Looking back at the unprecedented social conflict between the socio-professionals of the horse racing sector and their governance institutions in 2016–2017, this research examines how two ad hoc mediating organizations shaped the protest. Using secondary data to analyze the timeline of events and the discourse employed reveals the effective combination of the two organizations’ actions. These two mediating organizations guided the collective protest by combining their tactics, mobilizing their resources, and bringing both their emotions and expertise to the table.