Calgary Stampede welcomes RCMP Musical Ride
At precisely 2:30 p.m., 16 horses, dark and polished, canter into the arena at the Nutrien Westen Event Centre, their gait synchronized and demeanour calm. On each horse sits an RCMP soldier, each wielding a lance.
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For the next 30 minutes, the horses and their riders perform a series of extravagant choreography, moving in tandem, criss-crossing seamlessly to the 'aahs' and 'oooohs' of an appreciative audience.
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Saturday marked the second day of the RCMP's Musical Ride tour in Alberta.
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'And in front of a sold-out crowd. It will certainly create good energy for the team.'
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A tradition dating back to the 1800s, the RCMP Musical Ride has become a 'very big piece of Canadian identity and RCMP identity,' said Williamson.
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Each year, selected RCMP members tour two provinces and put on a choreographed dance, to only Canadian music, of course, with horses specially bred by the RCMP and then trained for years.
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This year, the troupe chose to tour Ontario and Alberta, beginning their tour at the Calgary Stampede, where they'll perform Sunday, and again from July 8-13.
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The Musical Ride comes to the Stampede at a time when the RCMP's future in Alberta grows precarious.
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The Alberta government has mused about the creation of a provincial police force that would replace the RCMP. On Wednesday, Premier Danielle Smith announced the launch of the Alberta's Sheriff Police Force, a provincial police agency to service municipalities.
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Smith insisted the new force won't replace the RCMP but instead work alongside them, although municipalities would have the option to choose the new service as its primary police force once operational.
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Dan Barron said he and his wife have seen the Musical Ride several times at rodeos in Alberta and Manitoba.
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'It's part of the experience of coming to a Stampede,' he said, describing the RCMP as 'Canadian history.'
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The new provincial police force will add to the RCMP's presence, he said.
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'There'll just be more. Which sometimes is better.'
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The choreography at Saturday's Musical Ride appears simple — at first. The horses prance across the Nutrien Western Event Centre ring in a line, curving away from each other at either end of the field. Horse and rider cross each other, marking the shape of an X — 'That's a very popular movement,' said Williamson.
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