Equine therapy offered in La Ronge this week

“The horses for us are really important. Bringing them into the community is joy,” Irons said.

“We use the analogy of if you had a clear glass of water and you scooped a bunch of dirt in it … and twirled it around representing all the negative things in life that we all go through. If you try to just start scooping all of that out trying to get rid of all the bad things, you’re not going to get very far and you lose a lot of water in that process. If you picture a pitcher of water representing joy and you start to pour that into that glass, eventually the water tends to become more and more clear.”

During their presentation at Churchill, both Irons and Pilon spoke about their lives. Pilon, who is of Métis heritage, was born in Saskatoon, but grew up in St. Louis. He began playing with the Prince Albert Raiders in 1985 and eventually joined the New York Islanders in 1988.

Pilon spent 15 years playing as a defenceman in the NHL, having also spend time with the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues.

“I share a story of actually having grown up and spending a lot of time at Nemeiben Lake, so just north of here. The North has been a really special place in my heart, but I was an equestrian growing up, kind of against all odds as well,” Irons said.

“I ended up making a successful career riding professionally without having ever owned my own horse. I then became a marine mammal trainer, which again was another dream that I had. It wasn’t very likely and then from there become a behavioral therapist.”

Irons and Pilon have visited many northern First Nations and Métis communities delivering their programming. Irons called La Ronge a very welcoming place where residents showed a lot of interest in what they had to offer.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno

by Derek Cornet

Equine therapy offered in La Ronge this week

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