Equestrian Legend - Gene Patricia “Chubbie” Makim-Willing

This article is from the July 2020 Horse Deals magazine.

Who is this woman with the small camera and big hat? Probably full of our own importance covering our first Sydney Royal for Hoofs and Horns magazine in 1994, we encountered Gene on our first day. We would get a shot lined up, only to have Gene dart in with her wide-angle lens and a “sorry dear” as she got close enough to get her photo, followed by the obligatory questions for the all-important captions for The Land newspaper. The hat I remember was large, navy blue with white dots. It did not take us long to work out a successful system that worked for us all and it was the beginning of a long friendship. Gene was very much at home at Sydney Royal and she knew everyone and their history and would constantly entertain us with stories that some would rather remain untold. If Gene knew about the people, she knew much more about the horses. Although we knew very little of her early life, basically learning bits and pieces from her conversation, it was obvious she was a knowledgeable horsewoman. In her life as an equestrian journalist and editor of Horse Monthly, she would cover everything from international dressage to pony club and approach all with her enthusiastic good humour. How we looked forward to those NSW shows, especially Sydney Royal and we spent much of the time in fits of laughter thanks to Gene.

Gene made it to the new Sydney Showgrounds at Homebush Bay in 1998 and strode across the main arena in her usual sprightly fashion, although by this time she was in her 70s. Youthful, stylish, funny, capable and kind, that was Gene. It has been said of her that, she could break in a horse before breakfast and then throw together an outfit to win the fashions on the field at the picnic races after lunch. You could add to that, probably train the winner as well. She never accepted the rule of a white dust coat for photographers at Sydney and she stood firm. I would not like to take the same approach now, but no doubt Gene would and get away with it.

Retiring from The Land, Gene moved to Toowoomba to be nearer to her children, where she met and fell in love with Robert Willing and even at seventy-something it is still possible to display the youthful bloom of love. Her marriage to Robert gave her great happiness. We made enquiries of people up that way as to how Gene was, but of course, now regret not making a greater effort. Gene, mother, horsewoman, fashion guru, raconteur, author and wife died aged 96 on the 13th April. She may not be a living legend, but she is certainly a legend.

The following is a compilation of Gene’s eulogy written by her five children; Margaret, Sallie, Alex, Mooka (Harold) and John.

Gene Patricia “Chubbie” Makim-Willing was born on the 27th October 1923 at Moree in NSW. “Chubbie was her nickname from childhood”, says Alex. “Apparently she was a Chubbie baby, but there was certainly no sign of that when she had five children in tow.” When Gene was four, the Scott family moved to ‘Ivanhoe’ at North Star, not far from the NSW/Queensland border. The Scotts; father Harold, mother, Lizzie and Bess, May, Jack and Gene were a well known and successful equestrian family. ‘The Scott family of riders’ would travel to all the shows, often on the train. They would put the horses on the train to Sydney for the Royal and stop off at Maitland Show on the way.”

“Her lifelong love of horses commenced at an early age, honing her skills on the family grey rocking horse” explains Sallie. “Her next step was in front of Mum and Dad on horseback mustering all day. Her first horse was a pony called, Blue Boy; she used to ride him without a saddle or bridle. She then graduated to Rebel, an allrounder and she won her first ribbon riding him at Warialda Show in 1929.” That Gene took to the task was evident as Alex explains; “she won the Ladies Campdraft at Tamworth when she was 12. At her first Sydney Royal Gene rode Tibby in the Bush Hunt where Tibby jumped two fences and Gene, three!”

Gene did her nursing training at the Tamworth Base Hospital from 1941-1944. In December 1943 she married Bill Makim and in 1945 after the war they moved to nearby ‘Wilga Warrina’. Margaret was born in December 1945. In honour of her late mother, Lizzie Scott, Gene established North Star Pony Club and with it an annual camp that lasted for 50 years, the pony club continues to this day. “About 60 children attended each year for 50 years,” says Alex, “and mum would always find a way to help less fortunate children, organising their horse, bridle, dinner plates, towels, a camp stretcher and send them off to camp. She helped establish and instruct at other pony clubs at Glen Innes, Walcha, Inverell, Thallon, Yarrill Creek, Wyagga, Moree and Warialda. Safety was paramount, but she always wanted the whole experience to be fun.

“In the early days when we were little, she had not only to cook for us children at shearing time, but help muster the sheep and cook for the shearers and feed them in our house. She also made most of our clothes and her own and even did a millinery course and made her own hats. I was told she was the first woman to wear a miniskirt in Goondiwindi; she did have the legs for it. If Chubbie set her mind on something, there was only one outcome. When we had all grown up and left home, it was time for Chubbie to move on and do something for herself and what a brave move to make at her age. My parents divorced and she went first to run the new Equestrian Academy at NEGS and then to Sydney to run the Riding for the Disabled Association for a number of years and helped establish branches in Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

“About this time she began freelance writing for The Land newspaper and perhaps the greatest achievement of her professional career was taking a job as a roving equestrian journalist for The Land. She was in her element; she knew everyone in the horse world, she knew horses and had great connections from the Scott family’s involvement. She knew the riders, rode against their mothers and respected their grandmothers. She had to relearn the typewriter and learn to use modern cameras. She covered all of NSW and some of Queensland and followed the polo as well, but she was in her element and Sydney Royal Show was her domain.

“She retired from The Land and moved to Toowoomba to be closer to some of her children and grandchildren. It was here she began writing in earnest and produced seven books, from her autobiography to campdrafting and the history of Queensland Polo and also a delightful book about Herbert, her dog. It was in Toowoomba that she met, the love of her life, Robert Willing. They married and had such a wonderful time together until his untimely death from which she never really recovered. But for me, it was a great thrill to see her so happy with Robert and making up for lost time.”

Youngest son John was encouraged to go to university. “She did not see much of a future for me on the land and encouraged me to go to university, which I did and luckily around that time, she moved to Sydney. She started her amazing career as a journalist and there was no shortage of outrageous parties with the horsey and journo crowd at her home and the Royal Easter Show hook ups with friends were something else. I decided I wanted to play polo at that time and again it was only possible through Mother’s support. She allowed me to keep my horses on her little plot just out of Sydney and supervised their groom, or just sometimes just did it herself.

“It made me so happy that she met Robert and had such a lovely relationship with him; she had a great century innings and she knew that. Though she is gone now, we will always feel her presence, unbounded love and positive fun energy and we owe so much to this incredible, selfless woman, so ahead of her time.”

Article: Anna Sharpley.

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