Max Marriott used draught horses to plough his fields until the 1960s. By then, tractors and trucks had largely replaced these once-essential workhorses.
"When I left school, I drove horses. We were still ploughing with the horse. We had tractors, but the tractor sat in the shed most of the time," recalled Max, now 82.
"The horse was good. He was just like a tractor, he'd go all day and work."
The Marriott family's devotion to Clydesdales was especially strong.
The family had market gardens in Bentleigh, a Melbourne suburb. Max's grandfather and father had relied on heavy horses to pull cartloads of vegetables to market.
A farmer's Clydesdale
In 1946 when the threat of post-war petrol shortages loomed large, Max's father Allan readied the horses to resume that role and ordered a fancy new harness.
As it turned out, there wasn't a problem with petrol rationing, but the new harness was put to good use.
That same year the family began showing the pick of their working Clydesdales in the new harness at the Royal Melbourne Show.
The Marriotts became prominent stud breeders. By the 1960s, their horses were winning top prizes in the show ring.
Young Max was an emerging talent in driving competitions, which involved controlling the reins of two- and four-horse teams as they pulled heavy wagons in front of the judges.
Max's son, Andrew, was also soon competing.
"I was introduced to it as a baby with my grandfather, then father and uncle and wider family involved with preparing them and breeding them," Matthew Marriott, Andrew's cousin, said.
"So I guess I was born into it, and I don't know life without them."
'They'd never missed a show'
The Marriotts and their Clydesdales have been part of The Royal Melbourne Show for decades.
They had never missed a show from 1946 until the pandemic caused its cancellation in 2020 and 2021.
This year they and the horses were happily back in harnesses, and show officials were delighted to see their return.
"It's a very unique thing to see generation after generation after generation of family with the same focus and vision and vision for the future," show steward Steve Peters said.
"So we hope that they continue to come out to the Royal Melbourne Show for many years to come."
Andrew Marriott admitted that after a two-year break, it took "a bit of getting back into rhythm".
Getting ready for the show begins months beforehand.
Young horses have to be schooled in how to pull a wagon and work in unison in a team.
There is endless grooming, manes and tails are braided, and the Clydesdales' distinctive hairy hocks, or "feathers", are washed until they are pearly white.
Their collars, reins and other harnesses are oiled and buffed, and the silverware polished to a shine.
Foaling season
Show season coincides with foaling season, and at the Marriotts' beef property at Tatong in north-east Victoria, there's an around the clock watch on expectant mares and newly born foals.
Among those watching is stud groom Ellyn Thorne from England, who believes she has found her dream job.
"What Max doesn't know about Clydesdales probably isn't worth knowing. And Andrew has taken it all on, and now the kids are getting in there, so it's pretty awesome," Ellyn said.
This year Max Marriott judged Clydesdales at the Highland Show in Scotland, the birthplace of these giant workhorses.
But recent heart trouble and a dodgy hip have slowed his pace a little.
For the show ring, he has handed over the reins — quite literally — to Andrew.
And Andrew's three children, including 19-year-old Adam, are displaying the necessary passion to keep the tradition alive.
"It's rewarding if you've bred the horse, and then you can take it through all the stages, break it in and showing it and then if it wins a champion in each event or something like that," Adam said.
At this year's show, the Marriott team took the honours in most of the Clydesdale competitions. Regrettably, in some events, they were the only entrants.
Max Marriott remembers the fierce rivalry of the days when 120 Clydesdales competed at the show.
The Marriotts hope the current low number of Clydesdales at the show is merely a lull and that competing with these gentle giants will again become popular.
"They are a people magnet. People just want to see them. They want to ask you about their hairy legs," said Kristin Marriott, Max's wife.
"We call them the horse that built the nation."
Show official Mr Peters admits that few sights give him a bigger thrill.
"That vision of four huge Clydesdales all working in unison together in order to create the spectacle we saw today is just a unique thing in today's society."
Watch this story on ABC TV's Landline at 12:30pm on Sunday, or on ABC iview.
