Light Horse help create One Last Ride music video for Anzac Day

Written by Kerrie Gambley, one of the multi-instrumental family band Haystack Mountain Hermits, The Horses Stay Behind (One Last Ride) was inspired by her great-grandfather, a Gallipoli veteran who on his deathbed shared his terrible sadness at leaving his horse Ebenezer in Palestine when he sailed for home.

Already receiving much acclaim, including an exceptional merit award at the Australian Songwriters Association Awards, the heart-wrenching song is being reimagined as a war memorial music video to be released in preparation for Anzac Day 2023.

Helping make it happen were 20 Australian Light Horse Association members who travelled with their horses from as far afield as Mt Morgan and Ballina for the film camp at Christmas Creek, saddling up for dawn and sunset film shoots at the Scenic Rim location.

Directed by Elijah Cavanagh of Cavanagh Films, the camera followed the troop's ride up a mountain track to a peak where the band performed the tribute on a stage decorated with 2700 hand-crocheted purple poppies.

In Kerrie's words, "none of us will ever forget the goosebumps and tears as the horses crested the hill and surrounded the stage".

"We originally aimed to have the film clip done for Anzac Day in 2021," she said.

"We were shut down so many times during the COVID years, but we also realised it's moved far beyond being a song and a small film clip.

"I truly believe it will be a legacy piece, which remembers the sacrifice of all animals in war."

Australian Light Horse Association president Lawrence Watts said the words that explore the profound relationship between a soldier and his war horse, only to be told at the end of the war that he must leave his horse behind, struck an immediate chord with his members.

"I think it will also resonate with the wider community because a lot of people have a very personal relationship with their horse, based on trust," he said.

"I'm very impressed with the turn-out we've got here today.

"Everybody here, at their own expense, has turned up for this weekend, to support Kerrie and her family and the song, because it resonates with everybody."

It was special for film director Elijah Cavanagh as well, who said the location for the weekend filming was breathtaking.

"When this project came my way I knew we needed those that live and breathe this soldier/horse relationship to come on board," he said. "Together we could achieve the vast scale and depth of story that this project was calling for."

Purple poppies are a symbol of remembrance for animals that have served during wartime, and 2700 were crocheted by women from every state in Australia, who either wanted to honour forebears or just contribute to the project, and will now be donated to the Australian War Animal Memorial Organisation.

Light Horse troops around Australia commemorated national War Animal Remembrance Day last Friday, making the weekend even more poignant.

The team collaborating on the video hope the special tribute to the unsung four-legged heroes lost and left behind in WWI will be a significant part of the ceremonial remembrance Australia-wide this year.

The music video was supported by Arts Qld with an RADF grant, the Tamborine Mountain RSL sub-branch, Australian Light Horse Association, Australian War Animal Memorial Organisation, General Sir Harry Chauvel Memorial Foundation, the Australian Waler Horse Society, historian Dr Jonathon King OAM, and many individual financial donors through the project's website.