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Navajo Horse Racing(10 images)
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Horse racing on the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona is not like horse racing you've seen at the track or on television. It's a throwback to the days of the old west. Members of the Nation, with their horses, gather in a meadow, usually off the beaten path, on the reservation and then race their horses. Some races are short - maybe a couple of miles, some are much longer - 10 - 15 miles.
  • 09 SEPTEMBER 2007 -- ST. MICHAELS, AZ: DOMINICK WHITEHORSE, from Many Farms, AZ, works out with Joey before a traditional Navajo Horse Race in the summit area of the Navajo Indian reservation about 10 miles west of St. Michaels, AZ. Traditional horse racing is making a comeback on the Navajo reservation. The races are run on improvised courses that vary depending on the local terrain. Use of saddles is optional (except in the "Cowhand Race" which requires a western style saddle) and many jockeys ride bareback. The distances vary from one mile to as long as thirty miles. Traditional horse races were common until the 1950's when they fell out of favor, but there has been a resurgence in traditional racing since the late 1990's and now there is a traditional horse racing circuit on the reservation. The race was organized by the Begay family of Steamboat, AZ and run on private land about three miles from a paved road. Photo by Jack Kurtz / ZUMA Press By photographer Jack Kurtz
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  • 09 SEPTEMBER 2007 -- ST. MICHAELS, AZ: ISIAH WHITEHORSE, 5, from Many Farms, AZ, walks Joey before his brother, Dominick, rode the horse in a traditional Navajo Horse Race in the summit area of the Navajo Indian reservation about 10 miles west of St. Michaels, AZ. Traditional horse racing is making a comeback on the Navajo reservation. The races are run on improvised courses that vary depending on the local terrain. Use of saddles is optional (except in the "Cowhand Race" which requires a western style saddle) and many jockeys ride bareback. The distances vary from one mile to as long as thirty miles. Traditional horse races were common until the 1950's when they fell out of favor, but there has been a resurgence in traditional racing since the late 1990's and now there is a traditional horse racing circuit on the reservation. The race was organized by the Begay family of Steamboat, AZ and run on private land about three miles from a paved road. Photo by Jack Kurtz / ZUMA Press By photographer Jack Kurtz
    NavajoHorse...jpg
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  • 09 SEPTEMBER 2007 -- ST. MICHAELS, AZ: JESSICA SMITH, 7, from Brimhall, NM, gives some grass to her mustang, Lightning, before the mustang was raced in a traditional Navajo Horse Race in the summit area of the Navajo Indian reservation about 10 miles west of St. Michaels, AZ. Traditional horse racing is making a comeback on the Navajo reservation. The races are run on improvised courses that vary depending on the local terrain. Use of saddles is optional (except in the "Cowhand Race" which requires a western style saddle) and many jockeys ride bareback. The distances vary from one mile to as long as thirty miles. Traditional horse races were common until the 1950's when they fell out of favor, but there has been a resurgence in traditional racing since the late 1990's and now there is a traditional horse racing circuit on the reservation. The race was organized by the Begay family of Steamboat, AZ and run on private land about three miles from a paved road. Photo by Jack Kurtz / ZUMA Press By photographer Jack Kurtz
    NavajoHorse...jpg
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  • 09 SEPTEMBER 2007 -- ST. MICHAELS, AZ: NIZHONI DAVIS, 2, from Ft. Defiance, AZ, watches the action at a traditional Navajo Horse Race in the summit area of the Navajo Indian reservation about 10 miles west of St. Michaels, AZ. Traditional horse racing is making a comeback on the Navajo reservation. The races are run on improvised courses that vary depending on the local terrain. Use of saddles is optional (except in the "Cowhand Race" which requires a western style saddle) and many jockeys ride bareback. The distances vary from one mile to as long as thirty miles. Traditional horse races were common until the 1950's when they fell out of favor, but there has been a resurgence in traditional racing since the late 1990's and now there is a traditional horse racing circuit on the reservation. The race was organized by the Begay family of Steamboat, AZ and run on private land about three miles from a paved road. Photo by Jack Kurtz / ZUMA Press By photographer Jack Kurtz
    NavajoHorse...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • 09 SEPTEMBER 2007 -- ST. MICHAELS, AZ: Spectators at a traditional Navajo Horse Race in the summit area of the Navajo Indian reservation about 10 miles west of St. Michaels, AZ. Traditional horse racing is making a comeback on the Navajo reservation. The races are run on improvised courses that vary depending on the local terrain. Use of saddles is optional (except in the "Cowhand Race" which requires a western style saddle) and many jockeys ride bareback. The distances vary from one mile to as long as thirty miles. Traditional horse races were common until the 1950's when they fell out of favor, but there has been a resurgence in traditional racing since the late 1990's and now there is a traditional horse racing circuit on the reservation. The race was organized by the Begay family of Steamboat, AZ and run on private land about three miles from a paved road. Photo by Jack Kurtz / ZUMA Press By photographer Jack Kurtz
    NavajoHorse...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • 09 SEPTEMBER 2007 -- ST. MICHAELS, AZ: Racers approach the finish line at a traditional Navajo Horse Race in the summit area of the Navajo Indian reservation about 10 miles west of St. Michaels, AZ. Traditional horse racing is making a comeback on the Navajo reservation. The races are run on improvised courses that vary depending on the local terrain. Use of saddles is optional (except in the "Cowhand Race" which requires a western style saddle) and many jockeys ride bareback. The distances vary from one mile to as long as thirty miles. Traditional horse races were common until the 1950's when they fell out of favor, but there has been a resurgence in traditional racing since the late 1990's and now there is a traditional horse racing circuit on the reservation. The race was organized by the Begay family of Steamboat, AZ and run on private land about three miles from a paved road. Photo by Jack Kurtz / ZUMA Press By photographer Jack Kurtz
    NavajoHorse...jpg
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  • 09 SEPTEMBER 2007 -- ST. MICHAELS, AZ: Racers on the course of a two and a half mile long horse race at a traditional Navajo Horse Race in the summit area of the Navajo Indian reservation about 10 miles west of St. Michaels, AZ. Traditional horse racing is making a comeback on the Navajo reservation. The races are run on improvised courses that vary depending on the local terrain. Use of saddles is optional (except in the "Cowhand Race" which requires a western style saddle) and many jockeys ride bareback. The distances vary from one mile to as long as thirty miles. Traditional horse races were common until the 1950's when they fell out of favor, but there has been a resurgence in traditional racing since the late 1990's and now there is a traditional horse racing circuit on the reservation. The race was organized by the Begay family of Steamboat, AZ and run on private land about three miles from a paved road. Photo by Jack Kurtz / ZUMA Press By photographer Jack Kurtz
    NavajoHorse...jpg
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  • 09 SEPTEMBER 2007 -- ST. MICHAELS, AZ: The start of the "Cowhand Race" at a traditional Navajo Horse Race in the summit area of the Navajo Indian reservation about 10 miles west of St. Michaels, AZ. Traditional horse racing is making a comeback on the Navajo reservation. The races are run on improvised courses that vary depending on the local terrain. Use of saddles is optional (except in the "Cowhand Race" which requires a western style saddle) and many jockeys ride bareback. In the Cowhand Race, jockeys ride bareback for the first half, then saddle their horse, using a western style saddle, and complete the race in the saddle. The distances vary from one mile to as long as thirty miles. Traditional horse races were common until the 1950's when they fell out of favor, but there has been a resurgence in traditional racing since the late 1990's and now there is a traditional horse racing circuit on the reservation. The race was organized by the Begay family of Steamboat, AZ and run on private land about three miles from a paved road. Photo by Jack Kurtz / ZUMA Press By photographer Jack Kurtz
    NavajoHorse...jpg
    add to lightbox
  • 09 SEPTEMBER 2007 -- ST. MICHAELS, AZ: Spectators at a traditional Navajo Horse Race in the summit area of the Navajo Indian reservation about 10 miles west of St. Michaels, AZ. Traditional horse racing is making a comeback on the Navajo reservation. The races are run on improvised courses that vary depending on the local terrain. Use of saddles is optional (except in the "Cowhand Race" which requires a western style saddle) and many jockeys ride bareback. The distances vary from one mile to as long as thirty miles. Traditional horse races were common until the 1950's when they fell out of favor, but there has been a resurgence in traditional racing since the late 1990's and now there is a traditional horse racing circuit on the reservation. The race was organized by the Begay family of Steamboat, AZ and run on private land about three miles from a paved road. Photo by Jack Kurtz / ZUMA Press By photographer Jack Kurtz
    NavajoHorse...jpg
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  • 09 SEPTEMBER 2007 -- ST. MICHAELS, AZ: Jockeys DOMINICK WHITEHORSE, left, and JOHNNY GOLDTOOTH cross the finish line of the five mile race at a traditional Navajo Horse Race in the summit area of the Navajo Indian reservation about 10 miles west of St. Michaels, AZ. Whitehorse won the race. Traditional horse racing is making a comeback on the Navajo reservation. The races are run on improvised courses that vary depending on the local terrain. Use of saddles is optional (except in the "Cowhand Race" which requires a western style saddle) and many jockeys ride bareback. The distances vary from one mile to as long as thirty miles. Traditional horse races were common until the 1950's when they fell out of favor, but there has been a resurgence in traditional racing since the late 1990's and now there is a traditional horse racing circuit on the reservation. The race was organized by the Begay family of Steamboat, AZ and run on private land about three miles from a paved road. Photo by Jack Kurtz / ZUMA Press By photographer Jack Kurtz
    NavajoHorse...jpg
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