On any given day, the first person you will meet at Mitchell Farm is Dee
Doolittle our Executive Director and Jill of all trades! Dee’s warm
smile and welcoming attitude is well received by both two-legged visitors
and the four-legged residents. Dee, a horse owner for most of her life,
comes to Mitchell Farm with a wealth of talent and equine knowledge. She
draws on training acquired in the Veterinary Technician program at Becker
College and the pre-veterinary program at UMass. She practiced as a Vet
Tech for many years in Connecticut and Virginia. It was as equine manager
of High Hopes Therapeutic Riding, Inc. that she discovered her love of
older horses.
She
states that there is something wise and wonderful about them that is incomparable
to horses at any other stage of life. It was also there that she discovered
her talent for coordinating volunteer groups. Pony clubs, and corporate
groups as well as individuals would volunteer to help care for the horses
and groundsDuring that time, she also was Co-Commissioner of the Equestrian
Events for the Special Olympics World Games.
The following year she did the same for the Special Olympic State Games in Pennsylvania. She spent 7 years working at the offices of Steed Read Horseman’s Classified, a classified magazine dedicated to the horse enthusiast.
Dee’s personal connection with horses spans her whole life. Dee grew up in Glastonbury, Ct. and through the auspices of Glastonbury Pony Club grew to know and love the equine mind. As an adult, she has had the full gamut of experiences with her own horses. She has had the experience of owning a young colt which developed wobbler syndrome and was deemed un-rideable. Until his recent death, she owned Splash, a 31 year old gelding who was retired and infirmed but enjoyed his quiet life at Mitchell Farm. As Dee puts it, un-rideable doesn’t mean un-loveable. She firmly believes that horses have a right to their life even if they are no longer useful to man.