The following is from a letter written by Deborah Dows to the charter members of The Southlands Foundation in January, 1988.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

          “When I started Southlands 50 years ago I did so principally because of the land, which I have loved all my life.  When my father died I came home.  Fox Hollow had always been home to me.  In Pup’s will his land was left to we 3 children.  As my share I took the southlands of Fox Hollow farm.  From conception to 10 years I lived on Fox Hollow full time.  My father was a landsman.  I adored him and followed him about as he walked over the farm checking the fences &the animals, inspecting the many buildings & directing the work force.  He talked to me constantly too about the needs of the land, the needs & comfort of animals both domestic & wild & what was possible & what was not practical to do with his land.

          From 11-21 I saw the world, staying for various amounts of time in 39 countries.  Meeting people from all walks of life, from members of reigning royal families to fellow “wanderers” searching garbage cans in the early mornings.  My living accommodations from palaces to haystacks & many other places in between. 

          As I was growing up I had seen my Father destroyed by the land that he loved.  One of the early millionaires, Fox Hollow ate up the dollars.  What he had made so beautiful he could not afford to keep.  Little by little the money got less, parts of the farm were shut down, the staff reduced.  One of the last winters I spent there, in mid-teens, we had 2 in help in the house & 2 outdoors.  Pup did most of the cooking, which he loved to do & did well, & took care of the running of the place, ran the errands in the village & spent part of the day at the Beekman Arms which he owned & operated.  The animals were sold, the southlands leased to a tenant farmer; the main house became a school for girls & the smaller houses were rented; a full time manager ran the B.A. & Pup moved to England where he died 7 yrs later.  At the time there was no extra money.  I already knew how fast money went-how easy it was to spend-how hard it was to keep.  I had seen enough of the world.  All I wanted was to stay home, live on the land and somehow be able to afford to keep it & make it produce in a way that could last happily for many.

          In the late 30ties teaching was what I could do.  Land, animals& people were what I understood.  Combining my ability with my interests the Southlands developed into a unique school aiming to teach all ages respect & love for land & it’s animals both wild & tame.  In July 1983 TSF was born taking over the land & business I had started.  TSF is a teaching operation.  That is how we began & how, according to our charter, we must continue.  S’lands Farm survived 50 years.  TSF should survive for another 50 not losing sight of the original aims.  I am tired.  I have worked very hard for many years.  I want to enjoy my last few years knowing S’lands is in good hands.  I want to live &die here.  I have never wanted to keep ‘up with the Joneses’.  I knew I couldn’t.  TSF can’t either.  We must do the best job that we can with what we have & money is not something we have in quantity. 

          The land will live on somehow.  Now no longer threatened by future development.  Hopefully now also being able to keep on being productive for the good of many.  But if it is to survive well for the next 50 years we must concentrate on it’s uniqueness & not let it become just another riding stable, breeding farm or sales barn.  As the world about us changes we must remain the same, changing only slightly with the times but staying small; keeping our versatility of activities; being the best in our teaching of riding & horse sports & instilling in our students a respect for, & love of the land & all it’s animals.  We have taught mightly little husbandry lately & yet that is part of what we profess to teach.  Husbandry as a noun means farming.  As a verb it means to manage thriftily-economize-careful management of plants, livestock, land.  Stable management & horse husbandry are not synonymous. 

          We have the land.  We have the facilities.  Pray let us use them again.  Knowledge of & love of the land brings a sense of security which seems sorely lacking in the youth of to-day.  A month does not go by in which I do not receive a letter from a former student telling me what S’lands meant to him/her when he/she was here as a child.  Some tell of their riding but more tell about learning to love the land & the creatures on it-to understand growing things- to learn to live & let live- & how their time spent on S’lands helped them cope better with the problems in their individual live.”