The year was 1956 and Colin Lamont purchased his first stallion Kerry Piper to stand at the fledgling Kooringal Stud which had been in the family since 1910. Coincidentally it was the same year that the third generation of Kooringal stud masters, Stuart, was born. Fast forward to 2022 and it is time to pass the baton to the fourth generation, Angus and Richie, to run what is now a very commercial enterprise,
Stuart was extremely fortunate to spend time learning from the best at Trelawney in NZ, followed by a season at Coolmore in Ireland. In 1983 Stuart married Penny Chisholm from Khancoban station, a property that had produced hundreds of winners and stood the outstanding stallion Comet amongst others.
Stuart and Penny (pictured) had an extended honeymoon managing a thoroughbred stud and pre-training facility called Kennaa Farm on the Isle Of Man before returning to Kooringal for the 1983 breeding season.
The property at that time was run as a very successful partnership between Stuart, who ran the livestock and his eldest brother David who was responsible for the cropping and pasture management with their father Colin still taking a very keen interest in the overall management. That partnership continued for over 25 years before David and his wife Annette retired and Stuart and Penny bought the land outright. The property is currently home to four stallions and over 300 horses comprising mares, weanlings, yearlings and spellers who run on 2,500 acres of lucerne, clover and ryegrass paddocks that are regularly renovated to provide outstanding pasture. A sheep breeding enterprise was recently established to complement the pasture management for the horse paddocks and provide another income stream. There are now over 50 double fenced and tree lined paddocks for horses as well as another 20 paddocks set aside for sheep grazing with an extensive laneway system leading to 6 sets of undercover yards.
Stuart and Penny have four children, Angus, Jum, Richie and daughter Georgie. Both Angus and Richie have returned to the farm that they love after attending Marcus Oldham college and working at various stud farms. Jum also remains involved in the promotion of Kooringal as well as running his own business in Melbourne and Georgie is a trained nurse and midwife practicing in North Western NSW. Both Stuart and Penny are delighted that Angus and Richie are stepping into the management of Kooringal Stud and are extremely confident that they will take the business to the next level having had such a solid grounding leaning about the industry. Stuart and Penny will continue to live on farm, take control of the sheep operation and perhaps do a little more travelling!
