Gimpse into the 19th Century

This past weekend Glosette Girl and I took Margot and her friend A to see the RCMP Musical Ride. The event was held at Wesley Clover stables, where Margot does her horseback riding. I think this was one of the last touristy things in Ottawa that I had yet to do.

Other big Ottawa touristy items I have visited before:

• Parliament Hill - the seat of power in Canada
• The Governor General's residence
• Gatineau Park (not the best park in Canada by any means, but pretty decent by local standards)
• A visit to one of what I consider to be the big museums around here: Nature, History, War, or the National Art Gallery (we also have "National" Science and Tech and Agriculture and Food museums but I find them more geared towards locals). There's also the Aviation and Currency museums for those with more specialized tastes.
• Walk next to, or skate, Ontario's only UNESCO world heritage site, the Rideau Canal
• Visit the Byward Market, one of Canada's oldest and largest farmers’ markets.

One thing that struck me as I watched the RCMP Musical "ride" (it's not a ride you sit on by the way, it's a ride that you watch. Kids call these types of "rides" lies :))  was that it really felt like I was getting a glimpse of how life used to be in Canada and around the world about 120 years ago.

Margot and A pointing out the action

Just think about it, at the turn of the 19th century, the horse was still more important than the car for moving people around and doing all sorts of work and was still heavily used in World War 1 combat. That's only just outside living memory!

It's a strange but wonderful idea to imagine horses as being that central to daily life. What a world it must have been. Perhaps a bit stinkier! But also a world where people were closer to the animals and plants of the earth. Ironically a world with more horses was probably more... human.

Those days are long gone now and I appreciate all the technological advances that have been made over the last 100 years. But getting this glimpse of the past certainty made me pause and remember where we have come from as a civilization.