Two men who work on Sakimay First Nation have created an event to keep the community’s youth from drinking and using drugs.
Rodeo 101, held at the Clearview Livestock and Arena, teaches kids about roughstock riding and rodeos.
Daniel Panipekeesick is a youth worker, and Beatle Soop is a community addictions counsellor and mental health therapist. They co-created the event.
"If we get them at a young age, and drive that into their minds that alcohol and drugs aren't the answer then we're going to promote that and promote a healthier life and maybe break these cycles that exist in the families or anywhere," Soop said.
Professional rider Kelvin Fox is a lead instructor at Rodeo 101. He said he wants to inspire youth to take on a career in roughstock riding.
"We just want to teach safety and we want to teach them the basic fundamentals of riding bareback horses,” Fox said.
All riders expect to get bucked off the animal, but Soop said the trick to getting better, is getting back on.
"You are going to get hurt,” Soop said. “It's not if, it's when you get hurt. You know they say everybody wants to be a cowboy but very few really can be one, it takes a lot of guts just to do it."
The organizers hope the arena will hold more rodeo inspired events in the future, and help raise awareness around the importance of staying sober.
Based on a report by CTV Regina’s Kathryn Fraser.
