Why First Nations Relay Racing Is a Must-See Experience in Alberta

Picture horses thundering off a start line, with bareback riders holding on tight atop them.

Teams race at the same time, with each duo sprinting a lap around a rodeo arena before the high-stakes exchange begins. A rider leaps off one horse, onto the ground, and up onto another horse for the next lap, while teammates catch the incoming horse and steady the fresh one.

After another lap, the swap happens again. The first rider to cross the finish line after three laps wins the race.

This is First Nations relay racing—often called North America’s original extreme sport—and it’s one of the highest-energy, most visually striking sports to watch.

In Alberta, you can watch this powerful combination of teamwork, precision and horsemanship at relay racing events throughout the summer, including several easily accessible from Calgary and Edmonton.

What is First Nations relay racing?

Relay racing is “an adrenaline junkie’s dream come true,” says Marty Wildman, who is from Chiniki First Nation, part of the Îyârhe Nakoda Nation in Mînî Thnî. “It’s a must-see event that you have to experience to fully appreciate,” adds Wildman, who is an actor, stunt performer and rodeo judge who helped bring relay racing back to the Calgary Stampede.

He’s also a competition consultant for the inaugural Calgary Stampede First Nations Rodeo & Relay, on Saturday, June 13, 2026, featuring top Indigenous rodeo and relay athletes from across North America.

How relay racing works

Wildman compares First Nations relay to the Olympic relay race, where runners take turns completing equal sections of a course and pass a baton within a designated exchange area. In First Nations relay racing, however, the rider becomes the baton, switching horses at full speed.

“The rider goes around the track on one horse, jumps off, gets on the next horse, goes around the track, comes back, jumps off, gets on the next horse, so it’s really a team effort along with the horses,” Wildman says.

Typically riders—sometimes called jockeys—race bareback on three different horses over three laps. They’re assisted by a mugger, also called the catcher, who catches and controls the incoming horse after the rider dismounts.

Two additional team members hold the second and third horses steady while the rider jumps on. The first holder is sometimes called the setter or exchange holder, while the second holder is often called the back holder. Usually, four to six teams race at once, with the first rider across the finish line crowned the winner.

Is it “Indian relay racing” or “First Nations Relay”?

You may hear the sport called different names, including Indian relay racing, Indian horse relay, First Nations relay racing and Indigenous relay racing.

The terminology can vary depending on the location. “Indian relay” is still commonly used in the United States. In Canada, some Indigenous associations and events are shifting toward “First Nations Relay,” as a move away from the colonial term “Indian,” while other events and teams still use “Indian relay.”

Horse Relay: A sport rooted in history and culture

The sport evolved from long-standing horse cultures on the North American Plains, where horses played a central role in transportation, hunting, warfare and ceremony.

Horse relay racing has deep roots across the Plains, and First Nations people have kept the competition alive and a strong part of their culture.

Colton Poitras, owner of the Black Bear Indian Relay team from Saulteaux First Nation, says the sport has grown rapidly in Canada over the past decade. “It’s a fast-growing sport and there’s a lot of thrill. The crowds are definitely growing, it’s getting bigger in Canada,” he says.

It was featured at the very first Calgary Stampede in 1912, and returned to the Calgary Stampede’s Evening Show in 2017. Stampede visitors can see relay racing nightly during the ticketed Evening Show following the Chuckwagon Races.

Relay racing circuits run throughout the summer across Western Canada, including at the River Cree Indian Relay cup near Edmonton, the Indian Relay in Medicine Hat in August and the Mînî Thnî Indian Relay just east of Banff.

Family, teams and life on the road

Relay racing teams are often deeply rooted in family, with relatives training together while extended family members serve as an integral part of the teams as they travel from competition to competition. “If we didn’t have our crew and our family, as big and as tight as we are, close knit, that would make it a lot harder,” Poitras says.

Each team member must perform their role with precision, while managing high speeds and split-second timing. The result is a fast-paced sport that’s thrilling to watch and deeply connected to Indigenous culture.

“Indian relay racing, it has a medicine about it,” Poitras says. “Just the adrenaline you feel on the track, there’s nowhere else that you can experience that.”

The bond between riders and horses

Jay Peeaychew, from Red Pheasant First Nation, is a world champion relay rider competing with the Black Bear Indian Relay team. For Peeaychew, his favourite part of the race is the exchange itself.

“You want to be fast and clean—smooth is what I would say. And that’s no hiccups: a one, two, three step and you’re already in the air and jumping on to your next [horse],” he says. For him, there’s no better feeling than a clean, seamless exchange.

Pulling off that kind of smooth exchange depends heavily on the horses, and Peeaychew describes caring for the animals as an everyday, all-day job. “Everything is for them,” Peeaychew says. “They eat before me, they drink water before me, I don’t get my coffee until they eat.”

The horses are central to the sport and are revered animals in many First Nations cultures. Relay racing horses are often thoroughbreds, including retired racehorses, but riders also look for calm temperaments.

The animals at the heart of relay racing

There’s a lot of moving parts when it comes to relay, Wildman says, and a horse needs to be able to handle it all—the fast-paced exchanges, the sprint around the track, as well as the noise and energy of the crowd watching it all unfold.

Relay riders have a strong connection with their horses, says Wildman, who also runs Lone Eagle Ventures, providing equine assisted learning to kids and youth.

“Our culture is a horse culture, so we’ve grown up a lot around horses, and we know the impacts that they have on healing, learning how to communicate, learning how to be problem solvers, learning how to lead,” Wildman says.

Relay racing teams paint their horses with their nation’s name or markings that carry distinct meanings to honour their ancestral traditions and tell each team’s story. “The stories that are told on the horses’ markings are all passed down from forefathers or the generations before us,” Wildman says.

Relay racing is more than a spectator event

For Wildman, seeing First Nations athletes and equine athletes compete at major events, like the Calgary Stampede, is second to none. “It’s just an awesome feeling… and such a prideful feeling,” he says.

That pride comes from seeing his culture represented accurately through relay racing. “It brings a lot of honour for us, for our people, because instead of misrepresentations or anything else, we’ve been able to educate people properly on what our culture means to us.”

Where to see First Nations Relay Racing in Alberta

Visitors to Alberta can see relay racing at events throughout the summer, including:

• Calgary: At the Calgary Stampede First Nations Rodeo & Relay on June 13, 2026, where top relay teams from across North America will compete
• Calgary: During the Calgary Stampede, running from July 3–12, 2026, with relay races taking place nightly during the evening show following the chuckwagon races.
• Central Alberta: In Lloydminster, at Extreme Indian Relay Racing, taking place July 25–26, 2026. (About 250 km or 155 mi east of Edmonton.)
• Southern Alberta: At Piikani Cultural Days, from August 14–16, 2026, in Brocket, the main community of the Piikani Nation, about 200 km (124 mi) south of Calgary.
• Southern Alberta: Alongside an Indigenous artisan market, the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede’s Indian Relay championship runs August 15–16, 2026.
• Southern Alberta: At the Mînî Thnî Indian Indian Relay event, running August 22–24, 2026, 55 km (34 mi) from Banff or 75 km (46 mi) from Calgary.
• Central Alberta, near Edmonton: During the River Cree Indian Relay Cup, taking place September 4–6, 2026 at the Enoch Cree Nation, located 31 km (19 mi) west of Edmonton.

Whether you see it at the Calgary Stampede or a community event on Alberta’s Prairies, relay racing is hard to forget. The speed, teamwork and split-second exchanges create a spectacle unlike anything else in rodeo, one deeply rooted in Indigenous culture and community.