OTTAWA — The RCMP’s celebrated Musical Journey is nearly as previous as Canada itself.
Talking on the RCMP stables east of downtown Ottawa final week, RCMP Chief Teacher Sgt. Derek Quilley stated the present is a dwelling, respiration image of the nation. The particular sundown ceremonies being carried out in Ottawa this week forward of Canada Day are a candy slice of pure “Canadiana,” he stated.
The Musical Journey performs throughout Canada, travelling to every province as soon as each 4 years. Yearly, hundreds of individuals collect to look at the Musical Journey within the nation’s capital.
The Musical Journey dates again to the 1870s, when off-duty Mounties would compete with one another by performing methods on horseback. The RCMP web site says a few of these equestrian feats and workout routines had been carried out in Fort Macleod, Alta., in 1876 — extensively believed to be the primary public efficiency of what finally grew to become the Musical Journey.
Immediately, the efficiency entails as much as 32 riders — all members of the RCMP — and black, Hanoverian horses bred in Pakenham, Ont.
Whereas the present serves to help RCMP recruiting efforts and construct optimistic relationships with the general public, the Musical Journey has additionally turn into an internationally acknowledged image of Canada.
Quilley, who has been concerned with the Musical Journey for about 12 years, stated it takes months to arrange for the present. Beginning in February yearly, he stated, members and horses assemble for about three hours a day to follow for the approaching season.
Opposite to legend, most Mounties by no means get close to a horse. Quilley stated officers participating within the occasion spend about eight to 10 months simply studying easy methods to experience.
Quilley stated the Musical Journey excursions extensively and is a “improbable” occasion for presenting Canada to the world.
“It’s been a giant illustration of our nation and our satisfaction in our nationwide police pressure and in our flag,” he stated. “It’ll deliver goosebumps to you and it’s very particular. I’ve completed it a whole lot of occasions, and it nonetheless offers me that butterflies feeling.”
Whereas the present hasn’t modified a lot over the past 100 years, Quilley stated, the troupe performs to a mixture of previous and new Canadian music.
In Ottawa this yr, he stated, the present features a second of silence to recollect law enforcement officials who died within the line of responsibility — together with 34-year-old Mohamed Lamine Benredouane, the Montreal police officer killed within the metropolis final week.
Cpl. Amrit Gill, an teacher who has been with the Musical Journey since 2019, stated the horses are superb and he loves assembly folks throughout Canada and representing the nation.
“The significance is historical past, maintaining that custom and that proud image of Canada,” he stated. “We spend loads of time with the horses. They’re members of RCMP, they every have a regimental quantity. They’re a part of the staff.”
Const. Keelian Chicoisne, one other Musical Journey teacher, stated the reveals in Ottawa deliver folks collectively.
“Each night time there’s all the time hundreds of individuals,” he stated. “It’s nice for folks to find us, and yearly there’s folks I’ve seen many, many occasions, and so they nonetheless come again.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed June 28, 2026.
Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press
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