They were the first cowboys in the region. She learned horse training methods that derived from this tradition. In her teens, she was mentored in horsemanship by Morgan horse breeder and cattle rancher Mary "Sid" Spencer. The Spencer property, called Forsyth Ranch, was near Arroyo Grande on land that is now under Lopez Lake. Spencer helped Varian learn the underlying principles of training and riding horses, how to work cattle in the mountains, and introduced her to "vaquero" training methods. Spencer also did all of her own ranch work including shoeing, gelding, horse training, baling hay, and truck repairs. She learned how to handle well-trained horses by riding one of the Spencer family's finished Morgans, a gelding named Little Horse. With Spencer's help, she also learned to recognize correct conformation and balance in horses. After learning traditional "vaquero" methods of training from Spencer and others, Varian modified her training methods in her twenties, after meeting Tom Dorrance. He introduced her to his "soft approach" of working with horses, and his methods were an additional influence on Varian's training philosophy. Varian utilized "vaquero"-influenced methods in training her horses, but believed that modern well-bred horses need a gentler approach, stating, "All good horses, like smart children, need good instruction, but they don't need harsh instruction." Varian was one of a very few experts in the 21st century who was still teaching about "vaquero" equipment, methods, and history. She had a strong interest in the history of the spade bit horse in California. The spade is an elaborate, complex bit that can only be properly used on a highly trained horse handled by a skilled rider. In the "vaquero" tradition, its use represents the highest level of trust and communication between horse and rider. The process of training the spade bit horse takes five to seven years to complete. Its emphasis has always been on producing a finely tuned working horse and partner, emphasizing quality rather than on how quickly the goal is reached. The conformation of the horse is also a factor; to become a spade bit horse, the animal must be bred to have a higher neck set and well-carried head. Varian compared the ride and handling of a horse trained in this manner to that of a Jaguar automobile. Traditionally, the "vaquero" method starts a young horse using a hackamore, which is headgear that uses a heavy rawhide noseband, called a bosal instead of a bit to control the horse.