Lord Strathcona’s Horse Musical Ride
An old Canadian Cavalry unit rides again Updated June 2022.
Lord Strathcona’s Horse is a Canadian Army cavalry unit based in Edmonton, Alberta. The regiment was raised in 1900 to fight in the Boar War in Africa. Funding for the unit was provided by Lord Strathcona, after whom the regiment was named.
The original recruits in 1900 were cowboys and frontiersmen from western Canada and members of the North West Mounted Police (which later became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police). Consequently, the regiment fought on horseback in the Boar War and the First World War.
In 1940, they traded their horses for tanks and went off to fight in the Second World War as an armoured unit. In the 1950’s they fought in the Korean War. Since then, they have served in Egypt, Cyprus, Bosnia and Afghanistan.
In 1974, a troop of horses was brought back into service to perform the musical ride. The ride was initially used as a test of the mounted soldier’s skills needed in battle. A cavalryman had to have complete control of his horse and, at the same time, had to fight with a lance or sword. Today the ride is used for ceremonial purposes to preserve the unit history and it also helps in recruiting.
The riders are real soldiers and not actors. Many of them have recently served in Afghanistan.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have a similar musical ride.
Stunning images. I would like to use them as a reference for colored pencil drawings and seek your permission. If permission is given please let me know how you would like the attribution worded. I’m the Artist in Residence at the Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis. I completed an oil painting for 2PPCLI in 2018. (I completed a 30 day small unit exchange with them in the early 1980s when I was the XO for a rifle company in 2/16 Infantry.)
Hello Ed, Yes you may use the photos for your drawings. You can attribute the photos to mythatchedhut. I am retired after 29 years in the Canadian army. Cheers, Tom
Umm that date last picture second paragraph where you stated that we served in Afghanistan in 1997 is wrong. Our whole Regiment deployed to Bosnia in 1997 I know this because I was there in Camp Maple leaf with Recce Sqn . And we had a company of Infantry attached to our Regiment .
Thank you for this Mikel. I took that paragraph out and just added the word “Afghanistan” to the paragraph above.