Robin Ell Doughman

Robin Ell Doughman was exceptional. His wide-ranging life experience is here for you to view and explore. To define him is impossible, but we can open the pages and see him once again. His mother’s photographs give us a glimpse of the childhood that molded his character. Our lives merge together in the pages that follow. Images of Robin’s paintings, his MFA thesis, as well as imagery of our cabinetry, furniture, and other projects track our fifty-year collaboration. The Horseman page includes beautiful images of Robin with horses. Our Mustangs and Mindfulness Training Course used at his Mindfulness Clinics, as well as his other horse related writing are available here for you to read. 

Robin left a legacy of wisdom, accomplishment, and love. My purpose in producing this website is to create a vessel for Robin’s legacy. It is a safe place to hold his work. My intention is to promote all of his work, our work together, and his understanding and approach to horses. It was the same approach he had with everything. I’ve been fortunate and it’s been a pleasure sharing my life with him. The pages here represent the facets of his life: Horseman, Young Robin, Artist, Family, Artisan, and Wilderness.

I thank Donna Mitchell and all at the Spanish Mustang Foundation and the Woodruff Foundation for their help with this project. Vikki Woodruff and her daughter Zenya have been steadfast supporters of Robin’s horsemanship program and clinics for years. Zenya’s grace, attention to form, and grasp of Robin’s technique make her a pleasure to watch with horses. I am grateful to Deborah Samuel and Vladymir Rogov, for the care they’ve taken with this website. Their work is pure art and an act of love. Deborah was a student of Robin’s. They worked with horses together. He said she was one of his best students.

Other students were inspired and are responsible for creating the videos on the site. Three films of Robin working with horses are just a click away and can be viewed on the Horseman page. A slide show created by an old friend is viewable on the Family page.