Horse racing has had its share of detractors and controversies of late, not to mention that for much of Canada, racetracks were shuttered due to Covid-19 until just recently. So, when we heard about the Indian bareback relay races taking place in Saskatchewan and parts of the US, we had to know more.

At Saskatoon’s Marquis Downs, the Elite Indian Relay Association hosted a day of thoroughbred bareback racing with jockeys and teams from across Alberta and Saskatchewan. Spokesperson Vern Antoine told CTV News, “This is a very extreme sport. We have five heats of Indian Relay; each team consists of about five and they also bring their families, so there’s about 120 participants.” The event was held over two days with 21 teams of indigenous jockeys, with prize money totalling $50,000.

Get out of the way, the girls are on the track! (Jodi Olson Johnson Photography)

Recently, local First Nation peoples have petitioned for a new track of their own after it was announced that Marquis Downs would be razed to make room for a soccer stadium. As reported in Canadian Thoroughbred, the Moosomin First Nation and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations issued a joint statement on May 28 proposing the new track and facility “host thoroughbred and standardbred racing, chariot and chuckwagon racing, 4-H and rodeo events, equine therapy, industry training with youth and equine professionals and the original extreme sport of Indian Relay.”

So what exactly is this extreme sport? According to a story in the New York Times, in its “traditional form, one rider completes three circuits of a track, changing his mount after each loop. Each race features up to eight teams consisting of a rider, three steely handlers and three horses. The competitors ride bareback, using only reins and a whip to stay on. As the rider approaches the starting line for each successive lap, he leaps from a running horse onto a fresh one.”

The rules also require that the riders wear native dress, which can include war bonnets and moccasins; the horses and riders also are painted in keeping with tradition.

The races are gaining widespread popularity, in particular throughout the American western plains states like Minnesota, Oklahoma and Wyoming, where in July the World Championship Indian Relay Races will be held in Sheridan.

Never too young to start… (Jodi Olson Johnson Photography)

In Oklahoma over Memorial Day Weekend, an Indian Relay Horse Race was held with riders from the US and Canada. In part it was to promote the heritage of the horse, and also to celebrate a return to normalcy following the pandemic.

Bareback relay racing has a long history with First Nations groups who lived and continue to live in the plains states. The cultural significance of the sport to the indigenous population is something best left to them to explain. One example can be found on the website for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Minnesota, which writes, “The horse has long held a special place in Native American culture. Often referred to as the Horse Nation, horses – like the drum – have a way of comforting, healing, and bringing Native people together. Spending time around them is good for the heart and good for the spirit.”

That’s something all horsemen and women can agree on, no matter where you’re from or what tack you use (or don’t!).

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Check out more awesome Indian Relay photos at Jodi Olson Johnson Photography’s website here.