KAMLOOPS — The RCMP Musical Ride has arrived in town with shows on Tuesday and Wednesday evening for people in Kamloops to see.
A tradition since 1876, the first known performance, it gives the RCMP horses and police dogs an opportunity to show off their talents.
“It’s pretty much a ‘wow’ factor,” said Cst. David Jones, one of the riders in the show. “For me, I recall the first time I had seen it. It sent chills down my spine just to see 33 horses coming out and all in sync doing a series of moves.”
The event is being put on by the Aurora Rotary Club, and all money raised will go towards supporting a variety of organizations in Kamloops.
Many have been checking out the McArthur Island Curling Club to see the horses that will perform. The Cochrane family came out on Tuesday afternoon to see them up close before they see the show in person.
“The kids are into RCMP and wanted to check it out. My daughter’s quite in love with horses, so we thought this would be a great opportunity to see them up close before the show,” said Cochrane.
John Cochrane and his brother woke up on Tuesday morning and decided to put on their rcmp uniforms for the occassion — uniforms they wore for Halloween last year.
“My brother wanted me to, just like him, so I said ok. He thought it was pretty cool because he likes RCMP and police officers,” said John.
Jones and his horse ‘Chief’ will be part of the show over the next two days. Members like Jones don’t always come from a riding background and need to learn quickly.
“Within a year, we’re taught everything we need to know to move forward and put forward the shows that you see. Each horse has their own abilities, just as each rider does.”
Fred Bott is a former Mountie and says it doesn’t get much more Canadian than the RCMP Musical Ride.
“The musical ride and the snowbirds are the two things that really make me feel Canadian, whether I was a Mountie or not. It’s a Canadian thing, so it makes you feel really good.”
All this year for Canada’s 150th birthday, the show has been going cross-country.
“Primarily, we want to reach out to the community as best as possible,” said Jones. “Given our police duties, unfortunately we can’t really interact as much as we would like to. We would like to bring it to a personal nature, and we love it when we get to meet people and hear everyone’s stories.”
