'Extreme sport' of Indian Horse Relay makes return to Manito Ahbee festival

When the horn blows, the race starts and the adrenaline kicks in for competitors in the sport known as Indian Horse Relay.

Joseph Jackson, 16, a Plains Cree rider originally from Goodfish Lake, Alta., was first introduced to it when he was 11 and officially started racing when he was 12.

"Your blood's rushing, it just goes blank for me," Jackson said in an interview Monday. "It's just me and the horse and you hear the thunder of the feet, coming in you hear the crowd. That's the only time you hear 'em."

The Elite Indian Relay Association (EIRA) kicked off its 2023 racing season Monday at Assiniboia Downs as part of Manito Ahbee. The EIRA races feature a maximum of four teams racing on the track at one time. Each team is made up of a setter, a back holder, a catcher, a rider or jockey as well as three thoroughbred horses.

The rider does three laps around track, switching horses within the outline of a box drawn out in the track where the riders must jump off one horse and onto another with the help of the rest of their team.

There are no saddles on the horses, so the competitors ride bareback with a bridle, and riders typically don't wear helmets. The first rider to cross the line on their finisher horse wins the race for their team.

Vern "Stick" Antoine, a member of Poundmaker Cree Nation in Saskatchewan and president of the EIRA, said the sport is steeped in tradition.

"It's an extreme sport," Antoine said. "We're bringing it back alive."

WATCH | 'It's just me and the horse': Riders gear up for Indian Horse Relay:

"At first we were one of the fans watching out there and then we were so intrigued with all this Indian relay going on, it got our heart pumping," said Viola Frenchman, co-owner of the EIRA team called In