This Old Horse Founder Nancy Turner on the ‘Moral Risk’ of Senior Horse Rescue

What Happened

Since founding the nonprofit This Old Horse in 2012, Nancy Turner has transformed a personal conviction into a regional powerhouse for senior horse welfare. In a recent interview with CanvasRebel Magazine, Turner detailed the "moral risk" she took by launching a sanctuary specifically for the horses the industry often finds hardest to place: the elderly, the medically fragile, and retired broodmares.

Starting without a wealthy benefactor or a large-scale facility, Turner built the organization on a "one horse at a time" philosophy. Today, This Old Horse operates across multiple facilities, offering a range of services from biosecure quarantine and nutritional rehabilitation to retraining and sanctuary. The organization has earned significant recognition, particularly from the racing industry, for providing a dignified "soft landing" for retired athletes.

Why It Matters

The success of This Old Horse signals a shift in how the equestrian community views "unusable" horses. For riders, trainers, and owners, Turner’s model provides a framework for addressing the "retirement crisis" in horse sports.

1. Bridging the Gap: Rather than taking an adversarial approach toward owners or trainers who can no longer keep a horse, Turner focuses on being a "partner, not a prosecutor." This approach builds trust between the rescue world and the competitive industry, encouraging owners to seek help before a situation becomes a welfare crisis.
2. Operational Discipline: Turner emphasizes that compassion must be paired with operational standards. For the broader rescue community, her success proves that nonprofits can scale by implementing strict biosecurity, veterinary oversight, and transparent documentation, moving "horse rescue" from a reactionary hobby to a disciplined sector of the industry.
3. Redefining Worth: By focusing on senior horses, the organization challenges the long-held notion that a horse’s value is tied solely to its athletic performance or reproductive utility.

Discipline Context

This Old Horse serves a wide cross-section of the equestrian world, with specific emphasis on:

• Racing: Providing transition pathways for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses off the track.
• Breeding: Offering sanctuary to retired broodmares who may no longer be productive but require specialized senior care.
• Hunter/Jumper & Dressage: Many of the sanctuary’s residents are former sport horses who, at age 20 or older, require "reverence at the end of their lives" after decades of service.
• Equine-Assisted Learning: The organization utilizes the gentle nature of senior horses for community programming, finding new "jobs" for those no longer sound for riding.

Quick Facts

• Organization: This Old Horse, Inc.
• Founder: Nancy Turner
• Founded: 2012
• Focus Areas: Senior horse sanctuary, racehorse retirement, rehabilitation, and adoption.
• Core Philosophy: "Love is not naïve; love is structured, accountable, and sustainable."
• Services: Quarantine, nutritional rehab, veterinary/farrier coordination, retraining, and permanent sanctuary.

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