Mint Bar holds Meet and Greet

The Indian Relay Racing scene has left quite the impression on many that attended the annual Phillips County Fair this past August, so much so that the Mint Bar hosted a Meet and Greet last Saturday, November 4, at 6 p.m.

Present at the event was the Mountain River INDNRLY Team of Hays-Lodge Pole and the Moccasin Flats team also of Hays-Lodge Pole.

The meet and greet gave locals the chance to talk to a few members of the groups.

The idea was birthed from the mind of Susan "Peanut" Green, local owner of the Mint Bar, who has been familiar with the sport for years.

"I started following Indian Relay when my friend Al (Kulbeck) teamed up with the Kirkaldie family who were world champion Indian Relayers," Green said. "I started sponsoring them on their weekends that they took off for their races."

Green came up with the idea to teach locals more about the sport.

"I thought that since a lot of people don't know a lot about Indian Relay Racing or seen it that they could come down and ask them questions about it," Green said.

Green went on to say that the event has a lot to do with the athleticism of the horses, though the teams weren't able to bring the horses due to the sub-zero temperatures and snow that has hit Montana this past week.

Among those present early at the event were Byard Kirkaldie, Dave Kirkaldie and Kulbeck of the Mountain River Relay team.

B. Kirkaldie had explained how the team finished the 2017 season after the P.C. Fair, noting that it was a good season in which the team finished first in consolation at the Horse Nations Relay in Billings in late September.

"We could've made the championship but we had a little wreck in one of the heats," he said.

Shortly before the race, the group added a couple of new additions to the family.

"We got new horses when we went to Minnesota on August 27," B. Kirkaldie said.

In the 2018 season the Mountain River Relay team plans to race in a Canadian circuit.