Strike It Big: Down, but not out

What started as a celebration of competition and Native American heritage Sunday took a turn to near-tragedy during the third heat of Indian Relay Racing at the Great Northern Fair.

A horse and rider for the Fights Alone relay team took a hard crash on the third turn of the track at the Great Northern Fair, halting the event and prompting concerned onlookers to go running to assist the injured participants.

The rider, Rhylan Sioux, was thrown from the horse, Strike It Big, after the horse hit a dip in the track during the final lap of the race. Horses in the previous two heats had struggled on the third turn, a few coming up galloping after losing their footing. Organizers of the event took an intermission between the second and third heats to fill in the turn with more dirt and sand, but the problem was apparently not resolved, and the accident occurred in the very next race.

Members of the Fights Alone team went sprinting out to the far southeast corner of the track as the crash unfolded to assist Sioux, who escaped with a few pulled muscles and minor whiplash. The horse, Strike It Big, owned by team leader Randolph Bigday of Pryor, did not fare so well.

For about 15 minutes, relay participants, fair organizers and Dr. Brenee Peterson of Bear Paw Veterinary Services tended to the horse, lying on his side in the dirt of the track about 10 yards from the dip which caused the fall. The animal had injured one of his front legs, though Peterson said it did not appear to be broken.

After receiving an injection from Peterson, the horse was helped to his feet and carted off to a barn where he slowly regained the ability to put weight on his leg.

Bigday provided an update on his horse Monday evening, saying that Strike It Big is doing OK, but is still struggling to walk and has severe swelling on different parts of his body.

"Strike It Big is fine, and I'm glad he is still alive," Bigday said. "This is only the beginning to his long road of recovery.

"Strike It Big is a very lively and active horse, and to see him hurt and barely able to walk hurts my heart," he continued. "I can't imagine the pain he is feeling."

Travis Big Leg, a member of the Two Nations relay team who teamed up with Fights Alone for the race, said the track had the same issues when they raced on it last year, and he was not likely to come back to Havre if the track remains in such poor condition.

A new top event at Great Northern Fair

Sunday's incident is a blemish on an event that Havre is trying to embrace and build excitement around after bringing it to the Great Northern Fair last year. Organizers say they are doing their best to resolve the issues with the track and attract more participants and a bigger audience in future years.

Indian Relay promoter Tim "J.R." Rosette Jr. said the track is being taken care of and, although the horse is sore, it will recover. 

"The soft spot on the track was my fault," he said in a text message. "I wasn't aware of it. I was aware of hard spots and rocky spots due to a Facebook review, and we addressed them. We got sand brought in, had a dozen people picking rocks. I'm sorry for failing, I've caught nothing but negativity from other people."

"I paid the vet bill out of my pocket," Rosette added.

Members of the Fights Alone team said after the accident that they were going to seek payment for the veterinary bill.

Despite Sunday's mishap, Rosette is still looking forward to the future of the event, saying that he has played a large role in getting the relay started in the Havre area but is now ready to pass it on to someone else and let them grow the event more.

Wade Colliflower will be taking up the duty as the promoter, Rosette said. 

"I know he'll work well with teams and the fair board," he said. "He's a well-respected man. I thought he's capable of doing it."

Great Northern Fair Board Chair Tyler Smith said that Sunday's accident was unfortunate, but in the perspective of sports involving animals, accidents like the one experienced at the Indian Relay can happen. The fortunate part, he said, is that the animal will not die due to the incident.

He said track repairs and track prep is generally the promoter's duty, and the fair board only provides the grounds to race on. The fair board, however, did help Rosette with prepping the track and did hear some complaints early in the day that the track was too hard. A crew used sand to improve the track conditions, but after the first few heats of the relay it was apparent that there was another issue on turn three of the track. Smith said the riders needed to be very cognizant of the inside rail in that section of the track because the ground was very soft.

Smith said he personally tried to resolve the issue between the heats of the event, taking a water truck to the unsatisfactory turn and trying to compact the ground. The ground was so soft, though, that the water truck got stuck while he was working on it. He added that they tried their best to compress the ground using a tractor as well as to put up caution ribbons in that section to warn riders of the conditions.

"It is the responsibility of the participants to inspect the track and to ride their animals in accordance of what the conditions are," he said.

Bigday said he understands that Indian Relay is a hectic and sometimes hazardous event, but he was led to believe there would be no problems with the track.

"I understand the risk that I, myself, and the horse take walking out on the track, but for the horse and my rider to be hurt due to a reason I have no control over is wrong," he said. "Before I even considered racing, I was told the track was fixed from last year and that it was even better. I feel lied to and angry."

Smith said that because of the rain Saturday night, the low spot on the track collected water beneath the surface which made it harder to correct. The announcer at the event even mentioned that crews were not able to work on the track until Sunday morning due to the previous night's rain.

The community enjoys the Indian Relay, Smith said, and the fair board likes having the event on Sundays, so if the new promoter - Wade Colliflower - and the fair board choose to make track repairs in the future, the board would be very receptive to assure another accident like this can be prevented.

"We would like the event to stay," Smith said. "We need to make sure that it's good ground for the participant and the animals, but whether it's rodeo, whether it's whatever, it's up to these promoters to make sure it is. So while we want the event, it's not like we can put a million dollars into a white-rail fence which has Kentucky Derby-type infrastructure there. But I think the problems which we encountered this weekend are fixable."

Smith said he is aware that Rosette has passed the reins to Colliflower, and although some work needs to be done contractually, the board will work with the new promotor to assure nobody - man or animal - gets injured at future races.

"That's not what we want as a board," he said.

Turning to a new chapter for Indian Relay

Rosette said he is proud for having brought Indian Relay to Havre despite the little support he received in the beginning. The few people who encouraged him to pursue the relay are who kept him going and looking down the track at his end goal.

"I'm glad I did. It was an amazing feeling when I was done," he said.

The Indian Relay is a culturally significant event, he said. Numerous tribes have a wide range of stories on the event's origins, but the consensus is that the relay started amongst the plains tribes as a traditional game, Rosette said. He added that he jokes and teases other tribes that the relay started with the Cree tribe, because when they first came to Montana they had no reservation or a home, but what they did have were top-notch horses.

In addition to the historical significance of the event, this year was particularly special to Rosette because he was able to honor his nephew Jesse James Gardipee, who died in 2014. he said. His nephew's daughter, Bryleigh, was even on hand to distribute prize money at the event.

"We were close in age, and he was more like my little brother, so being able to do something in his memory was a big part," he said.

Rosette said that he is also proud of the amount of progress the event has made in the past two years. The Northern Winz Hotel and Casino has built its own track, which will be ready for Indian Relay races during the 2019 Chippewa Cree Celebration on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation.

"In Hill County, nobody was doing (Indian Relay) and we put up a track and got it going. Other people seeing it - wanting it - it's just amazing to see that it's already grown," he said.

"It brings our communities together. Not the Havre community, not the Rocky Boy community, it brings our communities together. It's divided there, (but) this is able to bring them together," Rosette said, adding that the relay is a chance for Native Americans to have a part at the Great Northern Fair.

"I think the future is bright. The sky's the limit right now," he said. "... I think that I could take it as far as I could take it, now the next person can take it further."

As for Bigday, Strike It Big, and the Fights Alone relayers, it looks as though the team will have to compete without its anchor horse for the rest of the year.

"(Rider Rhylan Sioux) is ready to ride at the next race," Bigday said. "This weekend was a major eye-opener. I'm thankful my team and horses walked away with what we did, and together.

"Strike It Big's love for running has been put on hold for the season due to this set-back," he continued. "Only time and visits to the vet will tell from here on out about his career. Strike It Big is full of heart and is strong - he is a fighter. I hope and pray this will not retire him from Indian relay racing."

This story has been updated to clarify the name of the relay team involved in the accident. Randolph Bigday is the team captain of Fights Alone, but another member of the Fights Alone team is also part of the Two Nations team. Fights Alone was the team involved in the crash.