If you have seen the movie "The Man from Snowy River", with Kirk Douglas, and Tom Burlinson, then the pose of this horse will be familiar from the "Terrifying Descent". In fact the movie has been made to look worse than this. If you watch the short YouTube clip link near the end, at about 2:55 to 3:10 minutes is a segment showing a similar stance.
At the side of the Equestrian Statue is the plaque with the following information:
This statue is our Icon of
The Man From Snowy River
Donated by
The Man From Snowy River Tourist
Association for the Community of
Corryong and Towong Shire.
Unveiled on
9th April 2010
Sculptured by: Brett Garling
The ballad of 'The Man from Snowy River' is probably given to every Australian student to study at some stage in their schooling. It tells about the daring pursuit of a thoroughbred racehorse that escapes, and gets in with a group of wild horses in the Snowy Mountains on southern New South Wales Great Dividing Range.
Without riders the brumbies (wild horses) can go many places that the pursuing riders are unable, so they seem sure to get away; except for the hero of the story who relentlessly pursues them, and brings not just the racehorse, but the whole herd back.
Corryong has the story that a local, Jack Riley was the man that Banjo Paterson wrote about as 'the man' from Snowy River. While that may disputed [see Wikipedia: Man from Snowy River]
** Next to the cast bronze sculpture is an interpretative sign, with the following information:
Jack Riley; The inspiration for A.B. "Banjo" Paterson's poem "The Man from Snowy River"
"In late 1889 Walter Mitchell and Banjo Paterson spent the night with Jack Riley at his hut on Tom Groggin Station, making Jack Riley the only one of the 12 possible "Man from Snowy River" contenders to have met Banjo prior to him first publishing the poem on 26 April 1890.
"While Banjo repeatedly said that the poem was not about one man, in 1934 he stated that Jack Riley had indeed been the inspiration for the poem.
"Jack Riley himself believed he was the "Man" and acknowledged that the poem was not a true account. He was quoted in 1912 stating "that Paterson fellow got it wrong, Clancy was not there."
"The version of the poem that you can listen to here was released in 1895 with several variations from the original 1890 poem, again reinforcing that the poem is not a factual account."
[Copies of the poem and other historical information are available from the Visitor Information Centre and the Man from Snowy River Museum. Jack Riley's grave can be found in the Corryong Cemetery - also a Waymark].
The full poem can be read at: poem
For a slightly shortened version of the poem, with the opening credits of the movie, try this YouTube clip: Man from Snow Rive, intro, credits, part of the ballad.
Address: Visitor Information Centre, Corryong, Vic, 3707, Australia
Visited: 1026 - 1027, Monday, 31 December, 2018