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“By doing this, we get a better appreciation of what they went through and we’ll be able to bring that back to Canada and explain that to people.”

Even a century later, the so-called Great War remains one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. More than 18 million people — half of them soldiers — were killed, and another 23 million wounded.

Millions of horses and donkeys were also lost in the slaughter, as a world that still fought on horseback and used beasts of burden to supply armies, faced the bloodbath that modern weaponry brought.

The international group of riders will follow the same route the Allied cavalry took in 1918, covering about 20 kilometres a day. The horses and riders will also stop in villages and towns along the way for special commemoration ceremonies to remember the lives lost in the war.

The trip is being organized by the 1st Hussars Cavalry Fund, fitting since the historic regiment played a major role in the 100-day offensive. Finney estimates the delegation will cost between $60,000 and $65,000, money the local non-profit is working hard to raise on its own.

A town of 50,000 at the time, London — like all of Canada — paid dearly during the First World War.

More than 400 area soldiers lost their lives, from a small country — our population was about eight million — that sent more than 400,000 soldiers overseas. About 60,000 died.

The International Cavalry Association, the group organizing the international ride, is renting horses for the Canadian contingent. The once-in-a-lifetime event has attracted riders from several Commonwealth countries along with the United States, Russia and Poland.