OBITUARY
TRIBUTES have rolled in for accomplished horseman Ron Wall, who lost his short battle with cancer on September 11.
Known for having a beer and a laugh, and for being a mentor to many, his death came just days after he was diagnosed with cancer in multiple organs.
Wall faced his greatest challenge after spending decades helping others to overcome challenges.
Australian Stockman’s Challenge Association president Doug O’neill said Wall’s sportsmanship and attitude towards life was second to none.
He said he first came to know Wall when he was a young ringer working throughout the North.
Wall started out at Millungera Station at Julia Creek where he worked for more than a decade before eventually hosting horse clinics throughout Queensland and the Northern Territory.
“Ronnie Wall was the master at getting the horse to be compliant and not know it was handing over its wild state to a rider,” O’neill said.
“He was a tremendous coach in terms of educating horses and riders.
“Ronnie’s horses loved to go for him and they enjoyed competition.
“His knowledge of horses and the bush was second to none.”
Dozens of people have left tributes, photographs and videos on Wall’s social media page, saying how they will miss their mentor and friend.
O’neill said it was fair to say Wall was a “true Australian legendary bushman”.
“He was a top class scallywag. He loved a beer and wore a black hat. His sportsmanship and attitude was second to none.
“The industry has lost a true champion.”
He said Wall had been instrumental in helping to develop the first Stockman’s Challenge competition in
Cloncurry and then helped other organisations, like the Horse of the North in Charters Towers, establish their own challenge contests.
O’neill said Wall was also a top competitor and his horsemanship skills were easily seen in the arena.
He said even after a bad run, and there were very few, he would simply shrug it off.
O’neill said Wall’s legacy could be seen in the challenge competitions that were now up and running across the country, with the rules and regulations he helped develop for the professional body. He said home in recent times may have been down south, but Wall was considered a northerner through and through.
“I never met a man so happy, easygoing, in all my life (who was) willing, and you could even say eager, to help anyone,” Clay Evans said on Facebook.
“It truly is amazing, but not surprising, how much he touched all of us. What a man,” he wrote.
Russell Simpson said the world has “lost an absolute legend” with the passing of Ron Wall
“Not only was Ronnie a great horseman and champion bloke he had this natural ability to pass on this knowledge to anyone who wanted to learn,” he said.
“I don’t have the words mate but we will all miss you.”
A Gofundme page set up by family friend Wendy Wockner said due to the severity of Wall’s illness he could not travel home to Dalby.
“This man’s kind manner and uncanny ability with horses, his sharp wit and humour, and his ability to share his knowledge with all abilities of rider, make him one in a million and memorable to all who know him,” she said.
“The love and support shown to this family has been mind blowing and humbling to them.”
A memorial service for Wall was held in Cloncurry on Friday.
He is survived by his wife Jodie and children Danielle and Dylan.
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