Clockwise from top left : Les Fraser with the ball at 1981 Qld Polocrosse Championships ; BEN , the first ASH stallion registered in the Central Queensland area ; Australian Stock Horses in Western Australia ; Mick Murphy riding Les Tones ’ stallion MASTER JACK .
The Australian Stock Horse Society in Far North Queensland
After the Society had formed in the south of the country , word was slowly filtering through to the north about this new horse registration . The first involvement of North Queensland was when South Queensland classifiers were asked to visit the Charters Towers area , and they classified horses in 1972 . The Charters Towers branch formed later that same year , it being the first branch to form in North Queensland . Soon after , classifiers were appointed within the Charters Towers branch , and these early classifiers found themselves very busy , and needed to use aeroplanes to cover the country and keep up with the demand of people wanting their horses classified .
Interest in the Australian Stock Horse Society spread outwards like a wave , and horse people would arrange for classifiers to visit their area to inspect horses . In that manner Branches were formed in Townsville , Hinchinbrook , Carpentaria , Far North Queensland , Mackay , Rockhampton , and Whitsunday . These branches were formed by 1976 , and most of them were formed using the help of those original classifiers of Charters Towers Branch . Cape York and Tablelands Branch was later formed in 1989 .
In early times in the Society there was no separate area known as North Queensland . The Queensland Division of the Society had its office in Brisbane , with Secretary Arthur Clothier , and Queensland registrations and memberships were processed
through that office in early days . The Board later closed the Queensland office and all correspondence was then processed at Head Office in Scone . Queensland was represented by four directors at that time , and they all lived in South Queensland .
Queensland was found to be a diverse state , with southern horse interests differing from the pursuits of their northern cousins , and both north and south areas needed their own Board representatives . The state was split into North Queensland and South Queensland along the Tropic of Capricorn , with those bordering Branches along the dividing line having the option to belong to either north or south at their discretion . Rockhampton Branch elected to be part of the north , while Central Western Branch opted to belong to the south . As a flow-on of the state being split , each area was allowed their own management council , and the North Queensland Management Council was formed in April , 1984 .
President and Secretary of the then Queensland Management Council , Tony Bloodworth and Kelsey Fitzgerald , both travelled north to Charters Towers for the occasion and to offer their assistance in the initial formation of NQMC . Ernest Bassingthwaighte and Margie Rae were elected as the inaugural president and secretary of NQMC . At that time there were 2,595 financial members in North Queensland .
The two areas agreed to have a joint meeting every year at Dalby following the annual ASH Approved Sale , and northern delegates travelled to have a joint meeting with their southern
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