RCMP Musical Ride thrills locals and leaves a lasting impression

The Musical Ride of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is a fantastic affair that showcases the equestrian skills of 32 Calvary members. These members also happen to be regular members of the country-wide force. The very first showcase was held back in 1887 in Regina and since then has grown into a spectacle known the world over.

Choreographed to music, members practice for months to perfect the performance with intricate figures and drills. The tour travels to every province on a four-year rotational basis to ensure that Canadians have an opportunity to witness the ride in person. During each annual 100 day tour, the ride visits roughly 40 venues. For 2019, Alberta and Quebec were the two provinces selected to receive the show. Eagle Tower Victims Services Program Manager, Tina Prodaniuk applied to bring the RCMP Musical Ride to the area two and a half years ago and, following a year of planning, Prodaniuk and the local detachment welcomed the group on Thursday, August 29 to the Whitecourt Woodlands Rodeo Grounds.

“We thought that we would see how many people would come out for something unique and different. The musical ride is a Canada-wide thing, and it’s an interesting way to celebrate the police in our county,” she said. Word of the performance quickly spread through social media, and when the date arrived, Prodaniuk said they were humbled to see the size of the audience. “We couldn’t have had any more people, the stands were full, and people were even standing.”

Two shows were performed, and the stands were almost equally full for both. They estimated that around 1500 attended the afternoon event alone. When asked how the local detachment members felt  seeing so much support for an RCMP event, she said that the members are humble. “I think they see this as something that is for the horses and not for them, but I think when you have a show of people like this that come to see the event, then we can all say that this is supporting our RCMP.”

Following the show, the horses were lined up against the fence for spectators to say hello. Children pet a few noses through the fence and could talk to the riders about their experience. Many of the riders had never ridden a horse before joining and had to learn from square one. One of the most amazing parts of the Musical Ride is that the costs are covered by the RCMP, which allows for a non-profit organization to benefit.

Eagle Tower Victims Services was the chosen charity. Prodaniuk said that the financial support they received through the event is fantastic. “We have a unit of 10 volunteers plus four part-time staff that are on call 24/7, and we need to be trained and ready for stuff that happens in our community. This will give us the tools to make sure that when something tragic happens, we can respond to it in a way that everyone is respectful.”

Eagle Tower provides 24/7 support and assistance to victims of crime or trauma. They also help victims as they navigate through the court systems and do so at no cost to the victim. They are police-based and have a goal of reducing the impact of trauma on victims both at the time of crisis and during their time of need. “We make sure the victim has a voice through the process,” she said.

Prodaniuk said that she is grateful to their primary sponsor, Pembina Pipelines. “They have been fantastic. Their staff are out here manning the gate, and they’ve been out here helping us a lot. They also gave us a lot of leeway to make sure that we could keep the price of the tickets affordable. We wanted families to come out, so we had six and under free and five dollars for everyone else to get in. We wanted to fill the stands and show off our community. I think that it’s a once in a lifetime thing and that everyone should take the chance to see it in person.” She wanted to also thank her volunteers, staff and the local detachment for all their help. “We hope everyone enjoyed the shows!”