Dr. Nancy O’Reilly: An Arabian Horsewoman’s Legacy Beyond the Ring

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Among many things, Dr. Nancy O’Reilly is a strong philanthropist, advocate, and champion of causes she cares about. She has dedicated her professional career to empowering women and communities in need. She puts hours of time and personal resources towards her passions – either to lift them up or to right injustices she sees. Dr. Nancy brings good people together to accomplish great things. This greatness looks different depending on the hurdle in front of her. She surrounds herself with other passionate, smart, and capable people to leave things better than she found them.

This is the story of how she got involved with the effort to “permanently close the [horse] slaughter pipeline” with The Lost Horses Campaign. A meaningful journey that started because of her involvement with the Arabian horse.

One of her greatest passions is the Arabian horse community – and all that comes with it. Dr. Nancy O’Reilly and her farm Amazing Horse Woman LLC are constantly receiving accolades for not just her financial investments in the industry, but her personal investments like lending her expertise, using her reach for the greater good, and sharing the beauty of Arabian horses everywhere she goes. Because of this tendency, she creates connections in all areas of her life that benefit the groups she is part of.

“You want to surround yourself with likeminded people,” she shared specifically about her Arabian horse industry experience. “The majority of exhibitors, owners, and trainers who do this are excellent human beings. Winning is great. But, the real point is to allow these horses to excel. They will tell you what they want to do.”

Dr. Nancy has her show horses under the care of Burkman Centre in Scottsdale, Arizona. She compliments the team of Cynthia Burkman, Natalie Jones, Devin Miller, Taryn Lundquist, and Brooke Wood for their compassionate way of handling her horses. She also has a personal farm – Southern California Equestrian Center – where babies, retirees, horses who didn’t love to show, and her new herd of rescue horses, minis, and donkey live. The mission for that spot is to be “a place for people who love horses.”

This story with The Lost Horses Campaign begins with one mini donkey, and a trusted friend from within the Arabian industry. This donkey changed her life and the lives of many others. In true Dr. Nancy fashion, she has intersected this experience to many other realms of her life. Hence, how the readers of the Arabian Horse World are learning about something that many may have not known about before. And, she is helping all the pieces work together to make a positive impact.

Discovering The Lost Horses Campaign

“I reached out to Natalie [Jones] last spring about wanting a mini donkey to babysit my yearling HA Lucky’s Love,” Dr. Nancy reflected on how she uncovered the horse and donkey slaughter pipeline that she now works to destroy. “I had nobody for her. I started getting all of these photos of horses, minis, donkeys, and mini donkeys in kill pens. I had no idea this was happening. As a horse lover, it devastated me. I started with four adoptees, as I call them, and now I have 10, including two more minis for Lucky’s Love named Mable and Matilda. It is adorable to see them all grazing together. Once I learned about what horrible things were happening to these animals, I had to get involved.”

She quickly got connected with Ashely Avis who was already working hard to stop this. Avis wrote and directed Disney’s Black Beauty that came out in 2020. She also is the founder of The Wild Beauty Foundation. According to their website their mission is: “Through the power of film, education, and advocacy, WBF brings awareness to critical issues facing the natural world — while inspiring people of all ages to stand up for the wild. WBF seeks to illuminate the deeply antiquated and inhumane practice of wild horse roundups, the existence of government-funded mass holding facilities, the reality of horse slaughter, and the heartbreaking separation of bonded equine families.”

With Ashley’s history as a decorated filmmaker and storytelling, and the added bonus that she was a fellow horse-lover, Dr. Nancy was quick to get to work. She began working with Avis and the rest of the team on a specific campaign dubbed “The Lost Horses Campaign.”

Dr. Nancy’s connections within the Arabian horse community led her to discover a whole new community of animals who need her support – and the support of everyone reading this. Let it be a lesson to not be shy about what makes your heart soar, and what makes your heart break. Dr. Nancy has taken that same passion that she is known for within the Arabian horse community to The Lost Horses Campaign. That is not to say one replaced the other. Much like parents talk about how their capacity for love only grows with each child who is born, her drive has also multiplied.

“If you like horses, I will probably like you,” she said about why Arabian horse enthusiasts should be alerted by what The Lost Horse Campaign is doing. “A piece of this has to do with responsible horse ownership. Most horses live to be 20+ years old. You need to have a plan that takes that into consideration. Horse and animal ownership is about more than just this moment. There is power in that knowledge being spread.”

She added very simply, “we are all part of a herd.”

With her professional and personal experiences, she knows the value in spreading awareness. It follows the age-old tale of “people don’t know what they don’t know.” Dr. Nancy is bringing this message to the Arabian horse community because of their ability to rally behind causes that matter. And more so, she feels like they deserve to know. This business involves any kind of horse you can imagine. All of them come with a story. There are Arabians who find themselves on the trucks headed to an unimaginable fate. And just because that is uncomfortable and sad to think about, it doesn’t mean it can be ignored.

Dr. Nancy articulates that by saying, “every horse is potentially one sale away from a kill pen.” Ashley Avis generates a similar feeling by pointing out that, “slaughter does not discriminate. Our first rescue in 2021 included 13 horses. Two of them were Arabians.”

The SAFE Act

Enter The Lost Horses Campaign and the SAFE Act.

“The Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R. 1661 / S. 775) is the definitive legislative solution to end horse slaughter. Reintroduced in 2025 by Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL), along with Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the SAFE Act would permanently ban the slaughter of horses within the United States and prohibit the export of American horses to other countries for slaughter.”

The SAFE Act made it to a vote just before close of session at the end of 2025, giving its supporters a boost in momentum. In a heated political climate, it’s worth noting that this bill represents bipartisanship, with backing from both major parties. The Lost Horses Campaign is working hard to raise awareness for this cause – putting their support behind legislation that can make real change to such a cruel practice.

Ashley Avis’ story has similarities to Dr. Nancy’s in the sense that she was completely naïve to the realities of horse slaughter. But, once she was made aware, she stepped into immediate action. Where, Dr. Nancy came to know of it while trying to rescue a mini donkey, Avis came across this industry when filming Black Beauty. By chasing the authenticity of that project, she found herself investigating the wild horse population in the United States.

Discovering the truth about what happens to some of these horses led her to this industry of kill buyers and slaughter. This inspired a documentary called Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West, which went on to be nominated for a Critics Choice Award. Much like Dr. Nancy, she had to do something. So, she has taken her skills and connections within the film and storytelling worlds to spread much needed truth and awareness about what is happening.

“I use cinema to drive people to action,” Avis explained. Like Dr. Nancy, she is using the skills and connections she already has to help.

When reflecting on how Dr. Nancy got involved she pointed out that they both had asked themselves one similar question: “how do we stop this?” Avis pointed her, and many others, to the SAFE Act.

Why This is Important Now

They are embracing 2026 as not only “The Year of the Horse” but also The Lost Horse’s Campaign Year of Awareness.

“My great hope is to raise awareness for the truth of what’s going on” Avis answered when asked about how the Arabian horse community can get and remain involved. “The biggest issue is that people don’t know and don’t know how bad it is. We want all horse lovers coming together and raising one voice.”

On The Lost Horses Campaign’s fight to make this horrible business illegal, they have welcomed the support of many notable people including Jessica Springstein, Billie Eilish, Mackenzie Foy, Zasia Mamet, Beth Behrs, and many others. They are using their platforms to bring voices to some of the most heartbreaking stories that The Lost Horse Campaign has come across. One of the most powerful ways they have done this is by following lost horses’ stories and having these recognizable voices narrate the message. One of them is about an Arabian. Another sign that this is all too close for comfort.

Although the reality of this topic is alarming, The Lost Horse Campaign does not want people to feel helpless. Dr. Nancy has brought this to the Arabian horse community because she believes in their ability to do good. As she said earlier, she feels like this is a group of “excellent” people. The Lost Horse Campaign has a variety of ways that people can help.

The simplest way to help is by going to their website www.losthorses.org/toolkit. Readers will find pre-written messages that can be sent to their representatives, along with a list of all representatives’ phone numbers, social media copy, and more. They are hoping that there is a surge in outreaches between now and when they head to Washington D.C. on March 26. If everyone who is reading this took the time to send a message, there would be countless more emails, messages, and calls demanding justice for the 20,000+ horses (each year) who are sent to slaughter. One of the other more harrowing statistics, is that 92% of these horses are considered in “good condition” according to the USDA. These are horses who have many years ahead and are worthy of an alternative future.

“Two minutes of your time could stop a horse someone loves from getting on one of those trucks,” Ashley Avis stated with a hopeful urgency. She also welcomes anyone who, like Dr. Nancy, feels passionate about this project to reach out to The Lost Horses Campaign to get more involved.

The Takeaway

Dr. Nancy O’Reilly’s use of her voice, connections, and communities should be a point of inspiration for others. She wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate her rescues in the same way she celebrates her decorated show horses. They come with different kinds of stories that uncovered something she could not ignore. But, that does not mean their lives are less valuable. Their lives are accomplishing something that feels unfair to minimize to a price. She can no longer imagine a world without them.

Never underestimate the power of where Arabian horses can take you or the importance of the things they teach you along the way. The are the invisible string connecting so many influential people to significant moments.