L
ong before she pulled on muddy boots and answered midnight emergency calls, Dr. Stephanie Freese was an animal-loving kid in Chapel Hill trying to decide what she wanted to be when she grew up. “I was torn between a veterinarian, human doctor or jockey,” she laughs. “Turns out I wasn’t a very bold rider, so that last one didn’t pan out.” She followed her aptitude for science instead. Stephanie earned her undergraduate degree from Colby College in Maine, then went on to veterinary school at Michigan State University before completing postdoctoral work in Illinois. Her career carried her around the globe, from practicing veterinary medicine in Australia to providing disaster relief across the Caribbean and Africa. But the pull of home eventually called her back. She returned to North Carolina in 2017 and launched Polaris Equine, her Pittsboro-based mobile veterinary practice, in January 2018. She chose the name Polaris – the North Star – with intention. “It’s about guidance,” Stephanie says. “Being there for people and their animals when they need you most.” She lives that mission daily, whether she’s pulling a horse out of a riverbank, treating a routine lameness issue or reassuring a worried owner late at night. What began as a one-doctor operation has evolved into a growing practice that now includes three doctors and 10 full-time employees. Stephanie works alongside Drs. Ashley Mercier and Grace Carpenter to deliver comprehensive equine care across eight counties. “We’re fully mobile,” Stephanie explains. “That’s the whole point. Horses don’t come to us – we go to them.” That flexibility is essential in a field where patients can’t simply be loaded into a car and driven to a clinic. “Not every horse owner has a truck and trailer,” Stephanie says, “and even if they do, a sick or injured animal may not be willing – or able – to get on one. Bringing care to them instead, and quickly, is critical.” Polaris Equine provides everything from routine wellness checks to 24-hour emergency services, traveling as far as Sanford, Southern Pines, Asheboro, Fayetteville and beyond. Large animal ambulatory medicine is not for the faint of heart. It’s physically demanding, unpredictable work, often performed in rain, mud and other less-than-ideal conditions. “It’s the industry with the highest burnout,” Stephanie admits. “Longer hours, less pay, difficult environments. But I love the challenge.” And the challenges can be extraordinary: A horse stuck in the Deep River, requiring a coordinated rescue effort with multiple fire departments; a cow with its head wedged into the base of a tree; a cancer-stricken horse trapped chest-deep in mud, its tracheostomy site
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C H AT H A M M AG A Z I N E
SPRING 2026