The RCMP Musical Ride

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Next to the Canadian flag, there is probably no symbol more instantly
recognizable around the world as Canadian than the scarlet-jacketed
Mountie on a horse. That is because for more than a century, the RCMP
have been thrilling audiences with displays of military horsemanship set
to music. This book looks at the RCMP Musical Ride from its 19th-century
roots to its present-day form.

The Ride started as an occasional performance outside the Mountie
barracks in Regina, Saskatchewan. Today, it is a highly sophisticated
travelling show that performs for national and international audiences.
Folk artist Maxwell Newhouse documents how both horses and riders are
carefully screened and then rigorously trained for the often-gruelling
duty, and describes in fine detail every part of the horse and rider’s
equipment and what it is used for.

Many of Newhouse’s critically acclaimed folk paintings of the RCMP
Musical Ride, which have appeared in art galleries across Canada, have
been brought together for this book. The result is a highly readable and
very informative picture book that will impress the art and history fan
alike. Highly recommended.