JAMIE Smyth, originally from Portglenone, Co Antrim, has horses in his blood. His great-grandfather, the late Tom Smyth, was a Hackney man; he enjoyed driving and won at prestigious shows, such as Balmoral and Wembley during a driving career that spanned from the 1960s through to the 1990s.

“Hackneys are highly strung and Tom had a knack with them when others couldn’t manage,” said Jamie. “One horse couldn’t be tacked up, so Tom made stocks to tack him up in!”

Jamie’s grandad, the late Samuel Smyth, showed Hackneys in-hand in his younger days, while working in Gallaher’s cigarette factory in Ballymena as his day job. He also bought and sold horses and ponies.

The Smyth family also had a racing connection, with Jamie’s great-uncle, Toddy, having trained a good racehorse in Huncheon Chance; Toddy would have been trainer Ian Ferguson’s right-hand man.

Jamie’s dad, the late Stephen, show jumped in his younger days, then point-to-pointed and was a farrier. Tragically, he was killed in a car accident at the age of 27, when Jamie was only seven years old. He and his sister were then raised by their grandparents.

Jamie show jumped and was on the Irish 148cm team at a Scottish Home Pony International. He got into showing by default, after his grandad sold the ponies and bought five horses. They were not good enough to go show jumping, so they tried Working Hunter competitions back in 2011. Since then, Jamie has clearly found his niche and has accrued a long list of successes.

Newferry Diamond Dancer, dam of current mount, Bannside Dancer, catapulted Jamie into the showing spotlight, with numerous wins including Balmoral, Northern Ireland Festival (including Reserve Champion), Supreme Champion at the Northern Ireland Working Hunter Association show - after winning the horse championship and the pony championship in the same year! The mare also won the Small Hunter class at the old Balmoral site in 2012.

A high point in Jamie’s career to date was being named Leading Showing Rider at the Dublin Horse Show last year; he was told this may have been the first time the title went to a northern rider.

To secure this accolade, Jamie managed to have every one of the 15 horses that he rode at the RDS placed in the top six. These included Bannside Dancer, then owned by Jamie, bred by his grandad, winning the Four-year-old Lightweight Gelding class and taking Reserve Four-year-old Hunter Champion and Reserve Lightweight Champion; Diamond Yeats, owned by Dr Karen King from Crossgar, winning the Six-year-old and over Lightweight Hunter class; Dr Karen King’s My Diamond Solitaire winning the Five-year-old Middleweight Gelding class; while Codeword, owned by Lindy Winship from Essex, placed second in the Lightweight Cob class and took Reserve Cob Champion. Meanwhile, in the Working Hunter classes, Jamie placed third in the Traditional Irish class with Dr Karen King’s Dilly Diamond Queen.

Bannside Dancer and Jamie Smyth were the Ridden Horse Supreme Championship winners at the 2023 Northern Ireland Festival \ Laurence Dunne Jumpinaction.net

Shock

“It was a big shock to be the Leading Showing Rider at the RDS. As a young producer, to achieve this was just overwhelming, but I couldn’t have done it without the support of good horses, owners and the team behind me!” Jamie said.

Behind every success, there is lots of hard work behind the scenes; it is no different for Jamie. He and partner, Ryan Anderson, run their showing yard together. They break and school their horses and both ride them in the ring.

Ryan worked for Joan Adrain and evented in the past; he never would have considered showing until an accident led to him sustaining spinal fractures, followed by leaking discs and arthritis. He still jumps, but not in the actual ring. Ryan is also a judge and spends much of his time flying back and forth to UK mainland shows.

Usually, after Dublin, owners choose to sell their horses, so Jamie and Ryan’s next task would be to attend the September sales in Goresbridge and Cavan to look for horses for the next year; they then break and school them over the winter months, however, recently Jamie has been delighted that owners have kept their horses for more than one season, so he still has some accomplished mounts in his stables.

Jamie and Ryan currently have 22 horses, eight of which are heading to Dublin this year - mainly seasoned horses, along with one four-year-old. Of the remainder, many are four-year-olds, so they are not rushing to get them out.

“We have a few novice hunters, cobs, riding horses and Connemaras for next season (along with the experienced competitors); we are grateful for the support from their owners,” Jamie told The Irish Field.

The pair try hard to manage their horses sympathetically, keeping them turned out as much as they can; they are ridden in the school minimally, with preference given to hacking and schooling, rather than being ridden in circles.

When Jamie and Ryan go looking for horses, they not only look at their pedigree, but also make sure they can jump, so they have a future career.

Gillian Torrens riding horse champion Leave It To You, ridden by Jamie Smyth, with judges Bumble Thomas and John Gilliver at the 2019 Dublin Horse Show \ Susan Finnerty

Impressive record

So far this year, the pair have an impressive record. At the IPS Spring Championships in April, Bannside Dancer won Royal International Open Lightweight Hunter; Endeavour R won Royal International Open Heavyweight Hunter and Champion Hunter; while Codeword was Champion Cob and qualified for Royal International.

At April’s Northern Ireland Festival, Ryan won a Lightweight class and Lightweight Champion with Bannside Dancer, while Jamie rode Endeavour R to win a Heavyweight class and take Reserve Heavyweight Champion. Both horses are owned by Debbie Harrod from Yorkshire.

Ryan won the Large Riding Horse class and took Champion on Debbie Harrod’s Wall Street the Third. Meanwhile, Jamie won the Small Riding Horse class and was Reserve Champion on Lulu Debeau, owned by Ronnie Harrod from Yorkshire.

Jamie won the Novice Small Hunter class on Highview Overado, owned by Ryan and Jamie, then claiming Champion Novice, while Codeword won the Heavyweight Cob class. Jamie went Supreme Champion on Bannside Dancer, while Ryan was Second Reserve Supreme on Wall Street the Third.

In May, it was on to Balmoral Show, where they won both sections of the Small Hunter and were Champion and Reserve; Jamie on Highview Overado and Katie Crozier (who rode in the championship) on Belief Imperial, owned by Susan Fanning.

Bannside Dancer won Open Lightweight and Champion Lightweight; Lindy Winship’s Austenacuo was second in Open Middleweight; Endeavour R won Open Heavyweight Hunter, Champion Heavyweight and Supreme Hunter Champion.

At Lurgan Show, Austenacuo won the Middleweight Hunter, while Lulu Debeau won the Small Riding Horse class and was named Supreme Ridden Champion.

Trips to the UK have been beneficial for the pair; at Lincoln, My Diamond Solitaire qualified for the Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) in the Middleweight Hunter, while Endeavour R won the Heavyweight HOYS qualifier.

In Norfolk, Burragh Durro Fred qualified for HOYS in the Maxi Cob class, while Ryan was second in the Heavyweight Cob and Reserve Champion Cob with Randalstown Cromwell.

An educational visit to the Great Yorkshire Show was worthwhile, with Ryan and Randalstown Cromwell winning the Heavyweight Cob and qualifying for HOYS; while Jamie and Burragh Durro Fred won the Maxi Cob class, which was a HOYS qualifier, despite already being qualified.

All roads lead to Dublin

After a busy few months, Jamie, Ryan and their equine team are back at home and all roads lead to Dublin, where the Wednesday will see Highview Overado in the Four- and Five-year-old Small Hunter and Lulu Debeau in the Small Riding Horse class; on Thursday, Bannside Dancer is entered in the Open Lightweight Gelding class.

Friday will be a busy day, with Austenacuo in the Five-year-old Middleweight, My Diamond Solitaire in the Six-year-old and older Middleweight, Endeavour R in the Five-year-old and older Heavyweight, Codeword in the Lightweight Cob and Frankfort Bob, owned by Jamie, in the Heavyweight Cob class; they will also be striving to have a presence in the Hunter Championship on Saturday.

Regarding this year’s Dublin Horse Show, Jamie said: “We just hope all the horses go the best that they can on the day and get placed where they deserve; and that they are happy, as these are all young horses that have bright futures ahead of them!”

While for many, Dublin represents the conclusion of the showing season, it is not so for Jamie and Ryan, who will be on the boat to England on the Saturday night to go to the BSPS Championships at Grantham! They head over to England again in September for the BSHA National Championships and in October for HOYS, where they have been given the rides of Polly Coles’ horses, as she is pregnant.

Somewhere along the way, they also plan to move yards… There’s clearly no rest in a successful showing yard!