Montana
Montana Saddle Clubs Association royalty — Teens excel in horsemanship competition
On a bluebird day, Flathead Valley teens Emily Tuck and Lilly Erickson saddled up their horses Leo and Whiskey for a playday of O-Mok-See before a saddle club awards banquet in Columbia Falls.
Mounting the horses, 14-year-old Tuck of Columbia Falls and 18-year-old Erickson of Kalispell rode into a field by the Rocky Mountain Riders Saddle Club arena, the bright sun glinting off their sparkly sashes, bejeweled belt buckles and crowns adorning their cowboy hats.
The hardware comes from their recent crowning at the Montana Saddle Clubs Association competition in late August. Erickson was crowned queen and Tuck, senior princess. The pair earned the titles at the state O-Mok-See games by demonstrating expert horsemanship and sportsmanship in addition to their public speaking skills, attire and community service.
With the titles, Tuck and Erickson will represent the Montana Saddle Clubs Association at the 2025 national O-Mok-See championship, which will be held in Helena. They will spend the year promoting the association and the O-Mok-See sport at parades and horse events, along with opening and assisting at competitions.
“Basically we help out in the arena, whether it’s raking, getting the ground really good for the horses, or setting out the different patterns, barrels or poles. We give support to the littler ones if they’re having trouble,” Tuck said.
Most people might be unfamiliar with O-Mok-See whose origin lies with the Blackfeet tribe. The Blackfeet called the dramatic style of riding, traditionally a prelude to battle, as “oh-mak-see pass-kan,” meaning “riding big dance,” according to the National Saddle Clubs Association. In the modern day, O-Mok-See became a timed, pattern-racing sport in Western riding.
“In O-Mok-See there’s lanes and you have to race through different patterns usually involving poles or barrels. Whoever gets the fastest time wins in each age division,” Tuck explained.
Throughout the summer, they compete in O-Mok-See weekly, which culminates in the state games and then nationals.
Tuck said she’s been riding since she was 4 and got into O-Mok-See in 2022.
“I actually started showing horses, doing equitation,” Tuck said, describing it as being “all bling.”
“You need to show off your horse through different gates,” Tuck said. “You have what you call your rail classes and that’s the equitation, and that’s how well your seat [posture] looks, how you look and how well you connect with your horse. You go on the rail, and they say, walk, trot and lope.”
Connection with the horse is a major part of horseback riding no matter what the event is.
“They [horses] have really big personalities, but you also put a lot of work into them, and I feel that deepens the bond because I trained my horse to do many things that he couldn’t do,” Tuck said.
Tuck bought Leo about five years ago and said it took a lot of training to prepare the quarter horse that was raised on a ranch to pivot into shows and competition. The result of her hard work brought a great sense of satisfaction.
“I started out doing shows and I figured if I want to get more into the saddle club part then I can do O-Mok-See as well. If you do good in O-Mok-Sees then you can go to state, which is where the pageant is held,” she said.
Although owning a horse came later in life for Erickson, who started riding in 2017, horses are a generational part of her family. Her sister Violet was the 2019 National Saddle Club Association O-Mok-See champion.
“I grew up as a moto[cross] kid and then my grandpa got horses for hunting and my sister and I kind of just fell in love with them,” she later added. “My grandma still rides and she’s 86.”
Inspired by her grandparents’ devotion to horses, Whiskey came into her life. Although she had a rough start working with Whiskey, she held on, seeing his potential.
“I was kind of like I’m gonna ride it out because this horse has a lot of potential for sure, so I never gave up. He definitely gave me a hard time, that’s for sure. He still does to this day,” she said with a smile.
“It took about four years for us to click together, that’s for sure. But he’s definitely my O-Mok-See horse.”
While Whiskey may have a fit, Tuck said Leo will “try you.”
“He always tries to be top of the pack, top of the totem pole, but in reality, he’s kind of just an insecure little boy,” Tuck said with a laugh.
Erickson added, “Kind of sounds like my horse. He’s a little full of himself.”
On the Oct. 13 Sunday morning, however, the handsome horses put their best hoof forward, exuding calmness and curiosity while being photographed, and after eating treats, expressed delight.
“Right now, we have a little playday, basically all O-Mok-See, but we’re just having fun, not really competing,” Tuck said.
The comradery of saddle clubs is what Tuck and Erickson enjoy along with the opportunities to compete. Erickson, who is a member of the Kalispell Flathead River Riders Saddle Club, said it’s something riders of any age can participate in, noting current members range in age from 2 to 86. Tuck, who belongs to the Rocky Mountain Riders Saddle Club in Columbia Falls, agreed.
“We’re just one big family,” Erickson said.
Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.
Montana Saddle Clubs Association senior princess Emily Tuck puts a halter on her quarter horse Leo at the Rocky Mountain Riders Saddle Club in Columbia Falls Oct. 13, 2024. (Hilary Matheson/Daily Inter Lake.)
WASHINGTON ― Montana Republican Senate nominee Kurt Alme, who previously served as his state’s U.S. attorney, cut a plea deal in 2020 that allowed a tribal police officer who sexually abused a 6-year-old girl to serve less than a year in prison and avoid being registered as a sex offender.
Alme, who has President Donald Trump’s backing in his bid for Senate, served as Montana’s U.S. attorney in two stints. Trump appointed him both times; Alme served in the role from September 2017 through December 2020, and then again from March 2025 through March 2026.
Alme oversaw the case of Mychal Thomas Damon, who was indicted in June 2019 by a grand jury on one count of abusive sexual contact with an individual under 12, which carries a maximum punishment of a lifetime in prison, a $250,000 fine and no less than five years to a lifetime of supervised release. The average sentence for this crime is less severe, but still significant: 62 months in prison, no fine and 143 months of supervised release, based on an analysis of 2025 data provided by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Damon, 28, had admitted he touched the 6-year-old’s genitals. But in February 2020, Alme’s office filed a plea deal in his case that reduced his charge to felony child abuse.
The changes in the plea deal raised the alleged age of the victim from below 12 to below 14, stripped out the language of sexual intent and moved the offense out of the federal sex crime framework, meaning Damon would no longer be required to register as a sex offender. It jointly recommended Damon be sentenced to the time he’d already served of 324 days, and required only a sex offender evaluation. Alme’s name appears on the bottom of the document, along with a signature by his assistant U.S. attorney, Cassady Adams.
In June, Alme filed a sentencing memorandum that described Damon’s conduct, which included details of him touching the child’s vagina with skin-to-skin contact, and the adverse effect it had on her mental health. Local reporting at the time said the victim had told a therapist “Mychal touched me” and hurt her by putting his fingers in her “hoo hoo.”
Ten days later, Alme announced Damon was being sentenced to time served of 324 days and two years of supervised release. As of June 2026, Damon is not listed in the national sex offender registry or in Montana’s Sexual or Violent Offender Registry.
It’s not clear why Alme reduced the charges against Damon as significantly as he did. During part of his tenure as U.S. attorney, his office declined 64% of sexual assault cases. He conceded in a 2019 interview that this “is something that has to be worked on,” and noted that a lot of these cases are declined due to “weak or insufficient evidence.”
Asked what happened in Damon’s case, an Alme campaign spokesman on Thursday lashed out at unnamed Democrats for trying to make him look bad.
“Kurt’s liberal opponents are twisting the facts to manufacture a fake narrative that exploits crimes against women and children,” said Alme’s spokesperson. “Department of Justice policy required defendants to plead to the most serious charge readily provable from the evidence. Kurt strongly supported the Multi-Disciplinary Teams on our Native American reservations, led by his office, to support investigations of crimes against children and to support victims.”
His spokesperson also pushed back on the idea that Alme unreasonably declined a large number of sexual assault cases during his tenure as U.S. attorney.
“Kurt’s office prosecuted every viable sexual abuse felony referred to it and pursued the most serious charge readily provable from the evidence,” the spokesperson said. “Many ‘declined’ cases were to allow more appropriate tribal prosecutions ― they were not dropped. Kurt will bring his years of experience prosecuting criminals and working with the Sexual Assault Response Teams on our Native American reservations to the U.S. Senate to strengthen investigations, support victims, and better protect women and children.”
The campaign pointed HuffPost to a 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office that found the most common reason for U.S. attorney’s offices to decline sexual abuse cases referred in from Indian country was “weak or insufficient admissible evidence.” It also highlighted statements of support for Alme in an October 2025 press release by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), when he celebrated Alme being confirmed as U.S. attorney.
Alme is currently running for Daines’ Senate seat, and Daines went out of his way to clear the path for him. In a stunning and orchestrated maneuver, the two-term senator in March abruptly withdrew from reelection as Alme filed to run for his seat, minutes before the state’s filing period closed. Daines’ last-minute change-up was an effort to block potential Democrats or any major Republican challenger from jumping into an open Senate race.
Alme is taking on Democrat Alani Bankhead and independent candidate Seth Bodnar in the November election. Bankhead and Bodner have been duking it out for weeks, with each appealing to different factions of the Democratic party and calling on the other to drop out.
Bankhead, a retired Air Force officer, unexpectedly won the Democratic primary earlier this month, boosted by grassroots supporters and more than $2.5 million in outside money from a progressive veterans’ PAC. But Bodnar, a former University of Montana president who did not appear on the primary ballot, has bipartisan endorsements from prominent establishment figures, including former Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and former Republican Gov. Marc Racicot. He’s also significantly outraised Bankhead and Alme.
This Senate seat is rated “solid Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook’s Political Report, meaning Alme is well-positioned to win the general election. But this race would be more competitive if Bodner and Alme were going head to head, without Bankhead in the running.
Where Khloe Kardashian Stands With Ex French Montana More Than 10 Years After Breakup
French Montana is done keeping up with reality TV.
In fact, he only agreed to appear on Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Kourtney & Khloé Take the Hamptons over a decade ago as a favor to then-girlfriend Khloe Kardashian.
“She said to get on the show,” he exclusively told E! News at the BET Awards on June 28. “And I got on the show. Shout out to Khloe.”
The “Ever Since U Left Me” rapper, who split with Kardashian in December 2014 after eight months of dating, said the experience was “fun” because her family kept it real.
“They filmed their real life,” he continued. “And we were part of something together that one time. So it felt great. It didn’t feel like work because they film what they do everyday.”
As for his future in reality TV, the 41-year-old said those days are over, shutting down any prospective offers with a simple, “Negative.”
Although the “Unforgettable” artist—whose real name is Karim Kharbouch—may not be returning to television anytime soon, he has no problem hanging out with his ex-girlfriend these days.
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