Dawn Robyn Petrlik
Founder & Executive Director
Dawn Robyn, Founder and Executive Director, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her bold leadership of Rosemary Farm Sanctuary. Since conceiving of a special place “where horses get to be horses”, she has leveraged her passion and her unique combination of skills to shepherd the development of the organization into a successful GFAS verified 501(c)3 nonprofit and a growing national voice in equine rescue.
Dawn has guided Rosemary Farm for over 14 years, growing the organization from the first few horses and fences to ~100 equines enjoying their mountain home on 240+ acres, the largest equine sanctuary in the Northeast. Her professional experience in NYC combined with more than a decade of formal and hands-on education in equine husbandry and non-profit management serve as a strong basis for leading this endeavor. Her storytelling, combined with fresh eyes on horse welfare, shared in daily musings, have garnered the Sanctuary a worldwide audience of over 340k fans on social media. From daily management to overseeing new barn design, from sharing the vision of a lasting humane future between horses and humans to inspiring donors, all aspects are part of the success of Rosemary Farm.
Dawn’s initial schooling with horses began in childhood, with lesson in general English equitation at a country farm outside of suburban Maryland. This schooling enabled her to continue riding privately at rental stables, a regular highlight for the teen.
Her formal education was in the Arts, and Dawn put herself through school, first at a local community college, then with studies at two different four-year Universities, culminating in a MFA degree from the Yale University School of Drama. Relocating to Brooklyn, NY, she achieved success as an accomplished set and costume designer in theater, TV, live tours, and broadcast specials. Career highlights; Set Designer for the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” (first female to hold this position); Art Director of the “Tony Awards” (five years); First Assistant in Set Design for Baz Luhrman’s “La Boheme on Broadway”; Set Designer for “The Crumple Zone” (directed by Jason Moore, starring Mario Cantone); On-site Designer for Pilobolus Dance Company (Tokyo and Abu Dhabi performances), and a long list of other shows. Dawn also maintained a studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn for her fine art and sculpture, continuing to create and show both traditional and non-traditional works, and curating shows for BWAC. After enjoying a decade of success, Dawn and her husband Robert decided to purchase a retreat in the Catskills, where she could have a larger studio, and he could have a few acres to garden. The farm she fell hopelessly in love was a huge, dilapidated old place called Rosemary Farm.
The new home brought the opportunity to have horses, and Dawn’s education in horse husbandry continued in earnest. There was already a powerful wave of change sweeping through established notions of horse care, fueled by new ideas of compassionate care. The first educators at the farm were a natural hoof trimmer, Geri White, and a trainer, Daniel McCarthy of Catskill Natural Horse. The early horses to arrive were the first “equine instructors”, requiring a leap forward to provide the care and training they needed. Shortly thereafter, learning about slaughter and the dire welfare of many horses in the USA, she attended an auction, a watershed moment that fueled the decision to form a sanctuary to rescue equines in need, and to let horses be horses.
As the population grew at the farm, so did Dawn’s equine training. Clinics and private engagements with Richard Shrake, Leslie Desmond, Faye Benedict, Rick Gore and others, as well as continued weekly study under Daniel McCarthy, continued to advance her equine skills. Lessons ranging from daily care, riding, handling, gentling, to medical care and supervision, to benefit the rescued horses. Along the way, she established Rosemary Farm on social media, chronicling her experiences and her observations, and her communication skills drew in a widening audience, as she reflected upon these lessons.
The special needs of many of the equines welcomed has required study of both medical and psychological needs, and a constant reevaluation regarding what is truly kind, what the horse wants. This education has been infused weekly with the knowledge shared by every DVM engaged to provide care for the special population. Many obscure issues, or neglected and advanced concerns, are tackled with collective skill and humanity. From rescuing unknown stud colts to rescuing world famous thoroughbreds, Dawn has applied her training with daily practice and regular introspection, directly supervising the care of every equine at the Sanctuary.
The daily experience of a life with horses as seen, interpreted and shared through an artist’s eye, make this Sanctuary unique, allowing many to connect, and join the journey, and fall in love.