Deborah Doneen is the founder of New Beginning Sporthorses Foundation. Like many, her love of horses began at an early age.  At the age of 10, her parents finally gave up hoping the "horse phase" would pass and signed her up for lessons... and like many other horse people, she's never looked back!   Her commitment to horses and riding was sustained thru her college years at UC Davis, where she was a pre-vet major.  After college and with the help of her trainer, Deb Rosen, Deborah took her young horse, Windwalker, up the levels of eventing to Preliminary before retiring him.

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Deborah spent her entire professional career in the software/tech world.  She was a high level sales/sales operations executive for notable tech companies; SunGard, ADS and BlackLine (Nasdaq: BL).  At Blackline, where she was the 5th employee, and she helped grow and scale the company from inception through successful IPO in 2016.   

 

A few years ago, Deb recognized the incredible need in the horse racing community to find new homes for "off the track" racehorses, knowing that most, if not all, would end their life early, if not accepted into the professional racing community as a serious contender.  She knew that if she could combine the raw talent of these horses with new skills, nurture them through a holistic approach and then match them with an ideal rider, she could give these horses (and in some cases the rider) a "new beginning". 

 

Deb, now retired, devotes herself to this effort.  In just a  year, NBS Foundation has found amazing partnerships for 4 horses and has many more in training.