Sunrise founder Ann Caine to receive King Charles III Coronation medal Jan. 24

PUSLINCH – What do Ann Caine and King Charles have in common?

A medal. 

ANN CAINE

The king has many, but Ann Caine will receive the King Charles III Coronation medal at a ceremony on Jan. 24 in Acton.

Caine is the founder of Sunrise Therapeutic Riding and Learning Centre and served as its executive director until her recent retirement.

Now that she’s just a volunteer, her work never ends, Caine said with a laugh.

She’s currently working on a fundraising campaign to raise $2 million for Sunrise’s plan to build a residential component to the work it does for people with physical and mental disabilities.

“I was quite shocked,” Caine said of learning she won the award. 

“I’m actually finding it quite difficult because it’s easy to do the work when you love what you do.”

Caine came to Canada from England in 1973 with her husband and four children. 

About 18 months later, her husband was diagnosed with cancer and in 1977 he died.

Caine said her family assumed she would move back, but because of the help she received and the friends she and her children had made, she decided to stay.

And it was thinking of how she could pay back that help that spawned the idea for Sunrise. 

She also worked at a vet clinic and was familiar with the work of therapeutic riding centres and the enormous benefits riding can have on people with disabilities.

She founded Sunrise in 1982, but it was a long, slow slog to gain clients, funding and eventually the land in Puslinch where the centre is now located.

Caine said some of their riders have been with Sunrise since they were four, and they are now in their 20s.

And their army of volunteers – 250 to 300 of them – have also been coming for years, some for decades.

“That’s how you create a family atmosphere. That’s why people love Sunrise so much,” Caine said. “And you can’t be a good leader without a good team.”

Caine said when children are first assessed, staff will ask parents what they hope to gain from having their child in the program.

“The first thing they say is they want their child to have friends, to have a social life. That’s the big thing about Sunrise. This is their community,” she said.

Lynne O’Brien is the current executive director of Sunrise, and she could not say enough good things about Caine.

“Ann has been the visionary for Sunrise,” O’Brien said. “She’s always looking for the next best opportunity for Sunrise, what can help, how it can grow. She has been dedicated to this place completely since 1982. She is the heartbeat.”

Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott reached out to Puslinch council to nominate “a local individual who has made a significant contribution towards building our great country,” according to the letter Caine received.

Puslinch council put her name forward without hesitation.

Caine will be celebrated along with other recipients at a ceremony on Jan. 24 at the Acton Town Hall Centre where Arnott and MP Michael Chong will present the medals.