By Derek LaClair
First responders are trained to respond. They move toward emergencies, make decisions under pressure, care for strangers on their worst days, and then prepare for the next call.
But what happens when the person who is always expected to help is the one who needs support?
At Still Breathing Equine, we believe support does not look the same for everyone. Our nonprofit in Jacksonville, North Carolina, provides non-clinical, equine-assisted support for active-duty service members, veterans and first responders. Our work is designed to complement — not replace — professional mental health care and other wellness resources.
There are no couches in our pasture. No expectation that someone explain what happened to them. No pressure to find the right words.
Sometimes, there is simply a person standing beside a horse. And sometimes, that is where connection begins.
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The weight we don’t always see
First responders may experience repeated exposure to death, serious injury, violence, grief and situations in which the outcome is beyond their control. Yet emergency services often require personnel to move quickly from one difficult call to the next.
Compartmentalizing can be essential in the moment. Over time, however, people may carry experiences that are difficult to leave behind when the shift ends.
The signs that someone is struggling are not always dramatic. A person may become quieter or isolated. Their patience, sleep, relationships or work performance may change. They may lose interest in things that once mattered to them.
Or they may continue showing up, doing their job and telling everyone they are fine.
EMS leaders do not need to diagnose their personnel. But they can create an environment where people are known well enough for changes to be noticed — and where asking for support is not viewed as weakness or a career liability.
That requires more than resources on paper. It requires a culture in which people believe they can actually use them.
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Why horses?
Horses communicate differently than humans.
They do not know a person’s rank, title, diagnosis or résumé. They do not care how many calls someone has run or how long that person has spent convincing everyone they have everything under control. Horses respond to what is happening in the present moment.
Because they are highly social and responsive animals, interacting with them requires awareness, patience, communication and respect for boundaries. For someone accustomed to constant readiness, slowing down enough to observe and interact with a horse can offer a very different experience.
At Still Breathing Equine, our programs are not psychotherapy, and we are careful not to present them as such. We strongly support access to qualified mental health professionals and clinical treatment when needed. Our role is to provide another pathway to connection.
Some people are not ready to begin by sitting in an office and discussing their most difficult experiences. Others may already receive professional care and benefit from additional community-based support.
It does not have to be one or the other. A strong support system can include professional treatment, peers, family, organizational resources and complementary programs that help people reconnect with themselves and others.
Connection before conversation
One of the most important lessons we have learned is simple: People often engage when the pressure to engage is removed.
First responders spend their careers being asked questions: What happened? What did you see? What did you do? What could have been done differently?
Sometimes, support begins when nobody is asking them for an answer.
A horse does not require someone to explain why they are tired, angry, disconnected or carrying something they cannot yet put into words. The person can simply show up.
A participant may begin by grooming or walking alongside a horse, or quietly observing the herd. These simple activities create opportunities to slow down, become more aware of the present moment and reconnect with what is happening within and around them.
For some participants, quiet time with a horse can support emotional regulation and help settle an activated nervous system. As they slow down and become more present, they may notice their breathing slowing and their heart rate beginning to settle. For someone whose body has become accustomed to a heightened state of alertness, that shift can be powerful.
We have also seen something equally important: joy.
People who have felt disconnected, overwhelmed or emotionally exhausted can find themselves smiling, laughing and experiencing a genuine sense of calm around the horses — sometimes describing feelings they have not experienced in a long time.
Those moments matter. Support is not only about addressing what hurts. It can also be about rediscovering connection, peace and the ability to experience joy again.
The horse is not there to fix the person. The horse simply meets them where they are.
What EMS leaders can do to support their personnel
Supporting the people who serve our communities requires organizations to think beyond crisis intervention alone.
Leaders can learn the normal patterns of the people they supervise and notice when those patterns change. They can talk openly about mental health before a crisis occurs, ensure personnel know what resources exist and reinforce that using them is supported.
They can also recognize that no single resource will work for everyone.
For one person, the first call may be to a therapist. For another, it may be to a peer. For someone else, the first step toward reconnecting may happen in a pasture.
The goal should not be to force everyone through the same door. The goal should be to make sure there are enough doors — and that people know it is acceptable to walk through one.
Those who spend their careers showing up on someone else’s worst day deserve places where they do not always have to be the strong one.
Sometimes, support begins with a conversation. Sometimes, it begins with professional treatment. And sometimes, it begins quietly — standing beside a horse and realizing that, for the first time in a long time, you do not have to explain why you are tired.
You can simply be there.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Derek LaClair is the founder and chairman of Still Breathing Equine, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Jacksonville, North Carolina. A retired U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Derek helps lead the organization’s mission to provide no-cost, non-clinical, equine-assisted support for active-duty service members, veterans and first responders, with a focus on connection, resilience, community and suicide prevention.
