TÊTE-À-TAIT
A lifetime of country living is etched on the face of Coolac grazier Sandy Tait.
Over the years Sandy Tait has seen it all – from floods, fires and drought to bountiful seasons. Great triumphs mixed in with great personal loss. The ebb and flow of life runs deep – much like the Murrumbidgee that snakes its way through “Gunnong Jugrawah”, about 40km from Gundagai. The protracted dry conditions are taking their toll, but Sandy has seen it all before. “It’s dry but dry times are all part of living on the land. Not every year can be a great season,” he reasons. “At least we’re fortunate that commodity prices are the best we’ve ever witnessed.” Throughout his 77 years, Sandy has enjoyed three constants in life that have given him enduring strength and unbridled joy: wife Kathy and family, horses and the picturesque property he calls home. His love and respect for quality horseflesh was inherited from his mother Daisie. She and husband Griff bred some of the finest racehorses in the country from the 1950s through to the 1970s. Much of his success was attributed to broodmare Dark Jewel, by one of Australia’s great stallions, Star Kingdom. She set the family back the princely sum of 1000 pounds but went on to breed champions like Baguette, the inaugural winner of the two-year-old Triple Crown. He romped home in 14 major races before retiring to stud duties. During the turn of the century, Sandy and Kathy enjoyed their own success story, with champion horses like Tie the Knot, which won 13 Group One races; Spinning Hill, which added a further three to the tally, and Wild Iris, which snared the AJC Oaks. Horses have always played a significant role on the property, originally part of the Jugiong Estate and bought from the Osborne family in 1937. In the early 1970s, Sandy saddled up for the Australian polo team for matches against New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa with high profile players Sinclair Hill, Richard Walker, Hugh McLachlan, Peter Cudmore, Angus Munro and Ross McGilvray. Kathy’s father, Phil Ashton, was part of the famous Ashton Brothers polo team that played in England on several occasions during the 1930s. Making way for the fourth generation on “Gunnong Jugrawah”, Sandy and Kathy moved into the renovated manager’s residence to allow son James and wife Meredith to raise their three children in the century-old homestead. The family runs a large commercial Angus and Hereford herd along with Merino sheep and a prime lamb enterprise. It’s been that way for a long time.
“It’s dry but dry times are all part of living on the land. Not every year can be a great season.” 102 CWL GUNDAGAI
MAGIC MEMORIES Having lived in the district for so long, it’s only natural that Sandy has many fond memories from his early days. The years after the war were a boom time for farmers, despite the ongoing rabbit problem. “We had a rabbiter that worked on Saturday mornings, drove a sulky to town and came back Sunday arvo. Until the introduction of mixo, rabbits were the biggest bugbear of the time,” he says. “With all the menfolk away during the war it was like having a permanent drought. I can remember the big rabbit drives as a boy.” Cars were still scarce in the late 1940s and the school bus was still many years away. Sandy did correspondence before spending 10 years attending Tudor House and The King’s School, Parramatta. It was always a thrill catching the train from Coolac, which once featured a beautiful railway station with waiting room, stationmaster’s office and a hand pump for fresh water. In those days, schoolboy rugby was a huge event on the social calendar. The game against arch rivals St Joseph’s College could draw crowds in the thousands. Everybody in the school played rugby and Sandy can still reel off names of most 1st XV team players from 1955-59. “Many bush kids were leaving school by the age of 14, 15 and they all had bush skills,” Sandy says. “There’s no longer the pool of skilled workers on the land who want to make it their way of life.” After his marriage to Kathy, the newlyweds moved to the high country, managing family properties “Fairview” and “Hilltop”. Although isolated, the country enjoyed a 40-inch rainfall and proved excellent for summer grazing. With the death of Griff in 1992, they moved back down the valley to “Gunnong Jugrawah”, and have been there ever since. “Gundagai is a great town with friendly people and all the services you require,” Kathy says. “It’s got a great community spirit for a small country town, with well-maintained sporting facilities, including the racetrack, showground, footy and cricket fields, bowling club and magnificent golf course.” Sandy is confident that the land is in good hands. “We should all be very proud of what we’re doing on the land, especially the younger generation,” he says. “Everybody works so hard. Seasons come and go and you’ll always have your ups and downs, price fluctuations, floods and bushfires.” The family’s love of thoroughbreds continues unabated. Sandy and Kathy’s son Olly and wife Amber are the new owners of the famed Twin Hills thoroughbred stud in Cootamundra. With six grandchildren between their two boys, the Tait family name will carry on for generations to come. CWL FACING PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Sandy, pictured left, playing polo for Australia; Sandy Tait has enjoyed a life long association with the land; Sandy and Kathy Tait in the woolshed that has seen plenty of action over the years; Sandy and Kathy tied the knot in 1965; the old homestead in the 1950s; Kathy Tait revels in the celebrations after Wild Iris won the AJC Oaks in 2004.