Who We Are...
The idea for Stillmeadow Arabians was conceived back in 1960 when Dorothy Donovan, a model for Clairol and herself a third generation horsewoman, was sent on a photo shoot to Beverly Hills, California, where she fell in love with the beauty of Arabian horses and convinced her new husband the dashing naval officer, Douglas, to purchase a small acreage where she could pursue her lifelong dream of breeding elegant horses.
Enrolling at Cal-Poly Tech, she became friends with artist Gladys Brown Edwards who introduced her to Earl & Frances Hurlbutt, the owners of * Witez11, and the Founder of the Arabian Horse Association. Dorothy, whose grandfather had carriage horses in Austria, fell in love with *Witez 11, speaking to him in Polish, soon acquired a lovely young mare named, Nateza, a daughter of * Witez 11 and Nafalla, who became her first foundation mare for the Stillmeadow breeding program. She selected Fadjur, premier stallion at the Jack Tone Ranch , to breed her mares to, and soon expanded to 20 acres in the Santa Ynez Valley, which became the new home of Stillmeadow Farm, a picturesque setting for the foals from Dorothy's winning broodmare band .Here she raised her first stallion, Na Ibn Fadjur, who's pedigree reads like Who's Who, tracing to Fadjur on the top and Witez 11 on the tail female line.
Dorothy became close friends with Dan Gainey of the Gainey Ranch, whose Gai Parada , double National Champion Stallion, was her next choice to cross with her select broodmare band. Some of the resulting foals from those crosses were purchased by Count Ziggy Thyssen of Argentina, as a nucleus for his Arabian herd. It was about that time that Dorothy decided to purchase a straight Egyptian stallion, selecting Ramses es Shams as her herd sire from Plum Grove Farm (Martin Loeber ) as the ideal outcross for her mares.
Kathy relates a favorite story of her Mom's:
"My Dad, Doug, and I were in Canada at the Canadian Nationals when Dorothy, sitting at the Santa Barbara show with Dr. Gene La Croix and Gladys Brown Edwards, was summoned to take an Emergency phone call. Returning to the box seats, Dorothy was in tears. Concerned, Dr. La Croix asked what had happened and Dorothy , regaining her composure, told him that she was crying tears of joy, her young homebred stallion, JurMeadow, had just tied Canadian Top Ten and Junior Champion Stallion!"
Dorothy often rode out with one of her neighbors on his Arabian horse. Ronald Reagan loved to ride around the scenic valley, and he and Dorothy would discuss Arabian bloodlines at great length.
Her close friend, Gladys Brown Edwards, was generous with her extensive knowledge of Arabians, and assisted Dorothy in carefully selecting the ideal matings for her breeding program, producing many winning halter and performance horses. Seven original GBE paintings are a precious part of Stillmeadow Farm's art collection.