Indian Relay, RCAN Ranch Rodeo to Close Fair

The 106th Annual Phillips County Fair is set to finish on an electrifying note this Sunday, August 8, as the Grandstands are scheduled to host Indian Relay Races and an RCAN Ranch Rodeo.

The Indian Relay will be hosted by the NorthEast Corner Committee of Fort Belknap and accredited by the Horse Nation Indian Relay Council, and the Ranch Rodeo will be hosted and accredited by Rural Communities and Agricultural Neighbors (RCAN).

The PCN talked to Francine KillEagle, of the Northeast Corner Committee and Katie Brown, founder of RCAN to talk about their respective events.

INDIAN RELAY

Last year's event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but the Relay Races are back in 2021!

KillEagle was asked what first-time viewers of the event will see.

"Lots of adrenaline," KillEagle said.

KillEagle went on to explain what the teams competing will look like.

"Teams will have two (horse) holders, a (horse) catcher, and a rider," KillEagle said. "The rider will do a lap, jump off of his horse, and jump on to another horse, which is called an exchange."

She also said that teams will do another lap followed by a final exchange with a third, previously unused horse, and then do a final lap around the track.

"During the consolation race and championship, you will have six teams doing this at the same time," KillEagle said. "It gets really intense. You have to figure out who you're going to watch. It's a lot of adrenaline and excitement."

This year's relay event will feature a new race, a women's relay!

"There will be two horses and one exchange," KillEagle said. "The whole team is female. It's a lot harder for the petite females to control horses, so it still is a lot of fun because it's pretty intense."

KillEagle said that the womens' relay is something that is up and coming and teams are becoming more active adding females into their group.

The event will feature a few traditional races including a Chariot Race, Memorial Race in Honor of Frankie Johnson and in Honor of Veterans, Memorial Maiden Race for the Cuts The Rope Girls, A Memorial Indian Mile Race in Honor of William "Bill" Runsabove, a Chief's Race, in honor of Edward "Tom" Filesteel, and a Kids Relay.

The 12 teams scheduled to be at the event include Starr School, Young Money, Timber Ridge, River Road Relay, Goes Ahead Pretty, Mountain River, Buffalo Jump Express, Old Elk Relay, Awa Da Hey, Black Rock Relay, Whitetail Express, and Carlson Relay.

Over the past few years, the P.C. Fair Indian Relay has brought a sense of tradition and introduced many to an entertaining cultural phenomenon.

"This event is for people to enjoy," KillEagle said. "We love seeing all of the people in our communities come together and just have a lot of fun."

The first round of races is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. The Memorial Races are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. later that day. The Chariot Race will follow, followed by the consolation race and then the championship.

RCAN RANCH RODEO

The RCAN Ranch Rodeo will start at 2 p.m. in the Grandstands.

This year's RCAN Rodeo will give teams a chance to qualify for the RCAN Finals that will be scheduled for later this year. By summer's end, RCAN will have hosted eight sanctioned events throughout the state, including an event at Saco Fun Days early this September.

The fair event will feature a scramble similar to last year's Fair rodeo.

"They have to do five events under eight minutes," RCAN President Katie Brown said.

Those events include branding, tye-down, doctoring, trailering, and penning.

Unlike last year, this time teams will have one chance to win the event due to time limitations.

The event will also be without Wild Cow Milking, so the fair will be missing last year's crazy red longhorn cow, affectionately named "Ted" after Ted Brown, Katie Brown's husband.

Katie did give an update on "Ted," stating that in the field, the wild cow is gentle, unlike the bucking and charging bull-like, attitude that she displayed at last year's fair.

"We still have her," Brown said. "When we go out and move her, she is fine. She won't take your horse when she is out there. When she hit the lights, she lost her mind!"

Though the Ranch Rodeo will be without last year's Most Valuable Bovine, Brown believes that the event will be entertaining.

"Someone will do something," Brown said. "There is never a dull moment and it gets pretty chaotic."

RCAN is a group of community members passionately dedicated to working with community stakeholders to enhance rural communities and sustain working agricultural lands and producers.

The event will cost $20 to enter for adults and children 13 and older. Admission for Children 12 and under is free!