The Legend of Viva O Fear: The Horse Who Runs With History
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There is a special horse in Bonita with a story unlike any other.
Long before Viva O Fear thundered across California trails, earning his Decade Team status with the grit only Arabians possess, he had already lived a lifetime of adventure. This flea‑bitten grey gelding raced through Yosemite—where he once met a black bear on the trail—galloped the deer‑filled hills of Tejon Ranch, and climbed the ancient shield volcano of Cima Dome in the Eastern Mojave.
But his story truly begins far from Bonita, on a battlefield in Europe under a sky thick with smoke and destiny.
Viva’s great‑great‑grandfather, Ofir, was among the elite horses gathered by the Germans during World War II—Polish Arabians, Andalusians, and Thoroughbreds collected from across Europe. A 100% desert‑bred stallion from the Middle East, Ofir was part of the famed Polish breeding program. As the Russians advanced from the east and chaos closed in, General George S. Patton—lifelong cavalryman and accomplished horseman—refused to let these noble animals be lost to war.
Through the only negotiated German surrender of the conflict—brokered in part because some German officers loved horses too—Patton ordered the herd rescued, fed, and saved. Many of those horses came to America. Ofir himself did not make the journey, but his son Witraz did, carrying with him the spark of survival that would pass down through generations.
That ember eventually found its way to a colt born in the American West: Viva O Fear—bartered for a painting of Richard Grant, Danny Grant’s father, on horseback. That friendship pulled us into the world of endurance riding: 50‑mile races, 12‑hour days, five vet checks, and horse care always the top priority.
Viva O Fear went on to rack up more than 2,000 competition miles across California. He even shared the trail with Danny at the Bar H Ride in Riverside. Danny Grant—who passed in 2025—earned ten Tevis Buckles, completing the legendary 100‑mile Western States Tevis Cup in under 24 hours. It is the oldest and most prestigious one‑day 100‑mile ride in the world, testing horse and rider across the rugged Sierra Nevada from Lake Tahoe to Auburn, with fewer than half who start ever finishing. I never had the nerve to test myself and Viva on that trail—fifty miles were enough for us.
From the moment he hit the ground, Viva moved like a horse who knew his ancestors had outrun history itself. On the endurance trail, he didn’t just trot—he remembered. Every climb echoed a hill his forebears had survived. Every mile honored the cavalry horses who once carried soldiers, messages, and hope.
By the time he earned his Decade Team honor in 2013, riders whispered that Viva wasn’t just an endurance horse—he was a living archive. Proof that courage can be inherited, and that some bloodlines carry more than genetics. They carry stories.
Now retired from endurance rides, Viva O Fear carries a new generation. My granddaughter Jaina, at just two years old, says, “I want to ride Fir.” I hold her as we walk around the yard, her tiny hands on his mane, her face glowing with contentment. My dream is to see her, her sister, and her cousins all ride Viva in the Rohr Park horse arena when they’re older—and one day follow him onto the trail.
At home on our small Bonita ranch, when the wind shifts just right, you can almost hear the echo of hooves from another continent, another century. Viva O Fear lifts his head, ears pricked, as if saluting the ancestor who survived a war so he could one day fly across Rohr Park, delighting children, posing for photos, and showing the world the magic of the Arabian horse.
A horse saved by a general.
A descendant who saves the day simply by being himself.
The long braid of war and peace, woven through the lives of humans and horses alike.
By Darrell Jett | January 21, 2026
