas. A sane, good-thinking performer who became a reserve national park champion with Kerr up, exhibited a trainability and athleticism that were typical of so many Crabbet-bred Arabians then and now.
“However, it is only fair to consider the rest of the pedigree. most of the *raffles- and *raseyn-bred horses i have trained also have had *mirage blood, which is often overlooked. i have always found the *mirage-bred horses easy to train—and gifted! Just consider: there is *mirage blood in nearly every Varian Arabian, and in Gai Parada
Venadito Canyon Ranch.
Gene Turner died in 1976 and sagamore Park was closed in 1979. The property was sold and the horses dispersed. At famous horseman Jimmy Dean’s recommendation, Daniel J. Gainey, son of Gainey Fountainhead Arabians founder Daniel C. Gainey, hired Kerr for what became a 10-year position as general manager/trainer of their California operation. The Kerrs left indiana for the santa Ynez Valley. At the magnificent, 1,800-acre showplace ranch, Kerr found a second group of Arabian horses intensely linebred to skowronek, this time through his grandsons Ferseyn (by *raseyn) and Azraff (by *raffles). The unmistakable Gainey “look” was perpetuated in every succeeding generation with remarkably little alteration from the original. Were all those energetic genetic connections to skowronek what handed Ferzon (Ferneyn x Fersara, by Ferseyn), his son Gai Parada (x Azleta, by Azraff), and *naborr and his descendants their beautiful, easily recognized phenotypes and willing temperaments? “i have had many close-up skowronek descendants, and most have been easy and good to train,” Kerr responds.
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and most of the Gainey Arabians. many Arabians have *mirage blood.” in 1988, after 10 years at Gainey’s, the Kerrs spent a year at Al-marah Arabians, waiting at the Tucson ranch until Al-marah’s Flagstaff facility was completed. They spent a year in Flagstaff, the historic mountain community north of Phoenix. Then came a call from Gainey’s accountant. Would they talk to a mr. shapiro, owner of a world-class equestrian estate on the santa barbara coast? shapiro raised Longhorn cattle and horses (not Arabians). Would they consider managing the property until it sold? Yes, they would, and moved to Venadito Canyon ranch in 1993. “They were the most wonderful people to work for,” Detta remembers. “The ranch sold in 2000, but the new owners had us stay on until 2004. Victor’s retirement brought us to Texas, to be near our daughter, melissa. melissa now lives in new mexico, but we have no plans to relocate.” Detta now lives in Lago Vista, outside Austin. “i am 17 miles away from Victor’s nursing home.”