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DIANA VOLK
TEAM FAST HORSE RELAY
STORY & PHOTOS BY : DIANA VOLK
What does the word “ team ” mean in Indian relay to
Kirk Fast Horse , Cheyenne River Sioux , owner of Fast Horse Relay , from Eagle Butte , SD ? It means family , team mates , those that have shared their knowledge , and horses — horses that become part of the family . You can hear the pride in Fast Horse ’ s voice as he talks about his “ team ” of horses . “ Koby- he ’ s our families champ . He ’ s won about every race around here . He ’ s undefeated at Faith , SD match race . He won it for 6 years in a row . The biggest field he ’ s beaten is 16 head in one race . It was a ½ mile saddle race in Eagle Butte ,”
“ Paigee Pooh ” a solid horse on the team has proved herself at flat track , relay and now as a producer . She excelled at flat track racing one time beating a field of 8 in North Dakota by 13 lengths . They are extremely proud of her and her accomplishments , and especially proud the colt , we call him “ Son ,” she had last year , he will start flat track training later this year .
Butkus , is the solid horse on the team and he also had a very successful flat track career as a 2 and 3-year old . He came home as a 5-year old and started to relay , he is the big baby--but when he is at the track he is all business .
Rounding out rest of the team are Fox , Queen and Tommy . Fox helped them win a heat at the “ 2017 Championship of Champions ” and is showing a lot of promise as a relay horse . Queen and Tommy are both 4-year olds and they have moved into the rotation for 2018 . Fast Horse feels that if they keep up the good work they will be really “ tough ” in the years to come .
“ We used to relay to keep our horses in shape to flat