Indian Relays – Behind the Scenes
CROW AGENCY, Mont, – June 25th, 2021, marked the annual Crow Native Days, replete with many activities, the highlight perhaps the Indian relay races, a sport gaining immense popularity thrilling audiences across the nation. Exceptionally talented and popular announcer, Kennard Realbird, Crow, explained that Indian Relay ticket sales have overtaken many western events at the huge Billings Metra Complex, generating more revenue than most events. In 2000, for example Indian Relay gate sales brought in more than the PBR and other rodeos, concerts, etc. coming in second only to Charlie Pride, a Montana grown country music star.
“Horse racing and gambling on that has been in our blood ever since the first two Indians got horses,” Kennard Realbird remarked. “It’s nothing new, just more organized now.”
The prospect of “added money” for the purse and prestige draws an average of 20 teams from all corners of Indian country to each event, often capped at that number for manageability. Though most teams have been in the sport for years, new teams are popping up left and right. The sport is expanding to include the Shetland Relay Races, grooming and encouraging the next generation and Women’s Indian Relay.
What does it take to field a competitive Indian Relay Team? Two Veteran teams from the Crow reservation recently shared their insights about that: River Road Indian Relay owned by Cody Brown and Velma Pickett and Old Elk Indian Relay, the driving force veteran jockey Ashton Old Elk, age 28 who has been a winning rider since he was 15. His wife, Charine is equally involved, especially on the financial end.
“It’s like rodeo, an adrenaline rush that gets you hooked,” Ashton said. “It takes a lot and at the end, even when we win, it’s not about the money, but the satisfaction.”
Horses, of course, are the key to a successful team both Brown and Old Elk noted. The days of grabbing a pony from a reservation pasture for Indian Relay are over, as teams increasingly go for thoroughbreds bought off the racetrack. These are very tall horses, averaging 6-17 hands tall and prone to nervous energy, making it even more miraculous that the agile jockeys can easily leap onto them, particularly during the action-packed exchanges, that is jumping from one extremely excited and athletic Powerball onto another during the race, hopefully without mishap.
Though three horses are entered into each race, it is common for teams to have many more in training, prepared for injury and as they know the unique ability of each horse, carefully selecting which runners might do best on a particular track or competition, none being exactly the same.
River Road, for example has anywhere from 7-10 horses in training at any given time, as does Old Elk. They are intimately familiar with the unique personality and ability of each of their horses, speaking of them like family.
Expenses associated with maintaining that many horses are enormous. Pasture, barns, corrals, training areas etc. must be available. Feed is a major expense; the average racehorse consumes 5 gallons of feed and 10 pounds of expensive alfalfa grass hay per day while in training. Other significant expenses include vet care and shoeing. The River Road Team, for example budgets fifteen-twenty thousand per year just to maintain the horses.
Great discipline is required just to feed the horses each day, critical to conditioning. Old
Elk, who has a full-time job as a tribal supervisor, says that his normal day begins at 5:00 am to feed and sometimes ends at midnight during race season, caring for and training his horses.
Though trainers have different styles, all agree that conditioning is the key. During the season, each animal gets a workout involving at least a mile per day. This is when the jockey is essential in order to learn each horse, gaining i’s confidence while building the riders confidence as well. Trainers take that seriously. Old Elk, for example grounded his young nephew jockey for a race for missing some training rides. “At first, he thought it was mean, but he got the point,” he grinned.
Competing in the sport requires enormous travel and associated expenses, major races held across the nation from the western coast of Washington to Florida, though the Great Plains Region is still the heart of most of the action. The lure is the purses which are growing in size, ranging from $10,000 for a smaller race up to a hundred thousand or more for the end of the year championship. In order to go on the road, the team must have cash for entry fees on average $400-$500, a reliable truck and trailer, gas money, lodging and food for the team members and family members, who often camp out in tents or sleep in the nose of the horse trailer, dining on McDonald’s fare or bologna sandwiches. Like Indian rodeo, the relay game is a family sport, wives, children and other family members providing the fan club for each team. Each team seems to have an elder uncle, father or grandfather who is essential to success.
“We can only be successful through a team effort,” Viola Pickett stressed. Four are required for each race: the jockey, mugger (also called the holder who holds the horse next-to-go) the “set-up” man who positions the horse to favor a successful exchange by the rider and the back holder. These team members pool resources to produce a team and when they win split the proceeds.
Though they cannot always win, each veteran team can point with satisfaction to major victories. River Road, for example, is particularly proud of winning the Sheridan-WYO and So-Ban Fort Hall in 2107, two major races with healthy purses. After all was said and done, only a slim profit from those wins was realized – “enough to keep them going.”
Old Elk, at age 28 is one of the oldest veteran jockeys with wins under his belt to numerous to count. Recently returning to the game after a break for higher education, marriage and starting a family, he is now developing a new team, intending to be a force again. Along the way he was hired and spent about a year helping the Awedaahea Team, Mandan-Hidatsa get established, which is now a dominant force in the game.
“I’m the old guy the young ones want to be,” he joked. “We’re not going to get rich from Indian Relay, but we might get famous.”
(Clara Caufield can be reached at acheyennevoice@gmail.com)
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July 9, 2021