The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

Sunday was a gorgeous day with sunshine and a bit of a breeze at the Phillips County Fairgrounds in Dodson, a perfect day for enjoying competition involving horses. On the last day of the fair there was a double helping of horse-related events with the 2017 Indian Relay Races and the 2017 Phillips County Ranch Rodeo.

Fort Belknap was well represented in the relay races with five teams entered: Mountain River; Plainfeather; Wolf Mountain Express; Fast Travelers and Moccasin Flats. There were three Crow teams and two Blackfeet. In the qualifying heats, held on Sunday morning, Fort Belknap's teams of Mountain River and Fast Travelers made it to the championship round. The final championship race was held in the afternoon, after the Ranch Rodeo was concluded.

Carlson Relay, from the Blackfeet reservation, won the championship and Fort Belknap's Mountain River team took second. Before the championship race Alan Kulbeck, a mugger (catcher) with the Mountain River team, said, "All these teams are tough. They all have their days. A split second can determine the winner." Kulbeck explained, "One of our horses hit a 'boggy' spot in the track during the qualifying race. That hurt our time and we got second." He said team members were out early Sunday morning helping the track crew get the track into shape after a demolition derby the night before.

The first Joe Kirkaldie Indian Mile race was also held on Sunday. It was a race that honored Joe Kirkaldie, a long-time flat track horse racer from Fort Belknap. Dave Kirkaldie, one of Joe's sons and now a part of the Mountain River relay team, told that it was his dad's interest in flat track racing that eventually led to the start of a relay team at Fort Belknap. He explained, "Dad had some race horses and was too busy to do much with them. We asked if we could use them for relay racing and that's how we got started." Ross Deroche, from the Blackfeet reservation, won the first memorial race.

A half mile women's race was also held. Belinda Horn, from Fort Belknap, won that race. The races were accredited by the Horse Nations Indian Relay Council and sponsored by the Fort Belknap Indian Community. The Indian Relay races move on to Fort Hall in Idaho, Kalispell and Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota.