Indian Relays offer culture, history — and lots of action

SHERIDAN, Wyo. — Summer has brought another season of Indian Relay racing to the northern Rockies and high plains, sending tribal teams in motion across the region as they haul their horses in search of reservation jackpots, rodeo purses and bragging rights.

Paying tribute to their cultural reverence for horses, horsemanship and bravery, Native Americans speed bareback around a track, then jump from one mount to the next amid a jumbled mass of rearing steeds.

Think horse racing with pit stops.

"It's a lifestyle really," said Jostin Lawrence, co-owner of an Indian Relay team from the Blackfeet Nation in Browning, Mont. "We're always on the road. If we're not on the road, we're with our horses."

Lawrence's team was one of 24 that gathered in Sheridan on a July weekend for four nights of racing at the Sheridan WYO Rodeo. The meet, which offered $25,000 in prize money, included teams from tribes in Montana, South Dakota, Washington and Idaho.

"It's very competitive," said Lawrence as his team prepped its horses for a race. "We got all these teams here and they're all vying for that championship spot. It's like any kind of racing. You've got your fights in the back, you've got your friends and buddies. Other teams have rivals. So it can be pretty intense. The crowds love it."

The races have become a big draw since they were reintroduced at the Sheridan rodeo 14 years ago, said Zane Garstad, vice president of the rodeo board. Even the professional cowboys hop on the arena fence to watch the action.

"I know local people who would say 'I don't mind the rodeo, but I really enjoy the Indian Relay races,'" Garstad said. "So we've brought another group of people to the show."

The rules of Indian Relay are simple. Teams consist of four people and three horses. A team's rider makes three laps around the track, changing to a new horse at the beginning of each lap.

Two teammates stand at the edge of the track holding and calming the waiting horses for the incoming rider. The fourth teammate's job is to catch the arriving horse while the rider dismounts and leaps onto the next horse.

The exchanges are the sport's signature action. At Sheridan, the mild roar of the crowd escalated into full-throated cheering as the six riders charged back into the arena from the half-mile track. The catchers waved their riders in for the exchange, and the holders shoved them on their way, cursing or clapping, depending on their results.