Show News & Results
2007 Jump Orders/Results by Date
Numerical Jump Orders/Results
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride Will Be Featured Attraction of the 63rd Annual Pennsylvania National Horse Show
- 2007 Show Recap
- 2006 Show Recap
- 1999-2007 Show Results
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride Will Be Featured Attraction of the 63rd Annual Pennsylvania National Horse Show
The world-renowned Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride will make the 63rd annual Pennsylvania National Horse Show one of the stops on its 2008 tour. The troop of 32 matched horses and riders will perform nightly Wednesday, October 15 through Saturday, October 18 at the Farm Show Complex and Expo Center, Harrisburg, PA.
The Musical Ride consists of the execution of a variety of intricate figures and cavalry drill choreographed to music. Demanding utmost control, timing and coordination, figures are performed in single file, two's, four's and eight's at the trot and canter. Formations include the Dome, once featured on the back of the Canadian fifty dollar bill, the Charge, executed at a gallop with lances drawn, and the March Past, a salute performed to the strains of the force's Regimental March.
The first officially recorded performance of the Musical Ride was in 1887, and it was first performed for the public in 1901. Members of the Musical Ride are police officers who after at least two years of active police work volunteer for duty with the Musical Ride. Most are non-riders who complete several months of training to become both riders and ambassadors of goodwill. Riders stay with the Musical Ride for two years, ensuring an annual rotation of half the riders. Thirty-five riders, thirty-six horses, a farrier, a sound technician, three NCO's and an Officer in Charge travel in four tractor trailers with the Musical Ride. The troop also appears on Canada's Parliament Hill, and in parades and special events.
The RCMP has bred and raised its own horses since 1939, as only five percent of the world's horses are black and only a percentage of those have the necessary conformation and temperament to meet the needs of the Musical Ride. The horses are a combination of thoroughbred, Hanoverian, Trakehner, and Anglo-Arab bloodlines. RCMP horses must be black, elegant, uniform in size, substance and temperament, stand 16 to 17 hands tall, weigh between 1,200 and 1,400 pounds, and have conformation that lends itself to health and longevity. They must be people- friendly and able to withstand the rigors and changes in food, water, climate and stabling that comes with traveling nearly thousands of miles between May and October each year.
The Pennsylvania National Horse Show is the country's largest multi-breed indoor horse show, featuring competition for more than 1,100 top horses and riders from across North America. The show runs October 9-18 at the Farm Show Complex, Harrisburg, PA. For ticket information or a free brochure, phone (717) 770-0222 or visit www.panational.org.