Sam Steele Medal

By Cpl Senff

On 22 May 2017, 13 members from SMT headed east to Regina, Saskatchewan to partake in the Tattoo Royale, which represents the start of the Canada 150 Tour of the famous RCMP Musical Ride and the City of Regina’s birthday. The Troop opened for the Mounties Musical Ride by having the opportunity to display our tent pegging skills in the competition for the Sam Steele Medal. The trip to Regina was like any other trip we do, swapping out drivers, stopping for food and feed and watering the horses, and of course, contemplating leaving Cpl Brennan “Yard-Sale” Maddison behind on the side of the highway. Once we arrived, we got the horses bedded down and were welcomed to the RCMP depot for the night.

The next day we had our rehearsal in the morning, followed by time to figure out where everything was, our timings and finally getting some practice tent pegging runs done. Cpl Senff, Cpl Dobson and Cpl Germann were able to put their high school drama classes to work as they assisted Jackie Johnson in a small skit, acting as recruit RCMP members at training school which took place right before we tent pegged. Cpl Senff was tasked with using one of the trick horses, while the other two were able to use their more familiar troop horses. The three performed tremendously in their 15 minute skit, with the crowd laughing and cheering, especially at Cpl Germann, who deserves an Oscar for his amazing performance. After the skit had finished we immediately changed uniforms and competed in tent pegging for the Sam Steele Medal.

The first team to compete was the “Eastern Team,” consisting of Cpl Curtis "Prince of Persia" Paquette, Cpl Brennan "The Mattress" Maddison, Cpl Kirk "The Hammer" Hopper, and Cpl Ben "Big Daddy" Ford, showing off our new WWI uniforms. The second team to compete was none other than the “Western Special,” with Cpl Greg "The Destroyer" Dobson, Sgt Paul "The Crippler" Kruhlak, Cpl Jake "The Rat" Senff, and Cpl Coleman "The Grave Digger" Germann, wearing the scarlet ceremonial uniforms. Finally the third team being a mix of both east and west, with Cpl John "The Maniac" Maendel, Cpl Alex "The Assassin" Aguila, Cpl Stan "The Bulletproof Monk" Fong, and Cpl Trae "The Princess" Prosser, wearing CADPAT. And of course, we must give thanks to the horses that came to make this possible: Sportster, Solomon, Stinger and Sam. After the two nights of tent pegging, we had the scores, with the West coming out on top, as per usual, with 25 tent pegs; and the top tent pegger award going to Cpl Senff with an impressive 9 tent pegs.

Overall the Tattoo was a huge success expanding our historic bond with our fellow RCMP riders and being able to compete at tent pegging for the coveted Sam Steele Medal.