Formation of The Australian Stock Horse Society
Two horsemen , Alex Braid of Wellington , in the Central West NSW and Bert Griffith , of Scone in the Hunter Valley , had been talking and writing letters in their respective areas about the need to preserve the breeding and identity of our Australian Stock Horses . These two men called a meeting in March 1971 at the Belmore Hotel , Scone , to test the support they had for this idea .
They were pleased when a large crowd of people attended the meeting which asked many questions and closed at 10.25 pm but not before the following motions were passed : ‘ An Association be formed for the betterment of the Australian Stock Horse ’ ‘ A meeting to be held at Sydney that would be advertised in Hoofs and Horns , Country Life and the Land ’ ‘ That all present form a steering committee for the area ’ ‘ That the State be zoned ’
The inaugural General Meeting was held in Sydney in April , and it was here that the body was named The Australian Stock Horse Society .
It was also moved that the early setting up of the Society would be done by a steering committee comprising Alex Braid , Bob Campbell , Wallace Munro , Bryant Gavin , Stan Herps , Dick Telfer , Doug Tyler ,
Pat Hamilton , John Stanton , Alan Jones , Edgar Batterham , Bob Parkins , Bill Smith , Barry Law , Frank McNamara , Ken McDonald , John Lundholm and Max Walters . The secretary elected was Mary Griffith daughter of Bert Griffith .
An AGM was planned for Tamworth in June 1971 . At this meeting the first group of office bearers were elected . The foundation President was Bryant Gavin . No better choice could have been made as Bryant was a dynamic person and drove the society through its infant years . Senior Vice Chairman was Edgar Batterham , Vice President Maurice Wright and Secretary / Treasurer Mary Griffith .
The Society quickly spread and soon there were branches in Queensland , South Australia [ June 1972 ] and the Northern Territory . Victoria entered in 1973 with Western Australia and Tasmania following soon after .
Mr Alex Braid , one of the founding members of the Australian Stock Horse Society .
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