RCMP Musical Ride More Than Just Entertainment
"They are going to love this show for sure. They are going to see the abilities of this creature. It is amazing what they do. People who have experience with horses they are impressed with what we do,” Constable Dany Lazure member of the RCMP Musical Ride.
By Robert Thomas
Those are the words of one of the 35 riders - all members of the RCMP - who are part of the RCMP Musical Ride.
The RCMP Musical Ride is set to perform four free shows during the Moose Jaw Hometown Fair (see schedule below) as well as some of their Hanoverian horses will be part of Wednesday night’s Hometown Fair Parade.
Lazure said the biggest thing he enjoys about his two and half years in the RCMP Musical Ride is traveling Canada, seeing the country and meeting the people in many different places who are all part of it.
“It is such an experience to travel Canada and the opportunity to do that. It is not like anybody can do that (in the RCMP) but when I saw they were looking for people a few years ago I though ‘I am going to put my name in as part of my learning plan. They might call me and they called me,” Lazure said.
PROUD TO BE A MEMBER - Constable Dany Lazure, who has just in six years as a member of the RCMP and two and a half years with the RCMP Musical Ride, said being a member of the famous group is an honour and he enjoys traveling across the country especially to smaller communities - MJ Independent photo
Previous to his joining the RCMP Musical Ride Lazure was a constable at Red Deer, Alberta serving as part of the city detachment. At Red Deer he was on patrol responding to everyday calls from residents asking for the RCMP’s assistance.
“It’s totally different because here we don’t do much in the way of police work. We just take care of the horses. It is more like community policing. We go and see people, we try to make police more accessible to the community. Kids when they see us they are happy, they like seeing us around. It is more like community type policing,” Lazure said.
Despite being in a world famous traveling show Lazure said members of the Musical Ride, as all members of the RCMP, are people just like everyone else. Musical Ride members go out of their way to be accessible to the public, he said.
“People are going to be impressed coming here. People are going to see we are friendly. They are going to be able to come and talk to us after the show and be able to ask us questions they want and see we are humans behind the uniform,” Lazure said.
He said it is no problem if people would like to have photos of themselves taken with members of the RCMP Musical Ride in their ceremonial red serge as it is part of their job.
FED AND WATERED - Constable Devonna Coleman, a rider in the RCMP Musical Ride, waters the horses as part of her duties with the unit. Coleman rides Lexie as part of the Musical Ride - MJ Independent photo
Although the RCMP Musical Ride travels across the country and its members are RCMP officers, Lazure said he has never had to assist a local detachment - arrest or find someone - while as part of the Ride.
Editor’s Note: Sorry there is no Due South moment of horseback arrests or lost people found while on horseback during Lazure’s time with the Musical Ride in this story.
The Musical Ride does however help support the local RCMP detachments - morale and otherwise - at the many small communities they visit. It is more than a morale builder for the local detachment.
“It’s even better. When we ask the member to come to our show that’s RCMP member that come and watch our show. It is even more (meaningful) to us. So yeah I love it.”
Asked about their recent performance in Assiniboia Lazure said it was a great experience.
“Those small communities are the best because they treat us like kings. It is amazing to just go there and talk to people. For me personally it’s fantastic to discover the country.”
HANOVERIAN HORSES - Gidget (in the foreground) is just one of the 32 horses used as part of the show - MJ Independent photo
Lazure said despite growing up 20 minutes south of Montreal he was not a horse person.
“Growing up I didn’t really approach horses. I was never really involved in the horse industry whatsoever. So it was something totally new to me.”
The Musical Ride is made up of RCMP officers coming from various backgrounds - some have experience riding horses and others like Lazure do not.
“We all come from different backgrounds. We have people who use to ride horses. We have people who have never approached horses like me and we all come together and do something amazing with these animals,” he said.
As a member of the Red Deer City Detachment Lazure applied to be a part of the Musical Ride then had to go through a further selection process in Ottawa.
“As it is now you show your interest in the Musical Ride and if they contact you go for a five week course in Ottawa. During those five weeks they see if you have the ability to ride and if yes, they recommend you.”
Asked about the horse used in the Musical Ride he said they were Hanoverian horses which originated in Germany. The horses used in the RCMP Musical Ride are not imported from Germany but are bred and raised on a horse farm in Ontario.
Dating back to the days of the predecessor of the RCMP - the Northwest Mounted Police - the Musical Ride still holds many of the traditions that were at the start officers displaying their horsemanship to one another.
“As far as I know this is the original (Musical Ride). There may have been a few changes over the years,” he said.
Members of the Musical Ride have entered internationally most recently for Queen Elizabeth II. Five members of the Musical Ride - Lazure was not one of them - traveled to England at the beginning of May where they rode horses the RCMP gifted to Queen Elizabeth II as part of her Platinum Jubilee.
These riders who recently entertained royalty will be performing in Moose Jaw.
ICONIC RIDING BOOTS - A pair of the RCMP’s iconic riding boots sits at the entry way of the RCMP Musical Ride’s dressing room trailer - MJ Independent photo
The RCMP Musical Ride will be performed four times at this year’s Moose Jaw Hometown Fair. The performance schedule is:
Friday, June 24 at 7:00 pm
Saturday, June 25 at 3:00 pm & 8:00 pm
Sunday, June 26 at 4:00 pm
Additionally there will be horseback members of the Musical Ride appearing in Wednesday’s Moose Jaw Hometown Fair Parade.
And we asked the questions you want answered but were afraid to ask….
….do all RCMP officers still have to know how to ride a horse????
Lazure - “It was true until 1966 I believe. That (all RCMP officers had to know how to ride a horse) was true. That is no longer true.”
….can people ask for selfies with members of the RCMP Musical Ride in their iconic dress red serge uniform, something which is on many people’s wish list to have in life????
Lazure - “Definitely that is part of my job, if they ask…I will be proud if someone asks me for a selfie. There is no problem at all.”
…there are rumours the RCMP Musical Ride horses were used in Ottawa (according to on-line postings) during the February Trucker’s Rally in Ottawa????? The question came up when we asked about and were hoping for a Due South moment.
Lazure - ““No, but we were asked to go to the (Trucker’s) Convoy in February. They needed help and we went and helped out…I was in uniform in a car…these horses are ceremonial.”
Annually, the Musical Ride helps over 40 communities raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for a number of causes.
Thirty-six horses, 35 riders, a farrier, 3 non-commissioned officers and an officer in charge, travel with the Musical Ride.
Learn more about Musical Ride at http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/musical-ride .
For more information on the Musical Ride’s history, visit the History of the RCMP Musical Ride.