Four Daughters saddle up to continue family’s long history on the land

On a sprawling cattle property on Queensland’s Western Downs, four daughters take in the sunset astride dirt bikes as vibrant pinks, reds and oranges warm the horizon.

Their day began at 6am — not “ridiculously early as we have to do it every day” — in the family’s main house for a big feed of cereal, bacon, eggs and toast because you never know if a road train will arrive and need to be unloaded or something might break and need to be fixed, delaying your next chance to eat.

“Cattle have to be fed before you, so lunch is random … it can be any time but the jobs really have to get done,” mum Karen Penfold says, encapsulating the family’s all-hands-on-deck attitude.