Ride On: Junior Evelyn Roth’s gained confidence through volunteering at a therapeutic riding center

*names changed to protect identity

Junior Evelyn Roth is an introvert. She always sat in the back of the class and dreaded any type of class presentations — just asking someone a question left her hands shaking. But when her aunt Mary Sharp asked her if she wanted to start volunteering at Due West — a therapeutic riding center founded by Mary — in 2019, Evelyn’s love for animals prevailed and she said yes.

However, she assumed her time would be spent putting saddles on horses or taking them out to the pastures — the behind the scenes action she preferred. So when Mary told her it was time to step into the riding arena and help escort a child with cerebral palsy on a horse, every anxiety she had ran through her head. 

But they had that in common — the boy was just as scared about getting on the horse as Evelyn was about working with people. And after their ride, they realized there was nothing to worry about. More than that, they both wanted to keep coming back afterward.

“I don’t know why, but the amount of joy so many of these kids feel when they see a horse, or they’re on a horse — they just become so hyped, and it brings me so much joy,” Evelyn said. “It’s so cool how these kids, some of them wheelchair-bound, as soon as they’re on a horse, they’re like, ‘let’s go, let’s go. I got this. Let me do my thing.’ And they all work so hard.”

The rider was the first of many that Evelyn worked with at non-profit organization Due West Therapeutic Riding Center. While the mission of Due West TRC is to bring confidence to kids and adults with disabilities through horseback riding, Evelyn’s also gained a new-found confidence by building connections with kids through animals during her weekly volunteer shifts. 

Animals are a love Evelyn and Mary share — the reason Evelyn’s family teases she’s Mary’s child. Similar to Evelyn, Mary got involved in therapeutic riding when she was about the same age. She also wanted to hide in the stalls on her first day, but she eventually fell in love with therapeutic horse riding, leading her to major in special education in college and later open Due West.

“You start out wanting to be around the horses, but then you fall in love with the people too,” Mary said.

While providing an outlet for kids to ride horses, Due West has also helped wheelchair-bound children gain movement and nonverbal children speak. One child’s first words were “walk on” — a command they say to the horse to keep moving. 

What makes Due West different, according to Mary, than other TRC programs is that they don’t separate the TRC riders from the lesson riders.

“For our therapeutic riders, it gives them goals — ‘that rider’s jumping, I want to jump too,’” Mary said. “Now we have goals. Whereas they’re just spinning around and weaving between cones all day, there’s nothing to work towards if they’re not seeing what other things can happen.”

The kids are inspiring to Evelyn. 

Eveyln’s newly-found strength was tested later that summer when she was leading Emily Stevens*, a young girl with autism, during one of the trail rides — the horse startled and reared. Without hesitation, Evelyn pulled on the lead to bring the horse down on all fours, and helped Emily off — who was barely holding on.

Despite being a little teared up, Emily was all right. Evelyn and the other volunteers were praising Emily for how well she held on. Evelyn trusted herself in the moment and kept Emily safe — she felt like a superhero. They still ride together today. 

“This is so much more than just putting tack [saddle] on the horse,” Evelyn said. “It’s not just me, hiding behind the stalls and worrying as people are walking by. You’ve got to be more of a leader. If you aren’t sure and confident in yourself, then your horse isn’t going to be sure and confident and you have to show yourself as a leader in order for them to follow up. And with some of these kids, they aren’t able to speak or move as well. And so, if you’re not showing confidence, they’re going to get unsure at times.”

Evelyn now has greater confidence when leading horses on her own, and the conversation flows naturally with the person riding horseback. One of her most recent rides was with Sam O’Neill — a 21-year-old man with autism. Sam and Evelyn talked about “Hercules” and “Moana,” Sam informed her that his horse Dave was a Belgian horse and showed off his Joey Tribbiani impression: “How you doin’?”

Sam’s favorite part about horseback riding? Meeting new people.

During his first day at Due West, Sam was timid in getting on the horse and struggled with change, according to his dad Doug O’Neill. After four years of weekly trips to Due West, he hops on and off without a problem and understands if his favorite horse can’t ride with him that day. Due West has provided a social circle outside of his family where he gets to work on his social skills, talking to volunteers like Evelyn.

The obstacles the children have overcome and the sanction they have found through horseback riding opened Evelyn’s eyes to all she was capable of.

“I started pursuing work because I was really inspired and I felt a lot more comfortable with people, working at a job or doing a job outside of [Due West],” Evelyn said. “Because I felt a lot more confident, I was like, ‘wow I can really do this.’”

Her days of being scared to go up to the counter at stores and ask a question are now combated by her hands-on service as a barista at Savoy Tea Co. — a step she never would’ve taken without the confidence she’s gained at Due West.

Walking around the stables in her cowgirl boots, Evelyn says hi to everyone working there, she leads paragraph conversations that were initially limited to a few short sentences and demonstrates to others there the confidence Due West has to offer. A confidence that’s inspired Evelyn to be a vet because it involves connecting with animals and people — something she no longer hesitates to do.

“Me being able to go from, ‘I just want to work in the back, I’ll fully saddle up these horses, that’s all I want to do,’ and now I’m able to communicate with these kids, I’m able to give them a good moment where they know that they can be themselves,” Evelyn said.