Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 24/03) - The RCMP Musical Ride will perform in Yellowknife for the first time this summer.

Dressed in traditional broad-brimmed Stetson hats and scarlet uniforms, 32 Mounties will guide elegant black horses through riding drills choreographed to music.

Horses and riders will perform two shows on June 22 at the William McDonald school soccer field after first visiting Hay River and Fort Smith.

The RCMP, City of Yellowknife and Yellowknife Elk's Lodge helped bring the

ride North.

The shows take place the same weekend as Raven Mad Days, the Midnight Sun Golf Tournament and the Aboriginal Day statutory holiday.

Const. Monique England is counting down the days. Yellowknife is her home town, and she can't wait to perform here.

"One hundred and fifty-nine more sleeps," she joked, over the phone from Ottawa. She traded in her police cruiser for a horse last summer after being selected to try out from among almost 1,000 others.

"It's kind of like winning the lottery," she said.

The Yellowknife stop is one of her first performances.

"I'm ecstatic," she said. "I couldn't have asked for anything more.

"I think regardless of where I go in the next three years, this will definitely be the highlight."

Musical riders spend three years training and touring before returning to regular RCMP service.

England said the musical ride is an opportunity to meet the public in a different context.

Often, people's only contact with the police happens after tragedy strikes.

"It's an opportunity for us to reinforce we are part of the community we serve," she said.

The appeal of the musical ride is difficult to put into words, she said. But she fell in love with the horses after seeing a performance in British Columbia at age eight.

"There's something magical about it...the Mountie on the horse is right up there with symbols like Coca Cola and the Olympic rings."

Sgt. Phil Johnson took part in the musical ride in the early 1980s.

He said rolling into his home town in Nova Scotia was a tremendous feeling.

"To be part of that is quite a thrill for anyone in the RCMP."