About AQHA
Hall of Fame

“A journey of one thousand miles begins with but one step”

F.M. (Martin) Lemann

From its inception in 1964, Martin Lemann was a foundation member of the AQHA Board. His ten years sitting at the Board table included two years as President from 1972 - 74.

Martin was a forward thinking man who planned for the future of the breed. At the First Australian All- Breeds Congress held in 1972 he was a guest speaker and the transcript from this Congress tells us much about the man and his visions. He spoke about the importance of the horse industry in general uniting and working together and how this Congress that brought together representatives from all breeds was an important step in the right direction.

His quote - “A journey of one thousand miles begins with but one step”, was very appropriate. Martin’s vision became a reality many years later when the Australian Horse Industry Council was formed.

As President of the AQHA at the time, his speech was divided into four main headings. The first was the History of the Quarter Horse itself. Martin was humble by publicly declaring that many present may know more about the first two subjects than he did but for those who may not be familiar with this background information he would give a summary.

He then went on to his second heading - The Development of the American Quarter Horse Association. Of interest was the surge of numbers since the formation of the American Association’s Registry in 1941, now in 1972 there were an astonishing 700,000 Quarter Horses registered in America. With a membership of 60,000 it was very obvious that the expansion rate was greater than any other breed.

Martin went on to Heading Three - The History of the Quarter Horse in Australia. Now this was a subject that he was very qualified to speak on as his personal input and experience had begun as overseer on the Myer family owned ‘Yulgilbar’ in the Grafton area of New South Wales where crossbred Quarter Horses were used as early as 1956.

In 1960 it became obvious that there was a demand for this introduced breed as the initial three imported by King Ranch (Australia) Pty. Ltd in 1954 - Vaquero (Q1)* and Jackaroo K.R (Q34) went to the King Ranch Risdon Stud at Warwick, Gold Standard* stood at Avon Downs but died before the formation of our AQHA so has no Q number, and Mescal* (Q35) that was imported by the late Sam Hordem of Retford Park in Bowral, New South Wales the same year. These stallions were all producing handy stock and riding horses. Photo: Quarter Horse mares and foals at foot by imported stallions at Milton Park

Martin traveled to King Ranch in Texas to prepare for the 2nd importation of Quarter Horses from the Ranch to Australia. After spending four months at the Ranch in Kingsville, Martin set off with ten horses, including two more stallions and the first seven purebred mares to be imported into Australia.

Martin and his band travelled to New York overland by rail, spent ten days in quarantine in New Jersey before embarking on a ship for the United Kingdom and another quarantine stay at White End Park Farm, Buckinghamshire, England lasting six months. Martin left the horses in England and returned to Australia and Milton Park to prepare for the arrival of the Santa Gertrudis stud herd and the Quarter Horses.

As overseer at Milton Park, Martin was responsible for the King Ranch horse operations there. On route to boost the stallion and mare power were the stallions, Tejano Chico* (Q2) and Pronto Mio* (Q4), along with purebred mares, Diolina* (Q6) by Rey del Rancho, Tejana Negra* (Q8), Erentia* (Q10), Wimpy’s Peta*, (Q11) Bonita Dos* (Q12) and La Seria (Q9) all by Wimpy Jnr. The 7 year old 2nd cross mare, Colorada (R2-1) by Wimpy P1 completed the numbers. The consignment arrived on Easter Saturday.

The Quarter Horse interest began to spread. Beginning in 1961 regular shipments of horses began to arrive. Larger numbers were imported by the Clover Leaf Stud at Murrurundi (NSW), Colony Stud at Scone (NSW), Flying L Stud at Moree (NSW), Tondara Stud at Bethungra and Noel and Helen Cook of the Running N Ranch as some individuals. By the end of 1971 a total of 209 Purebred Quarter Horses had been imported.

During the period from 1961 to 1964, a number of Quarter Horse breeders met on various
occasions under the Chairmanship of Mr. Peter Baillieu resulting in the formation of the
Australian Quarter Horse Association in 1964 and the recognition by all State Agricultural Societies as the official breed registry of Quarter Horses in Australia followed.

The Association was run from the office at Milton Park until 1968. Lemann did all the groundwork with the assistance of Mrs. Patricia Bridges, Peter Baillieu’s private secretary. During this time Martin was instrumental in presenting to the Board the first Constitution, which was formally accepted at a meeting of Councillors at the Brisbane Exhibition in August 1965.

Martin also prepared the book of Rules and Regulations, a Standard of Excellence drawn from and adapting, in the case of the Constitution, the one used by the Santa Gertrudis Breeders (Australia) Association and in the case of the Rules and Regulations and the Standard of Excellence, those used by the American Quarter Horse Association.

It was Martin, who with the important assistance of Mrs. Bridges, did all the ground work that finally created our Association. The Standard of Excellence was the first measure used for judging Quarter Horses at Halter, as well as the classification criteria. Councillors such as J. W. Cooper, Jack Reilley, Howard Douglas and George Greenup, all members of the Board, were used as classifiers, using the Standard of Excellence adapted from the AmQHA by Martin. An upgrading system was initiated in 1965 based strongly on this classification system to maintain breed characteristics and keep the standard of the Australian Quarter Horse at a desirable level. These standards were based on Martin
Lemann’s Standard of Excellence.

In 1968 Martin was involved with the moving of the newly formed Association from Milton Park to the office of the RAS of NSW, where the recording and accounting was performed. In 1970 - 71 the setting up of the AQHA’s first office in Sussex Street, Sydney was personally subsidized by the Directors.

The cutting of ties with the RAS at the time of Martin’s Presidency caused a measure of concern, as the bill sent to the AQHA by the RAS was deemed exorbitant. Martin and his Deputy President at that time, Tom Holt, met with the RAS under Bill Parry-Okeden to thrash out the account. After discussions that appeared to go nowhere the participants realized that lawyers would have to be involved at a cost to both sides. Parry-Okeden put forward the idea, adopted by Martin and Holt, that they would toss a coin and if the AQHA won the account would be avoided. The rest is history, Martin won and Tom Holt paid for them all to go to lunch. Martin’s call on the toss of the coin saved the AQHA hard earned funds.

Returning to Martin’s speech at the Congress in 1972 his last subject was the History and Future of the Quarter Horse in Australia. In its first 3 years of formation the Association was slow to grow. This was due to the limited numbers of horses available, but by the end of 1968, its membership had reached 219. Since then membership had increased at roughly 40% annually and by the 1970 Annual General Meeting to be held in the March, Martin predicted a membership of 1,000 in five different
categories. At the end of 1971 there were 766 1st cross horses, 255 2nd cross horses, 319 purebreds horses and a further 1015 foals progeny recorded.

Martin also informed all those present that numbers were expected to increase greatly as 2,200 mares had been bred to registered stallions during the 1970-71 Season. From these figures Martin was predicting a healthy future and remarked about how the breed was so diverse. The avenues were numerous. Pony Club, Stock Horses, Show and Performance, Pleasure, Polo and Polocrosse and the newer events such as Cutting, Trail and Reining. In the September issue of the Quarter Horse Journal, Martin made a statement, “The best way to promote the Quarter Horse is to get about and compete with them in open company”. The Quarter Horse Journal, had been born in the hearts of a few and Frank Lemann was one of them.

Volumes 1 & 2 of the AQHA Stud Book were produced in 1971. The AQHA was now firmly established as a recognized and respected breed with a classification system in place, a Standard of Excellence, a quarterly Journal, an upgrading system to allow imported stock being bred to home-grown mares and Quarter Horses were being shown around the country and excelling in most equine sports. Martin had continued the work of those early Councillors, supporters, breeders and those who had recognized the potential of this breed in Australia.

Martin Lemann in his last year of Presidency looked back on the first decade of the Quarter Horse in Australia and the remarkable growth and achievement becoming part of the Australian horse
industry. With membership numbering 1144 and 4266 horses registered or recorded at the time. Small numbers by today’s standards but to grow and strengthen you need a beginning. If it were not for the nurturing of dedicated believers like Martin and others and the energy and sacrifice of time and effort the Quarter Horse would not have risen to be the respected breed of versatile and talented animal that we all enjoy today.

As Martin concluded his term he was experiencing record entries at some very successful events Australia wide as well as the staging of the first Australian Quarter Horse Convention to look back on. Martin Lemann must have felt a sense of great satisfaction in the role he had played. Today Martin retains an interest in the AQHA and has watched with pride its growth.

AQHA welcomes Martin Lemann into the Hall of Fame and offers its gratitude for his energy and drive in the establishment of our Australian Quarter Horse Association - a worthy recipient indeed. And “Yes, Martin a journey of one thousand miles does start with but one step!”

References:
• Submission for Hall Of Fame prepared by Peter Stuart-Fox from an interview with Martin Lemann 2005
• The Land Newspaper Thursday May 11, 1961
• Report on First All Breeds Horseman’s Convention - Hoofs and Horns March 1972 AQHA Web Site for information on horses included
• AQHA Stud Book Volumes 1 & 2
• The Australian Quarter Horse Journal, Summer Issue 1969
• The Australian Quarter Horse Journal, Summer Issue 1972
• The Australian Quarter Horse Journal, Winter Issue 1972
• The Australian Quarter Horse Journal Spring Issue September 1972