Here’s your chance to own an RCMP steed
About 40 for sale, unsuitable for Musical Ride
OTTAWA • For a few thousand dollars, you could enter the bidding war to own Ogilvie, a one-year-old gelding whose bay colouring ended his chances to join the RCMP’s Musical Ride. Despite that, “An exciting future awaits his expressive movement, elastic gaits and wonderful disposition,” according to an online auction description tempting 11 bidders to push his price to at least $4,200 since the auction opened six days ago. This fall, the RCMP Foundation is hosting its largest horse auction, featuring steeds from the Musical Ride breeding program who didn’t, for various reasons, make the Musical Ride team or who have finished their service and are moving on to new pastures.
It’s been three years since the last auction — the event normally takes place on a biannual basis — so this time around, there is nearly double the 20 horses the foundation usually auctions off, said its president, Sylvie Madely.
The foundation has split the almost 40-horse cohort roughly in two, with one half going to a foundationfirst online auction running from Aug. 24 to Sept. 23, and the other half being auctioned live, as has traditionally occurred, on Oct. 13 in Ottawa.
“It’s very exciting,” Madely said. “Because we are going online, we really are making it accessible to all Canadians to participate, to view the horses, to engage with the auction.”
The horses are Hanoverians, a breed of horse that the RCMP began using for the Musical Ride in the 1980s, according to its riding master, Sgt. Maj. Martin Kohnen. Previously, the Mounties were using mainly thoroughbreds whose excitability and high tempers made them hard to manage on a rigorous cross-country performance tour.
“For our show, horses have to be able to take in new environments almost daily, new surroundings, the noises,” Kohnen said. The Hanoverian is a more relaxed but-still-sporty breed that is more likely to be black in colour, making them perfectly suited to the Ride’s rigorous standards. “It could be the best horse in the world, but if it’s brown, it’s out,” Kohnen said. Many of the horses going to auction aren’t the right size or colour for the ride, but that certainly doesn’t mean they won’t be successful in other equine pursuits. Just ask Gina Smith, a Canadian Olympic dressage medallist who now trains at Franklands Farm in Brockville, Ont. She was asked to assess all the horses for auction and describe what she saw in each of them for potential buyers. “They’re … really goodquality horses, and every one of them, depending on what the person wants, every horse is going to be suited for something different,” she said.
Some can be developed for dressage or show-jumping, some for breeding, and others would just make good companion horses. “Definitely get the opinions of professionals if you’re looking for a horse,” she advised prospective bidders, particularly if they’re first-time horse owners. According to Kohnen, this year’s auction is shaping up to be a popular one — “The phone hasn’t stopped ringing, we’ve had all sorts of inquiries from buyers” — despite the controversy that descended on the Musical Ride between the last auction and this one.
In the spring of 2017, then-riding master Sgt. Maj. Marc Godue was assigned to other duties outside the Ride, pending the outcome of a review into allegations of animal abuse.
In a statement this week, the RCMP media relations team said the review was completed last year, and Godue retired this past April. They said further details could not be provided as the disclosure of the personal information of employees involved in conduct matters is subject to privacy legislation.
“I’m fully aware of what apparently happened then, so that’s why it was dealt with,” said Kohnen, who took over as riding master in December. “Just because of some rotten apple, the whole tree is not spoiled.” “All I can do is put my best foot forward to right that, and to be very articulate about the fact that ... these horses receive the utmost care and attention, and that’s why I think we have horses that have a kindness and a disposition that is second to none.” Madely estimated that this year’s auction will raise more than $500,000. Some of the money will go back into the RCMP’s breeding program and a “significant portion” will be invested, through the foundation, into programming for at-risk children and youth. Traditionally, people from around the world — farm owners and riders alike — have arrived in Ottawa to participate in the live auction, Madely said. Guest tables have sold out, but interested bidders can register at www.rcmp-f. net/news/horse-auction for the live and online auctions.
FOR OUR SHOW, HORSES HAVE TO BE ABLE TO TAKE IN NEW ENVIRONMENTS. — SGT. MAJ. MARTIN KOHNEN