The Best Kept Sports Secret In America!
howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas
where it is a hot 100 degrees Fahrenheit today which would be about
38 C.
When I was doing research for the Black Cowboy series of posts I kept
running into "relay races" so that had me curious enough to go back
and look them up when I finished my other cowboy series.
And boy what I found was amazing! The term Relay Races refers to
the most exciting races you never heard of, they are talking about
Indian horse racing where teams compete in a relay but the
contestants don't change off like in a running relay on foot.
In a horse relay there is one rider who changes horses each lap.
There are 5 teams in each race with each team composed of a rider,
two handlers and a catcher to stop the horse which the rider is getting
off of to jump on another one!
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You can see why it's so exciting with chaotic exchanges occurring
because of all those horses and handlers involved in one spot on the
track. And no saddles folks, no saddles!!
I had no idea that these races have been going on for decades, at least
from the 1970s and probably much earlier. In fact one of the experts
on relay races is a gentleman by the name of Floyd Osborn who has a
long history of relay racing experience and used to be a rider himself.
Mr. Osborn who was born at Fort Washakie on the Wind River
Reservation in Wyoming and grew up on Idaho’s Shoshone-Bannock
Reservation and is the great-grandson of an Englishman who
imported horses from Great Britain and they started using those
thoroughbreds in the races.
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He says this about the history of relay races.." the practice of riding
horses in relay sequence may have originated as a way of expediting
messages of approaching enemies back to tribal chiefs."
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So this isn't a new method and this type of racing was popular in the
1920's and is gaining more popularity all the time. Some professional
rodeos are even hosting the relay races again like they did in the
1920's.
They're held predominately in the North in the states of Wyoming,
Montana and Idaho but you can go to the Horse Nations Indian Relay
Council website for scheduled events.
http://www.horsenationsrelay.com
This sport is so exciting. I mean you have the best riders in the world
who grew up with horses and riding as a way of life in the traditions
of their tribes, and you have some of the fastest horses on earth.
When you add in the danger, the difficulty factors, the mechanics of
how the relays are completed with jostling race horses anxious to run
and the skill of switching horses without stopping and you can get a
little bit of the picture.
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I hope these photos capture that excitement and the skill that it takes
to do this. The event is so unique that it should be attracting major
sponsors and be carried by more networks and hosted by more of the
major professional rodeos.
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Having said that though, I don't believe most teams are particularly
racing for the prize money but out of tradition and honor for their
tribe and people.
It's very unique because the indigenous people have a relationship
with their animals and horses in particular that few outsiders can
comprehend. The horses are their companions and kindred spirits
and in many cases they were raised up together.
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I don't think you'll find many white cowboys praying with their horses
before a race. I'm just sayin. No offence to any white cowboys who do.
By the way, these races are held at professional Indian rodeos, which I
will do posts about, and also at Pow Wows. The rodeos are mostly held
in the Northeast but man..I wish they'd come to Texas!
I hope you've enjoyed this small glimpse into the wild world of horse
relay racing. Thanks so much for reading and God bless you all!
-jonboy Texas
the gentleman redneck
ya know...you might just be a redneck if:
You throw a beer can out the truck window and your wife shoots it!
This is so interesting and something I have never heard about before. I love that there's no saddles too, but I really love the connection to animals that indigenous people have; it's the same relationship they have to nature as well. Everything is a living force and needs to be treated with love and respect. It's how I try to live too. So beautiful!
The photos here are pretty awesome too!
thanks I took them in my spare time from sparring with you.
I'm so glad you liked it though, but at the same time when I do a story like this I get frustrated because there is so much we could learn from the tribes but noooo..no one seems to want to. but then they are very closed to the pale face too, which I don't blame them!
what say you miss motor mouth?
Hi @janton. That is fascinating. Never knew this sport existed but makes sense where the roots came from. the quickest way to get a message to a chief in war would be to use one messenger and many horses. It is something I would watch on television and would want to go and watch a live race. I wish it would be televised at least.
sir cryptoandcoffee! I'm glad you liked it. yeah I'd probably be betting by how well the horse was painted! lol. Well one of the professional rodeo owners said that it was really gaining in popularity so the rodeos are on tv so we'll probably be seeing these too.
As wild as it is these young warriors could become real stars.
This is wonderful janton. The horses in these pictures are gorgeous. What’s the horse life expectancy? How fast can a horse run and for how long? I think this kind of animal is very expensive to acquire and maintain. But very beautiful indeed.
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howdy there roger5120! yes they are expensive, I'm not sure how long they race the horses but horses live a long time for an animal, probably 25 or 30 years generally speaking but I don't know how long they run them in races, my guess is 7 or 8 years.
these horses are fast, 30 or 40 mph I think. I'm glad you like the photos, it's an amazing sport!
Yes, I bet. I am not very familiar with horses at all. I only see their beauty and strength just by looking at them. I just googled about it, it said that thorough breed horses can sustain a speed of about 40mph during races, but a quarter breed horses says can run for 55mph. Wow, now that is interesting.
But it didn't give a broader differences between the two other than their speed.
Will, probably find out and read more later on it. Have a good night sleep janton.
howdy this fine Sunday night roger5120! thanks so much for your comments and interest!
hi there @janton how you doing?
The game looks difficult on we could say dangerous but a real deal, it could test the rider's abilities in a very extreme way.
Horses and the rider's costume looks unique and beautiful as most of your posts do :) Glad to be back and around your posts once again. Good day @janton
well well well..look who finally showed up to honor us with their presence! I wonder how long you would last on a horse like that without a saddle?
Hahaha that's funny @janton
I can last about 3 seconds lol
hahaha! well but what if it was a camel? have you ever ridden a camel?
I have but the way it gets up after the riders have sat on it, most people would fall there itself 😂
haha! yes I would need some riding lessons before I tackled a camel.
It's a very tough ride, climbing up to it's back is a tough task at first :D and it's harder to balance while riding it, harder than riding a horse I would say
howdy back again hahanali! yeah they are harder to ride because they aren't shaped for riding.
@janton, nice article, I didn't know about this sport! Thank you!
/FF
thank you sir friendly -fenix! hey ya know what? this looks like something that would go over great in Mexico what do you think?
Maybe, check out charrería. Im not so big on these things but some are really into it I guess.
Cheers!
/FF
That's wild. I never heard of this. I haven't been on a horse since I was little.
sir cosmiccrimes! I know right? well most people have never been close to a real horse and probably not a single person has heard of this, who follow me.
I remember being on a horse for the first time. They are intimidating they are bigger than people think.
I have heard of the sport, popular in the Canadian plains at one time. I don't know if it is anymore. I would love to go and see these relay races. Nothing like that here, I must say. The closeness of the riders and their steeds is surely a unique relationship.
of course you've heard of these races cecicastor..I'm surprised you haven't been a rider yourself at one time! lol. I bet though, that you're the only person following me that knew about these.
Well I know a Shoshone who knows about it but other than that.
Now that is fascinating! I would go to one of those races. And look at their footwear. You’d think they’d wear something a little more stabilizing than moccasins.
haha! hey hebrewhousewife..and they even have these around your area and in Canada even! I know their footware but geez ..no saddle? you know how hard it is to ride a thoroughbred racehorse without a saddle?
never done heard of this have you? haha, I know a Shoshone but other than that I think only cecicastor has heard of it. of course she's heard of everything so that's not surprising! lol.
Hiya comment King. I see you got accepted into the Alliance, congratulations.
thank you Ma'am but what did you think about the relay races? is that something that would appeal to you?
do you save all your typing for your posts?
are you really the quiet type because that would be extremely rare for a woman.
Lol always enjoy your combative-style comments.
The races are as thrilling as they come. Also when you consider the historical side of things, guess we have s lot to thank the native Americans for
Lol am as normal as can be
empress! "combative-style"? hey I comment with all the love in my heart that I can possibly muster! lol.
I love your comment but not sure I understand it, we have a lot to thank the Indians for ..what ..do you think? their land?
you're normal? ok ..well maybe but you're still mysterious because no one knows who you are or where you're from. which is fine, mysterious is very intriquing and it can be a could marketing technique. lol
Hey janton, congratulations on a very interesting story. Watching this sport would be fantastic. Maybe this event could be a holiday destination for you one day?
howdy angiemitchell! well..that would be wonderfull but i'm hoping that the popularity will increase and they'll be on tv. but being there in person would be much more fun.
Actually being in the crowd would give anyone a buzz canton. I hope too that the profits from this sport goes to the Indians.
haha! well we been screwing them over for 150years so hopefully in our more politically correct society things will be different, that would be great because the reservations are desperately poor.