PONY — It may have been a rainy, gray sky day in Pony, but that didn’t Pony Bar from holding its annual duck race, which has been happening for more than 20 years.
“If we win the duck race, it pays for our vacation out here,” said Tracy Heitz.
Tracy and Paul Heitz are visiting Pony from Missouri. MTN’s Esha Walia asked them what brought them out to Montana.
“The great Pony rubber duck races, and our son invited us,” said Tracy.
Tracy and Paul say they didn’t know much about the race before coming to Montana, except that it brings the community together.
“Everybody we’ve met here has been so friendly, and it’s just going to be an enjoyable time or us,” said Tracy and Paul.
WATCH: Pony Bar hosts annual rubber duck race
They’re not the only ones who have never been to the race. Jim Hart, a native Montanan, says Saturday’s duck race is the first he has been to.
“It’s kind of sacrilegious that I have not been to Pony for the duck races,” said Hart.
So, what is the Pony Bar Duck Race? As Pony Bar owner Hannah Lambert explains, people buy tickets that correlate with a rubber duck. That rubber duck then gets thrown into the creek, where it races against other rubber ducks. If you’re duck crosses the finish line first, second, or third, you win money, ranging from $250 to $5,000.
“I do think people really like it because it’s a whole different group of people,” said Lambert. “It’s kind of neat because its people that you wouldn’t normally hang out with that you end up kind of hanging out with.”
The duck race isn’t the only iconic part of Pony Bar. As Lambert explains, it first became a bar in the early 1900s and used to be a dance hall.
Flash forward to 2026, Pony is a small town with a population of 97, according to the World Population Review. And Pony Bar continues to be a pinnacle of the community.
“We’ve just really enjoyed the past few years of owning this bar and I’ve made lots of friends that were first customers and now they are friends,” said Lambert.
“I feel like we have a really good staff here, I mean, a lot of the people who work here have worked here even before I owned it,” she added.
Customers like Hart sharing the same sentiment.
“Oh my goodness, the times I’ve had an opportunity to stop here,” said Hart.
“I love stopping here; it’s like a mandatory stop.”
