Mountain River INDNRLY team gears up for Nationals in Billings

Lodgepole’s Mountain River INDNRLY Team has only been participating in Indian Horse Racing for the past year but the group has already qualified for the 2016 All Nations Indian Relay Championship that will start on Thursday, September 22 and finish on Sunday, September 25 in Billings at MetraPark.

The event is an arena one and a half mile bareback race that features one rider, three horses, a mugger, a setup man and back holder.

Al Kulbeck is the mugger for Mountain River. His job is to exchange horses with the rider after every lap, which is either a half mile or full mile depending on the course.

At half-mile races, Chris Cole, the team’s primary rider and on longer tracks sixteen year-old ChayChaz Shambo rides. On longer rides, the lighter Shambo is easier on the horses, while on shorter races, Cole’s experience comes in handy.

“This is our first year and we are doing pretty good,” Kulbeck said.

It has been going so well for Kulbeck and his team that will aim to field a second team for next year’s racing season.

“We’re here for relay,” Kulbeck said. “We want to make as many teams as we can. We want to make it bigger and it is growing.”

Having a larger team, Mountain River has also been put in positions to help other teams that have needed a hand.

“There have been teams out there that were short a couple of guys,” Kulbeck said. “If they need help we will help them.”

Kulbeck’s love for relay racing began at a younger age when he watched his current team race.

“The team that I’m with is the old Kirkaldie team,” Kulbeck said. “They dominated for 20 years. They have four World Championships and five National Championships.”

Upon seeing how big the event was getting in the 2015 season, Kulbeck decided to help field a team. Since starting the team has won or placed in several events around multiple states including, Washington, Wyoming and Minnesota. The team will likely go to Idaho this weekend and Oklahoma in the near future.

“We’ve first, second or third in all of our races except for Sheridan,” Kulbeck said adding the team won the championship in Lower Brule, S.D. earlier this year.

The team earned enough High Points after their second Professional Indian Horse Racing Association (PIHRA) race to qualify for Nationals.

The races are full of excitement but there is a dangerous aspect of the race and if not careful people and horses can get injured.

“Everybody has got to be ready,” Kulbeck said. “Anything can happen out there. Horses can get spooked.”

Horses enter the exchange zone at fast speeds, so the team needs to work in unison to make sure all involved can make transfers as safe as possible. The horse racing is a way out for most of those involved with the sport that may be dealing with tough life situations including Kulbeck.

“We’ve all been around horses in our lives,” Kulbeck said. “I have PTSD and wasn’t able to sleep very good. This is the best I’ve slept in over five years. It’s in my blood now and I can’t get rid of it.”

The team’s vision is to grow so that it can help current and future generations.

“We try to focus on the kids, especially the ones that aren’t getting brought up very well with a lot of drugs and alcohol in their family,” Kulbeck said. “We’re going to try to give them a way out in the future. Horses are the best therapy in the world to me.”

Though it’s been only a year, the bond that Mountain River INDNRLY has is already stronger than normal friendships.

“I’m willing to die for anybody and that means our horses, too,” Kulbeck said.

Kulbeck and his team were appreciative of Landusky’s Trent Seaford and Jason Gray who let them borrow a pickup and horse trailer for traveling.