The horses now help Wake County Sheriff’s deputies work through the tragedies they respond to on the job.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office has partnered with Helping Horse, a health and wellness program near Wendell.
“Deputies’ jobs are very stressful,” said Jackie Shipaker, coordinator of assistance to HORSE’s first responders and veterans programs. “We offer mindfulness and grounding techniques before they are with the horses and while they are with the horses.”
Deputies can visit the facility off-duty and spend time with one of the 13 horses individually or with their families. The meetings are free for Wake County deputies.
“In a typical 12 hours, you go from call to call … sometimes you can’t even eat … and here, you’re just relaxing in a beautiful county with a bunch of horses,” Deputy Sheriff Kevin Matthews told WRAL News.
Most recently, Wake County deputies went to help the week after responding to a fatal shooting near the Fuquay Marina. They found that a 12-year-old girl was killed and a 9-year-old boy was seriously injured.
This is not the last tragedy that deputies will have to respond to. Wake County Surgeon Mark Sajenberg said the average person will see two to three serious incidents in their lifetime. On average, a law enforcement officer will see more than 700 critical incidents in his career.
“We train our officers how to handle a crisis, how to go through a crisis, but it’s not good enough to teach them how to process it,” Zhanberg said. “It gives them a chance to slow down, regroup and talk about their thought process.”
Why do horses help?
Being in nature is one way deputies can reset, but horses allow for deeper reflection, Schopaker said.
“Horses are incredibly smart animals, and they ask us to be smart in the present,” she said. “We’ve had experiences where the assistant’s mind is thinking about something, and the horse kind of takes steps away. Then, we take some time to reflect.”
At these times, the deputy says their minds are distracted, and they stop thinking about their relationship and connection with the horse, Schopker said. She says they take a moment to reconnect, and the horse returns to the assistant.
“The horse is a wonderful reminder, constantly tapping us on the shoulder, saying you’re here now, with us right now, and that constant reminder is very powerful for people,” she said.
Janberg responds to the tragedies after the deputies. He is there to help them process any feelings or trauma. He has gone through the program and seen the effects.
“It resets you,” he said. “When you’re with horses, you have this calming effect of being around them, being outside, enjoying the fresh air.”
Layers of mental health support
Sangeberg said the Wake County Sheriff’s Office offers several sites for deputies to process trauma.
The department has peer support and a clinical psychologist. It also has a Staff Assistance Program, which provides resources to deputies, and the NC Responders Assistance Initiative, which offers access to mental health professionals, peer support and wellness coordinators. This department also carries out the reporting of important events.
“After any major incident, we bring in all the first responders, so everyone has a chance to process their thoughts,” Sangeberg said.
Helping the horse is another outlet that assistants can use to process their thoughts. A partnership with the Sheriff’s Office provides 8 hours of individual programs with one or two hour sessions, and 6 hours of family programs.
Sajenberg said the requirements for deputies who are eligible to use the program depend on where they are working at the time.
“It’s based on the deputy or first responder that goes and their level of need at that time,” he said.
Sajenberg said the program is new to the agency, and they opened it for spring. He hopes that other deputies will be able to come to the rescue horse and use it as a sanctuary for treatment.
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