IT HAS WON rave reviews from audiences ranging from Prairie farmers and Atlantic fishermen to presidents and crown princes. It has taken its road show to every Canadian province and has been thunderously applauded in London, Paris and Tokyo.
It is a Canadian classic, now a century old. Despite its age and familiarity, it never fails to bewitch and beguile. Whether you've watched it once or a dozen times, the sight of 33 ramrod-straight riders resplendent in stetsons and scarlet tunics, manoeuvring jet-black mounts through complicated formations, never fails to raise goose bumps.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride -- or the Ride as it is affectionately known -- is as Canadian as, well, maple syrup. It has turned the redcoats into one of Canada's leading tourist attractions. After all, what's a trip to Ottawa without that requisite photo of you beside one of those tall, handsome Mounties in the shadow of the Parliament Buildings?
The Ride is but one division -- and a very small one at that -- of the RCMP, but it is by far the most visible. If the crime units represent the soul of the organization, the Ride represents the heart.
From its debut in 1887, the Musical Ride has been inundated with more requests to perform than it could ever hope to fill.
The equestrian drills on which the Ride is based came to Canada by way of British cavalry regiments, many members of which were among the first recruits of the North West Mounted Police, a force created in 1873 to tame Canada's wild west. Where a sufficient number of men and horses were stationed, drills were practiced.
In 1886, a permanent riding school was established at headquarters in Regina. Inspector W. G. Matthews, former riding master with the British Army's Third Hussars cavalry unit, took on the task of training the Ride for its first public performance. Another British army veteran, Jacob Farmer, was charged with coordinating musical accompaniment. Faced with mounts that were upset by the noisy, instrument-toting men on their backs, Farmer opted for an unmounted band.
The Musical Ride gave its first performance in January 1887, to the delight of Regina "society." In the next three months, the Ride gave five more performances. South of the border, Americans found themselves caught up in the Canadian spectacle. On the heels of the first few performances, a painting by American artist Frederic Remington, entitled "The Charge of the NWMP Musical Ride," appeared in Harper's Weekly. Remington painted a very romantic picture of the Ride -- handsome riders on horses better suited to Arab sheiks than to Canadian policemen. As the Ride's reputation grew, a few curmudgeons in the press couldn't resist a jab. The Toronto weekly, The Grip, deemed the whole business a great extravagance and suggested that the public would be better served if the riders attended to "regular" police duties.
Despite its appeal, especially on the Prairies where entertainment was scarce, performances were sporadic. Perhaps it was considered too frivolous to be a permanent fixture of the NWMP. After all, more pressing matters were at hand -- cattle rustlers and clashes between settlers and uprooted Indians.
The outbreak of World War I brought the Ride to a halt. From 1920 -- when the Mounties underwent a name change, becoming the Royal Canadian Mounted Police -- until World War II, there were two musical rides, one based in Ottawa, the other in Regina.
Wherever they travelled, the dashing young men on magnificent steeds were accorded star treatment. The adulation proved more than some fellow constables -- those assigned to more tedious police duties -- could bear. After one particularly well-publicized trip to New York City in 1934, the Musical Ride returned to Ottawa to find this notice tacked on the bulletin board: "We have read about you in the newspapers, we have seen you in the newsreels, we have heard you over the air. Now you are back, for God's sake don't talk about it."
Following a nine-year hiatus during and after World War II, the Ride resumed with a fervour that seemed an attempt to make up for lost time. In 1948, performances took place in quick succession at the Royal Agricultural Fair in Toronto, in Portland, Ore., Harrisburg, Pa., and New York City. A scaled-down version participated in the Queen Elizabeth coronation ceremonies in 1953. While in England, it gave a number of performances, one of which attracted the attention of Antony Head, then secretary of state for war, and an expert on musical rides. To L. H. Nicholson, the commissioner of the RCMP at that time, he wrote: "I was particularly struck by the smoothness and precision with which your musical ride was carried out. I have never before seen a ride so well executed. The dressing and timing were quite excellent.... It was a performance more than worthy of the Canadian Mounted Police."
In 1961, the RCMP took an overdue step and decreed that the Ride was to prepare an annual production. By 1966, it was performing more than 100 times a year. That year the RCMP decided to stop teaching all recruits equitation (horsemanship) but preserve the Musical Ride for public relations. The Ride's facilities in Regina were closed, and Rockcliffe Barracks in Ottawa (officially, RCMP "N" Division) became its permanent home. In 1969, the Ride performed in Britain, Europe and Asia. In 1977, it took part in Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee procession, its last overseas commitment.
Since then the Ride has concentrated on entertaining the folks at home. "We try to visit the small towns as much as we can; the object is to rub shoulders with the people the RCMP works for," says Staff Sgt. Gerry Ogilvie, who started as a recruit 20 years ago and is currently in charge of the equitation side of things in Ottawa.
The Ride does much more than rub shoulders; it is a formidable fund raiser. Non-profit organizations sponsoring the Ride receive the gate receipts, minus the $1,500 fee that the Ride collects for each performance. Proceeds have been responsible for the construction of community centres, hockey arenas and swimming pools all over rural Canada. However, there is much more than money involved when a group invites the Ride to perform. There is the matter of pride. "You can't imagine what a thrill it is for some small town in northern Alberta or along the coast of Newfoundland -- towns the rest of Canada has probably never heard of -- to host an international-class show," says Ogilvie. "When we arrive, you can see the pride on every face."
Every year the Musical Ride follows a set pattern. October to December is spent cleaning up from the past tour, repairing and replacing equipment, and enlisting new recruits. January to April is set aside for indoor training at Rockcliffe. Training moves outdoors early in April. In May, the Ride starts its five-month Canadian swing, concentrating on areas where the RCMP is the local police. That's a tall order: the RCMP provides police services in every province except Quebec and Ontario and has exclusive jurisdiction in the Yukon and Northwest Territories. The Musical Ride, according to Ogilvie, helps the public see the human side of the force.
When not on tour, the Ride still meets the people. On any given day in early spring, a string of buses is lined up just inside the gates of "N" Division on Ottawa's eastern outskirts. Whether they are parents with children, high school students or senior citizens, the crowds are eager to catch a glimpse of the riders and their mounts.
Since 1966, serving with the Ride has been on a volunteer basis, and there have always been more willing riders than openings. Riders serve for three years, with 12 personnel changes a year. For most new recruits, the Musical Ride is a change of pace, a chance to do something other than practical police work, and to see Canada. For some the tour of duty is far too short; they relish the role they play on centre stage. When the tour of duty is up, the rider returns to detachment duties.
Riders who show talent, like Staff Sergeant Ogilvie, are invited back to apprentice as instructors. For them the Ride becomes a career. As a green recruit, Ogilvie knew nothing about horses or riding, and was literally just one of hundreds jockeying for a position on the Ride. Today he is a walking encyclopedia on horses.
Riding experience is not a prerequisite, but discipline and determination are. Recruits begin with a two-month equitation course to determine whether they are suited to riding. By the end of that period they are expected to have mastered basic techniques. In many cases the recruit's enthusiasm outweighs his or her ability. Only half make it to the six-month intermediate course where the real training begins. Once the recruit becomes an accomplished rider, five more months of rigorous training are spent on specific formations. Following this, a new rider is ready for a public debut.
Although the ride is based on standard moves, every year's edition has a distinct character of its own. The routine is based on cavalry training of horse and rider, and on the way in which they move about the arena in sections (fours), half-sections and singly, either at a trot or canter. The entry, the spectacular "Charge," and the final "March Past" are versions of basic drill movements. However, the patterns of the Ride are not. They are formed by horses simulating such things as a wagon wheel, a gate, a star and a dome. There is always movement, with horses continually crisscrossing in a pattern called threading the needle. Mishaps are rare, serious injury to man or mount even rarer.
The four-legged members of the Ride frequently outshine the two-legged ones. "Everywhere we go, the horses have a following, especially among young people," says Ogilvie. "If we're in a place for a couple of days, the kids and horses become inseparable." Some attachments become so intense that children are reduced to tears when time comes to pack up and head out. Ogilvie recalls a photo that appeared on the front page of a Thunder Bay newspaper the day after the Ride pulled out: a close-up of a tear-stained young face looking at an empty stable. The caption read, "Eric is gone."
About 50 kilometres west of Ottawa, in the farming community of Pakenham, the RCMP's breeding farm produces the horses for the Musical Ride. Stallions, all registered and approved by the Canadian Hunter Society, are crossed with black mares to produce the Ride's strong, sleek stock.
Horses must be at least three years old when they enter the ride's training school at the Rockcliffe Barracks in Ottawa. Two and a half years later they are ready to make their debut. "Horses are trained, not broken in, to preserve their spirit and character," says Ogilvie. The systematic training is intended to "muscle" the horses for the hard work ahead. Early on, emphasis is on gaining the horses' trust. Once that has been achieved, training concentrates on promoting obedience, balance, timing and confidence.
By the end of the first year, the horse should have mastered the fundamentals of moving forward calmly and in a straight line. By the second summer, the demands are increased -- light canter work begins and there is more exposure to strange objects and loud noises. After a six-week holiday at the Pakenham farm, horses resume intensive training which includes jumping and lateral movement.
In the last summer of training, each horse is taught Ride formations, cross-country and jumping. Training completed, it's time for them to go on tour.
Touring means moving some 40 people and 36 horses around the country. Over the years, Ride members have found themselves bedded down in every type of accommodation from deluxe hotel suites to tents pitched in London's Hyde Park. Horses have had to make do with makeshift stables set up in dreary parking garages and drafty hockey arenas.
From Gerry Ogilvie's vantage point, the Ride has a different face from the glamorous one the audience sees. "It's interesting, it's rewarding, and sometimes it's very exciting. It may be routine, yet it's never boring. It's also a lot of hard work. It takes many hours of preparation for 22 minutes of glory. Of course we're not in it for the glory.
"Well, not entirely," he adds with a smile.
The highlight of every show is the Charge. As the performance reaches a climax, the horses line up in two ranks at one end of the arena. As they stamp and fret, a trumpet sounds the alert, followed by a long drum roll. Riders in the front row aim their lances forward. At a signal, the horses lunge forward, urged on by the shouts of their riders. The two waves of horses seem out of control. A collective gasp rises from the audience as the animals charge toward the other end of the arena. The next gasp is even louder. And just as it looks as if riders and mounts cannot avoid smashing into the wall, the horses brake to a halt -- on a dime.
A roar of applause fills the arena as the horses prance out to the strains of a regimental march. It is as much for the horses as the riders.
