Evelyn was able to decrease her separation anxiety thanks to therapeutic horseback riding.
This article was originally published in Castanet (Oct-14-2026): Variety BC helps Kamloops child thrive through therapeutic horseback riding – Castanet.net
Evelyn Coueffin was six years old when her life changed dramatically.
The creative, intelligent and compassionate child had been struggling at her Kamloops elementary school, but still attended regularly. One Monday morning, she wasn’t feeling well and called her mom, Niki Perry, to pick her up.
She did not go back to school for two years.
Evelyn’s separation anxiety felt unmanageable, and she could not go anywhere without her mom.
“That was really impactful for our life,” Perry says. “I couldn’t even really go to the mailbox without her feeling very panicked.”
From that day forward, the family’s life got turned upside down. Perry, a single mother, had been running her own business that treated dogs with complex behaviours, and all of a sudden had to stay home to teach Evelyn. She also had to find ways to treat Evelyn’s severe attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, and anxiety, but all she discovered were programs well out of her price range.
“I was figuring out how I’m going to support my family when I have a child that needs full-time care,” Perry says. “That’s when I applied for the Variety grant.”
Variety–the Children’s Charity has been stepping in where health care can’t for the last 60 years, providing access to life-changing care, equipment and services when families need them most. One of those services is therapeutic horseback riding, which Variety BC funded for Evelyn for a year and a half, and it worked wonders.
“She was building confidence,” Perry says. “And she’s safely riding because there would be a handler with her and then the instructor. So she has two people working with her while she’s riding the horse. And they’re coaching her through different exercises on the horses, stretching and all of those types of things.
“And at the end, I mean, she wouldn’t even look back at me anymore.”
Evelyn’s severe ADHD meant she couldn’t sit still for even five minutes, but when she got into the saddle she would relax like never before.
“It’s almost like her and the horse just melted together,” Perry says. “It’s a natural way for her to learn to be with others and to actually forget about where mom is.”
Evelyn’s story is an excellent example of how supporting Variety can make such a magnificent difference. People donated money to Variety BC, which funded grants that were use to provide Evelyn with therapeutic riding lessons, and now she’s back in school.
Variety BC supports families in their communities and homes, funding medical and mobility equipment, specialized therapies, expert tutors and education support, mental health counselling, vital assessments and early childhood interventions. Variety BC and its generous donors remove barriers so B.C. children and youth can live without limits.
“These are everyday people,” Perry says. “These are kiddos who are in situations that they didn’t ask for, that they don’t deserve, and it’s really hard to navigate. And then there’s families who have to make immense changes to support those kiddos. Financially, the hardship sometimes is devastating, which is the case for me.
“So someone giving twenty dollars or multiple people giving twenty dollars, it really can make a difference in real lives.”
To make an impact in the lives of local kids like Evelyn’s, visit the Variety BC website here.