First responders and neighbors recently helped a horse to safety through unconventional means.

On-duty deputy Torri Middlekauff with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said in a phone interview she was driving south along North Priest Road the evening of June 21 when she “sees a big, beautiful brown horse running towards me the other way.”

So she stopped and considered her next steps. While it’s not uncommon to catch stray dogs, Middlekauff was ill-equipped to guide a horse, so she made do and held it in place with a dog leash along the road as it munched on grass.

“I think people driving by enjoyed seeing a deputy with a dog leash,” she joked.

Middlekauff called Peninsula Communications for help. She later connected with Jessica Conner, a 9-1-1 communications officer, who was off duty at the time but lives in Sequim.

“My coworker called me because they were unsure who to call,” Conner said.

Conner, a Sequim High graduate, conintues to train horses after nine years including at her business, Changing Leads Training.

She arrived with a horse halter and was able to relieve Middlekauff to respond to other calls after about 30 minutes.

“I was just happy to help,” Conner said. “Many thanks to the gracious neighbors with alpacas who offered the horse a safe place.”

Neighbors Don and Kathie Lundine, who own Heritage Farm on the corner of North Priest Road and West Hendrickson Road, learned of the situation and moved their alpacas into the barn so the horse could be in the pasture safely.

“We didn’t want it to stay on the side of the road,” Don Lundine said.

Eventually the horse was reunited with its owner who lives nearby, Conner said.

Middlekauff, a sheriff deputy since July 2017, feels she was “in the right area at the right time.”

“I never expected to put a dog leash on a horse either,” she said.

While the experience was unique for Middlekauff, Conner, who has been a 9-1-1 dispatcher for seven years, said she’s helped law enforcement rescue a horse before over the phone.

“I equally love my dispatch job and helping horses,” she said. “(Helping this horse) feels wonderful. I was able to help free up the deputy to make more calls, and it was nice to help her.

“It’s the epitome of a small town and that’s why I love Sequim.”

Clallam County Sheriff’s deputy Torri Middlekauff helps keep a horse in place with a dog leash on June 21 along North Priest Road. The horse got out of its home and Middlekauff happened to be driving by to stop it. With help from Jessica Conner, a 9-1-1 communications officer, and neighbors Don and Kathie Lundine. Photo courtesy of Don Lundine