History & Heritage
About Phillips Connell “Phil” Witter
Founded in 1972 by Phillips Connell “Phil” Witter at historic Cedar Lodge in Baton Rouge, Live Oak Arabians grew into an internationally recognized breeding, training, and showing program.
For decades, Phil and the Witter family devoted themselves to the Arabian horse, celebrating its beauty, intelligence, athleticism, and versatility. Their program encompassed purebred Arabians, Half-Arabians, National Show Horses, and American Saddlebreds, with an emphasis on thoughtful breeding, exceptional bloodlines, and generations of carefully developed horses.
Among the notable stallions associated with Live Oak were *Galbor, *Werbor, The Maestro, Krewe+, Meistermind, Musik Man, and Toi Soldier. Horses carrying the distinctive LOA name earned recognition in show rings across the country. By 2020, farm records documented more than 1,100 championships and nearly 1,200 additional top-five finishes.
Beyond these accomplishments, Live Oak Arabians fostered lasting friendships, enriched the equestrian community, and became an important chapter in the history of Cedar Lodge.
Though the breeding program has concluded, its influence lives on through generations of horses, their accomplishments, and the people whose lives were touched by Live Oak Arabians.
Witter calls the Arabian-horse family, his second family. He remains grateful to the Arabian horse which shaped his life, family, and the farm itself.
“Stewardship, to me, means understanding that although this is my home and property, it is also a part of the history of Baton Rouge. The best thing we can do is share it, recognizing this very special place has survived here for centuries. The land, buildings, trees, animals, and family stories are all part of that inheritance. Protecting them does not mean closing the gates, but welcoming visitors in ways that respect the land and allow it to thrive.” —PCW
Phillips Connell “Phil” Witter has been part of Live Oak at Cedar Lodge since childhood, when he learned to fish its waters, ride its horses, and work alongside the men who cared for the land. After earning his undergraduate and law degrees from Vanderbilt University and pursuing further study in international law in Europe, he returned to Baton Rouge in 1971 to manage his family’s agricultural interests and preserve the property he had always loved.