The only known photo of Cecil , taken in 1903 . Cecil was a very influential sire in the history of the Australian Stock Horse Society .
Cecil
Cecil was born at ‘ Glenayre ’, in Glenrock , New South Wales in 1899 . Bred by WH ‘ Black Bill ’ Simpson , Cecil was by Red Gauntlet , who was by Marmion , and out of a Thornthwaite mare .
Marmion was by Dragoman , an arabian stallion then doing stud duty at St Aubins , Scone . Cecil ’ s dam was Meretha II , who was by Glenrock and out of Meretha . Glenrock Station is in the Hunter Valley , on the western side of the Great Dividing Range .
Cecil was purchased by WH Simpson ’ s brother , AT ‘ Long Arch ’ Simpson , who wanted to keep the colt as a sire . He paid nine pounds , plus his half share in another stallion called Alpha , for the young chestnut horse .
‘ Long Arch ’ Simpson was a renowned mountain horseman , who knew the rough country between Barrington Tops in the south and Nundle in the north like the back of his hand . This country is the watershed for the Manning River , which flows to the east , and the Hunter River which flows to the west . This mountainous terrain was the country in which Cecil worked and lived .
It wasn ’ t long before Cecil was to prove he was one of the greatest horses in the Upper Hunter , an area already renowned for producing great stock horses . When ‘ Long Arch ’ began to compete on him at Bushmen ’ s Carnivals , Cecil proved almost unbeatable in campdrafts and novelty events .
When the 1913 Geary ’ s Flat Rodeo [ near Moonan Flat , east of Scone , New South Wales ] attracted the best horsemen and horses of the day , ‘ Long Arch ’ was asked to leave Cecil at home , as he was considered unbeatable .
Cecil was a legend in his own lifetime ; a legend which continues to this day . He is the rock on which the Australian Stock Horse Society is built , with eight of the ten most influential sires in the Australian Stock Horse Stud Book tracing back to this horse .
Australian Stock Horse Society 1971 - 2011 17