Nancy Schier Anzelmo, MSG

Co-founder, Educational Director

Nancy Schier Anzelmo is a co-founder and Educational Director of Connected Horse, and a widely respected gerontologist, Alzheimer’s and dementia care specialist, and lifelong equestrian. Alongside Paula Hertel, Nancy helped launch Connected Horse in 2015 as a research-backed initiative to address the isolation, depression, and disconnection that so often follow a dementia diagnosis. The program’s foundation in research reflects Nancy’s belief that equine-assisted approaches deserve the same rigor applied to any meaningful intervention in dementia care.

As a dementia care specialist and retired faculty member in the Gerontology Department of California State University Sacramento, Nancy brings a unique blend of academic depth and hands-on knowledge to Connected Horse’s curriculum and facilitator training. She has been instrumental in shaping the program’s signature dyad model, which keeps people living with dementia and their care partners together throughout every workshop experience. Nancy’s career in memory care and community-based aging services gave her a clear view of what was missing for newly diagnosed individuals and their families, and horses, she found, offered something no pharmaceutical or structured program could replicate.