Dr. William Dwight Hooton, DVM

Dr. William Dwight Hooton, DVM, age 75, passed away unexpectedly after a short hospitalization on Saturday, June 22, 2024.

Dwight was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas to Herbert Hillman Hooton and Jacque Marie Hooton on April 19, 1949. He spent most of his childhood in Albuquerque, New Mexico helping his parents raise, show and race quarter horses and thoroughbreds. This is the seedbed from which 'Doc Hooton' arose.

After his graduation from veterinary school at Colorado State University in 1987, he briefly worked in New Mexico with racehorses in Santa Fe and with the Wild Horse Inmate Rehabilitation Program. His veterinary career brought him to a clinic in Simpsonville, Kentucky. While in Kentucky, Dr. Hooton worked on large breeding farms and pursued his interest in endurance racing. He was soon known for his expertise in diagnosing and treating lameness. After Simpsonville, Dwight spent many years living at Slangsboda, an Arabian horse farm in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and began his traveling veterinary business. During the mid to late 1990's, Dr. Hooton took an interest in equine chiropractic and became certified in equine acupuncture by the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society. Once he moved to Conyers, Georgia, he began working for Loving Touch Animal Hospital, where acupuncture and chiropractic medicine became a large focus of his approach to treating animals.

Dr. Hooton's professional associations and accolades are almost too numerous to account for. Some include membership to AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association), AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners; served on the board of directors for IVAS (International Veterinary Acupuncture Society) with a subsequent term as president; team vet, judge and advisor to FEI (Fédération Équestre Internationale). He was handpicked by equestrian trainer and dear friend, Emmett Ross, to be the US team veterinarian at the 1999 Pan American Games in Chile. Their team won 3 gold medals! He served as a treatment vet at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA team vet at the 2012 World Equestrian Games in England and 2014 in France.

Buyers from Dubai took note of Dr. Hooton's exceptional prowess with horses at an FEI event in Canada. Soon after, Sheikh Mohammed's veterinarian, Jimmy Baldwin, offered Dwight a position at the Dubai Equine Hospital. Intrepidly, he moved to Dubai on a handshake. He spent the next 8 years in Dubai at the equine hospital, caring for some of the finest equine athletes. He jet setted the world accompanying the endurance racing team and searching for new horses. While in Dubai, Dr. Hooton oversaw the Jebel Ali Palace stables that are internationally known for endurance competition Arabian horses. In 2007, he and his wife Anita, moved back to the US and purchased Elk Park Animal hospital in Pagosa Springs, CO. For the next 10 years, he expertly cared for all kinds of animals to include dogs, cats, hamsters, bunnies, horses, donkeys, pigs and even turtles in Pagosa and northern New Mexico. In 2017, he moved to the Espanola valley of northern New Mexico where came to be known as "Doc Hooton" or "Doc". There he continued his mobile veterinary practice, working at Arroyo Seco Animal Hospital and becoming an invaluable part of the equestrian community of northern New Mexico. He provided services for the Ramah Navajo chapter, central Navajo Nation and Taos Pueblo and offered veterinary care at the Taos Equine Spirit Sanctuary.

Dr. Hooton had an uncanny ability to connect with people and animals alike. Always generous with his time, talents, and knowledge. "Doc" will be greatly missed. His departure will leave a void for the thousands of lives he touched on a personal and professional level. Many considered him not only to be their veterinarian but also a dear friend. He had an innate proclivity to create family and community wherever he was in the world.

Dwight is survived by his sister, Jean Hooton; daughter, Jessica Blair Cano and husband, Eric Cano; daughter, Gabrielle Hooton, and grandchildren, Pilar Cano and Abe Hooton.

A memorial service will be held in the lower pavilion at The Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, NM on Saturday October 19th, 2024, at 2:00 p.m., 280 Private Drive 1708, Abiquiu, NM, 87510. Any and all are welcome to come pay their respects to Dr. Hooton. The family would like to offer this opportunity for friends to share their memories of Dwight.

Flowers can be sent by Flowers by DNA. 

Business owner is Desiree, 908 N. Riverside Dr. Ste. 8, Espanola, NM 87532

Phone # 505-901-5005