An expert horsewoman, Dorothy learned to ride, as a young girl, "the US ARMY WAY", ironically, the same way Jackie Cochran insisted that WASP learn to fly. She used her college tuition money to purchase a special filly, that she trained and ultimately went on to win the Grand Nationals in New York. That horse, Candelette, achieved notariety as "The Horse that Went to College" in an article in one of the many New York magazines of the time, referencing Dot's raising and training of the horse while attending Randolph Macon College for Women. When Dot attended, RMWC did not have any facilities for horses, and Dot rented lodging for the filly and mare in town (Lynchburg, Virginia), but spent hours with her prized filly, training her carefully and showing her locally. Ultimately, she sold the horse to an experienced professional horsewoman who took the horse to the National competition in New York.

After college, after the War, Dot taught horsemanship at summer camps, and, as a teacher, she established the Horsemanship Program at the Orme School in keeping with the highest standards, with an Equestrian Team to compete against other schools . . . . Her paintings, mosaics, sculptures of horses comprise a major part of her work.