RCMP Musical Ride local celebrity

RCMP Constable Kyle Kifferling is living the dream.

“Growing up on a farm near Southey I was always around RCMP members,” he said. “I always knew I wanted to be a police officer ever since I was small.”

When he was 16, he did a work experience placement at the local detachment that solidified the dream. As soon as he was finished high school he applied and within months he was at depot in Regina.

Fresh out of depot he was assigned to Bella Bella, a remote fly-in-only detachment  in British Columbia. From there it was off to Fort St. John, B.C. for two years where his boss was associated with the Musical Ride. It inspired Kifferling to apply.

“I wouldn’t say I was a rider,” he said. “Growing up in Saskatchewan, obviously, I’ve been on horses before, but not really knowing what I was doing.”

Ironically, most of the Mounted Police these days have rarely, if ever, ridden horses, but that’s nothing a rigourous training program can’t fix.

“It’s a long six months in the saddle,” Kifferling said. “They teach you from zero on up.”

The intensive preparation works.

“Doing my first show in red serge in front of a crowd, I had the butterflies at first, but once you get in there and the music gets going you settle down,” he said.

Kifferling is currently in his last year with the ride. The RCMP rotates members out after three years.

The Ride has been a very rewarding posting.

“First and foremost we are police officers,” he said. “When you’re interacting, most of the time it’s on a negative basis, responding to calls, fighting crime I guess is how you could put it, whereas the Ride is a good vehicle for us to have that connection with the public in a positive light. So going around Canada and into small communities and having that positive atmosphere is great for the RCMP.

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