In 1873, the horses of the North-West Mounted Police had to be rugged and tough since they were the primary mode of transportation for officers. Today an RCMP horse must be black, elegant, athletic with a good nature and enough heart and stamina to carry it through approximately one hundred performances of the Musical Ride.
The RCMP has bred and raised its own horses since 1939 and today the national police force is known to produce some of the finest horses in the country. The RCMP horse breeding program began at Depot Division, Regina, Saskatchewan, and was subsequently moved to Fort Walsh in 1942, the site of a North-West Mounted Police Fort built in 1875 in the beautiful Cypress Hills of south western Saskatchewan. Fort Walsh was home of the breeding program until 1968 when the operation was moved to Pakenham, Ontario about 50 km. west of Ottawa.
The RCMP Breeding Farm in Pakenham is built on one hundred and forty hectares of lush Ottawa Valley land where the Remounts spend the first three years of their life, growing, developing and maturing before becoming Musical Ride horses and moving to the home of the Musical Ride, the Rockcliffe Park Equestrian Centre in Ottawa, Ontario.
(Source: RCMP)