Dee Phillips

Dee Phillips, owner of Brightly Bed & Breakfast in Goochland, grew up in suburban Detroit and didn't ride horses until she was 40.  Her grandfather raised and raced pacers and trotters, her mother showed hunters and her uncles played polo, so there must be an "equine" gene that sometimes requires years to express itself.  Actually, her daughter's interest in the Deep Run Hunt Pony Club, and particularly fox hunting, was the stimulus. First there was the pony, then a nice pasture buddy for the pony, a used trailer and then the truck to pull it (yes, really did get the trailer before the truck!), learning to drive the rig, the tack, the vet bills . . . It just snowballed from there.  Dee gave in and started taking riding lessons.  Being a "fox-hunting Mom" turned out to be rather tedious — never knowing how long the hunt might be out.  Rather than merely watch the hunt move off, Dee decided to join it.  After a few "white-knuckle" rides, several "involuntary dismounts" and some adrenaline-pumping runs, she was hooked.  Dee eventually moved up to hunt alongside her daughter, who is still the better rider!  Dee hunts regularly with Deep Run Hunt and the Oak Ridge Foxhunt Club.  Finding that she loves watching hounds work, Dee also whips-in for the Foxboro Foot Hounds (bassets) and sometimes goes out beagling with the Waldingfield Beagles.  When not hunting, Dee works as a horticultural consultant, doing lab and field research on plant extracts used in fragrances and health supplements, as well as doing a bit of landscape design.  The purchase 15 years ago of a "fixer-upper" historic property with a number of run-down outbuildings, led to the idea of starting a B & B.  A family-run business, with a bit of multi-tasking from the barn help, Dee offers accommodations in her two-room guest house.  Overnight accommodation for guests’ horses is also available.  For more information, see:  www.brightlybandb.com   The farm, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is home to Dee, sometimes her two 20-something children, six horses, two parrots, a barn cat, a flock of chickens, a turkey and a group of rescued pigeons.  The five adopted/rescued dogs run to greet friends and guests, sometimes a bit too exuberantly. Her philosophy on life is that “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” And, she says that people would be surprised to learn that she “actually sometimes sits still long enough to do needlepoint!”