She seems oblivious to that sense of pseudo country freshness at the showground stables, mild at first before it tickles the olfactory organs still numb from the lack of stimuli in a pedestrian city environment.
Clad in a trenchant turquoise top, a pair of skin-hugging jodhpurs and nondescript leather boots, Mitchell goes about her equine chores with the routine of a matron in charge of a school hostel.
The word "Adelaide", emblazoned across her top in contrasting bold black letters on a white backdrop, is as deceptive as her youthful exuberance.
Her waif-like frame, punctuating the 700kg body mass of Vuvuzela, her 7-year-old mount, also causes discomfort like an errant pebble in a boot.
What could possibly make a bantam weight even think about trying to affiliate with an odd-toed, domesticated mammal that could cause some serious injury in the blink of an eye?
"If you're going to worry about what could happen then you're in the wrong sport," she says before taking Vuvuzela today through the 1.15m fences of his age group when judges will scrutinise riders more than their mounts.
"I wouldn't go bungy jumping," says the mother-of-one, Patrick, 9, who finds his adrenalin fix from motocross.
"We climb into our cars everyday and that's more dangerous."
She bares her teeth, grabbing a horizontal plank of the structure housing the gelding who Mary Darby, of Porangahau, owns.
"Touch wood," her farmstay from The Netherlands, Rosa van Lieshout, 20, choruses in interpretation when I ask if Mitchell has had any serious injuries.
Mitchell also will ride her two geldings, Judge's Decision, a 12-year-old, and Sentawish, a 9-year-old, in the 1.30m Open classes and all three horses will compete in the Pro-Am class on Thursday.
"I'll then loan them out to the international classes, the Tri-Nations," she says of the Saturday night entertainment section that will see the Kiwis, Australians and newcomers China battle it out.
She proudly points out Sir Mark Todd, double Olympic medallist, rode Judge's Decision when he came out of retirement in 2008 after an eight-year break before going on to compete at the Beijing Games on Gandalf.
The second oldest Kiwi Olympian, who has won multiple Badminton and Burghley horse trials crowns, is competing at the Hoy Show this week.
Mitchell's connection with the Hoy Show dates back to the 1990s but not in the equine sense.
The horse trainer is an accomplished VIP artist who established a trade site at Karaka, South Auckland, in her early 20s.
Having been involved with the show as an artist and up to one-star equestrian for the past six years, this time Mitchell is concentrating on just playing.
"I just can't wait to ride my horses, help with the Tri-Nations and sip some wine. I just want to have some fun," she says, pushing a wheelbarrow to her horsefloat parked about 50m away.
For the woman who dabbles in commissioned pastel portraits of people and animals, juxtaposing both can sometimes be quite stressful.
Switching sartorial elegance as an artist to horsey attire is bad enough and then there's the negligence of her mounts.
No doubt showjumping is the first love for Waipukurau-born Mitchell, who moved to Wairoa five years ago after hubby Ross landed a job as stock agent with new company Fergus Rural.
She hastens to add her nous with a canvas and paintbrush has taken her around the world more than her riding. Her three winters in Japan have left an indelible impression.
"I'd be a lot wealthier if I did art," she says, revealing she sells a horse every year to keep the showjumping cashflow going.
It's tough parting with horses she has built an affinity with but it is what it is.
"I love them all but it's a necessary evil and a reality so it takes care of itself," Mitchell says, resigned to potential owners putting her out of her misery in picking the animals.
She sees horses akin to man's best friend, comfortable in the knowledge they are going to another nice place.
"They are your friends but they rely on you."
The third and youngest child of Gay Searle, an accountant's employee, and the late Peter Searle, a car firm manager, started off as a promising eventer but showjumping was her Achilles' heel.
"My crosscountry and dressage was okay so I thought I'd take a year off to polish my showjumping and never went back."
She didn't have an auspicious start with ponies as a child. Because her elder sister rode, through natural progression, as it were, her mother propped Mitchell up into a saddle, too, on her first pony, Inker Gold, a name she took a while to recall.
"I hated it. I used to keep falling off ... he [Inker Gold] would wipe me off the trees."
She found traction a year later when Mr Prickles came into the picture.
She went on to make the cull of the New Zealand Eventing Development Squad but to the code's horror didn't return after her off-the-tangent showjumping excursion.
While her parents weren't farmers, they owned a lifestyle block on the outskirts of the township where Mitchell honed her skills.
Her maternal grandmother, the late Lesley Saul (nee White), of Takapau, was a rider and the granny's cousin, Freda White, was a renowned horse trainer.
The Hoy show is a godsend for Mitchell who yearns for a balance in family and riding.
"Kevin Hansen's [Hoy director] great," she says, mindful it beats travelling nine hours to Kumeu, via Taupo, three weeks ago.
