THE Smith brothers, Trevor and Steven, are not stuck on pedigree or type when it comes to horses, their mantra being “a nice horse is a nice horse” and there have been many such animals through their hands over the years.

Some of these have gone on to great success under other riders such as the geldings Euro Prince with Clare Abbott, Cairnside Sir Alex with Nick Gauntlett and Van Gough with Jacob Fletcher also the stallion Ringfort Tinkatoo who went on to compete in the United States where he has had many successful offspring.

Phillip Dutton’s great ride, the Condios gelding William Penn (formerly Robo Paddy) was once a charge of the Smiths’ Ballymac Stud where he was produced up to CCI3* level by Steven before joining Dutton in the United States. “He was a fantastic horse with all the qualities needed for the top sport,” said Steven. “It gives us a great satisfaction to watch our horses succeed at the highest level.”

Other former rides of the Smiths such as Shadow Light, Euro Jackpot and Fiorella have all performed successfully for Ireland at underage level.

The brothers were very proud to have Ballyartan Contessa finish fourth in the CCI2*-L at Barroca d’Alva in Portugal recently with Austin O’Connor but a favourite of the pair, who was sold at the beginning of their careers, was The Gangster who was reserve at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney for Britain’s Tina Cook.

The Smiths acquired their skills in dealing from their late grandfather Thomas who worked with hackney horses and bought remounts for the army, while it was their parents, Tommy and the late Eileen, who introduced them to riding by providing the pair with ponies. “We started show jumping then joined the Iveagh Pony Club and did all Pony Club activities,” explained Steven.

Grafters

“To fund the start of our business, Trevor worked as a farrier while I worked in a bakery at night. We bought a small farm outside Gilford as teenagers as we always wanted to have our own yard and work for ourselves rather than ride for someone else, even at a high level.

"We show jumped into our early 30s with good success and qualifying for Dublin each year with young horses was our goal. With the influence of the late Bill Buller and Sonya Rowe (nee Duke), we then made the switch to eventing.”

The change in discipline proved very successful with Trevor representing Ireland at the aforementioned Sydney Olympics on High Scope, finishing 18th individually. He also competed at the 2003 European Championships in Punchestown where he was 20th on Dunrath Hill who he rode at Badminton two years later. One of the busiest competitors in the country, and leading Northern Region rider for the last 25 years, Steven’s international wins include the CIC3* at Barroca in 2007 on Quality VH.

Trevor and Steven Smith \ Sporting Images NI

“We’ve put a lot of time and effort into developing our yard here at Ballymac Stud; it’s alongside our original farm which we sold when our business expanded,” continued Steven. “We now have American barn stabling for 40 horses, an isolation block, young horse pens, a walker, lunging pen, turn-out pens, indoor and outdoor arenas, a gallop and a cross-country schooling field. We have also invested in a Haygain, a Vitafloor and solarium and we have also adapted the river to be cold water therapy for our horses’ legs after competing.

“We have a lot of local schooling facilities, some within hacking distance, and we have numerous cross-country and schooling facilities within approximately one hour’s drive so we are very lucky in that respect as it minimises a lot of travelling for us. We are also based near several packs and try to get our young horses out hunting as often as we can during the season. Our facilities at home allow us to do a lot of our work here and we want to make our yard one of the best to both work and train in.”

Team effort

Managing the team at Ballymac Stud is Steven’s wife Jenny who oversees everything, from entertaining clients to ensuring the entire enterprise runs like clockwork.

“We also have Joe Marley, who organises the transportation of the horses, and two full-time riders – Casey Webb, who has been with us for several years now, and Eva Olsen who has joined us from Norway,” said Steven. “Sarah Orr, who joined our team last season having left school, looks after my competition horses, while Jake Rawlinson assists with the production of our young horses.

“Sarah O’Shea is also based in the yard with her horses. She was on the trainee jockey programme at RACE (Racing Academy and Centre of Education) in Kildare but had to return home when it was closed because of the Covid-19 restrictions. Hopefully, we will also have a Junior rider joining our team this season so we can have horses competing in those ranks.”

Steven and Jenny’s daughter Hollie, who is currently studying Veterinary Practice Management, plans to concentrate more on show jumping this year while her elder sister Louise, who lives next door to the yard, organises Steven’s teaching timetable. Louise’s sons, Troy (eight) and Harris (four), keep everyone at the yard busy when they ride their ponies, Rusty and Captain America.

While Trevor manages the day-to-day production of the horses at home, he still uses his farriery skills at the yard and at events if required. However, Ryan Lambe now does most of the shoeing at Ballymac Stud where the Smiths are grateful for the sponsorship they receive from Gortrush Foods, Horse First, Stonebridge Feeds and Tredstep Ireland.

Team Smith: (l-r) Steven Smith, Hollie Smith, Bonnie Smith and Trevor Smith, winners of four classes at Finvoy

There is accommodation on-site for staff and for the many people, often from mainland Europe, who train with Trevor and Steven for long or short periods of time. The team at Ballymac are also happy to collect customers from the airport and have them stay at the stud while looking for horses. The brothers have numerous pupils competing up to international level in both eventing and show jumping.

“We hope to further develop the coaching side of the business,” commented Steven who is chief instructor with the Iveagh Pony Club while Trevor was previously coach for the Irish Young Rider team.

“We feel we are well positioned with our years of experience to help many riders meet their goals. In the near future, we hope to begin holding clinics and residential camps at Ballymac Stud and make it a real training hub.”

When it comes being coached themselves, the Smiths have kept it simple: “Up to this year, Alan Dewhurst has coached us on the flat,” said Steven. “Every day we constantly train each other, it is so important that the basics are correct and that is the main focus of our training. We always try to be each other’s eyes on the ground.”

It is noticeable when looking at entries for an event that Trevor and Steven ride a lot of horses for some very loyal owner/breeders with the former explaining:

“Yes, many of the owners who began our eventing journey are still with us today, as well as many others who have joined us over the years. With our young riders coming along, we are always open to having new horses for them to ride and owners will have the added benefit of our expertise managing the whole training system.

“We try our best to be open about what an owner and ourselves both want from the experience, it’s only a good deal if both parties are happy.

"We feel that being honest about a horse, and its capabilities, and trying to get the best for owners, whether this is through a sale or competition results, has ensured that many have stayed with us over the years.

“As we became more successful, many people, especially breeders and those who deal in young horses, contacted us about horses they would like us to take on. We would really encourage anyone who has a nice horse to contact us, we are always happy to look at them. We have a good system in place now to produce the right animal, we constantly have horses being broken in and have a good set of riders to produce the horses.”

Good horsemanship

The Smiths have also developed a reputation for sweetening up older horses but this is more by accident than design.

“It isn’t something we set out to do, but I think our values in how we ride and how we train our horses definitely contribute to this,” continued Trevor.

“For us, we want to be good horsemen first and foremost, and it is a value we try to pass on to anyone who goes through our yard.

“From our years of experience, we have come to develop a varied routine for our horses. We like them to enjoy being horses which includes lots of turn-out and hacking as well as their training. We want our horses to be happy and we treat each of them as individuals. Our aim is not to make horses fit our system – we can change our system to suit each horse. I think our yard then naturally suits older horses who could benefit from a change.”

When it comes to buying horses for themselves, from yearlings upwards, the brothers consider their market at the same time, as Steven explained: “Firstly, we like to look at the horse in front of us before we look at the pedigree. It has to be athletic, a nice stamp and have a good attitude.

“If we are looking at horses for the top level, then we do need a high percentage of thoroughbred blood. However, there is a large market for a well-trained, safe horse to compete at one and two-star level which requires less blood. As long as it’s a nice horse, there is a market for it. There are certain pedigrees we would be drawn to and stay away from due to personal preference over the years but again, a nice horse is a nice horse.”

Prefix belief

Unlike most producers these days, the Smiths don’t run their horses with a prefix. Steven explains: “We’ve been doing this for a long time now and found we have built up a successful client base over the years through prioritising matching the right horse to the right buyer by word of mouth. A prefix works for a lot of people, and I’m sure there would be benefits to ourselves, however our personal belief is we should only prefix a horse if we breed it.”

As with all others involved in the sport, the Smiths are awaiting the start of the national eventing season but are making the most of this time to work on the young horses in the yard. However, both stressed: “At this time, our priority is the safety of our staff and our families. We have the facilities to be able to work our horses at home and, in our eyes, having the yard operating in lockdown is the best way to try and ensure everyone’s safety.”

Years of dedication

A few of the yard’s four- and five-year-olds could end up campaigning in young event horse classes if deemed suitable. “We think these series definitely have a place,” commented Steven. “They are a fantastic shop window and do great things to promote the Irish-produced horse. However, there are certain types of horses that these classes suit and there are a lot of good horses who aren’t ready to compete at that level so early on. For us, we like to let the horses tell us if they are ready or not.”

Steven has several four-star horses to campaign this season, for whom targets will be chosen when there is more certainty over which events will run, while the others will focus on introducing new horses to the sport. Thinking ahead, with the aim of having Casey and Eva competing at top level in the coming years, the Smiths have kept horses to achieve this goal.

“As we have become more successful, we have found we are never really short of staff as more people want to come and train with us. However, many young people today don’t understand the work, dedication and time it takes to succeed in this sport.”

The Smiths’ lorries are quite often on the road over both days of a weekend with Steven mainly being the one who will take in two days’ competition. While he has a high attendance record at international events in Ballindenisk, he has no real favourite when it comes to national venues just being pleased that there is somewhere to run.

“We should be very grateful to have as many landowners as we do letting us onto their land to run events and it makes sense for venues to run two or three times a year to make it profitable for landowners,” commented Steven. “In 2018, we were very grateful during a very wet summer that Kircubbin (now sadly gone) could run several times. That was a great example of how, with some imagination, the same venue can feel like a different event each time.

“Many venues have gone by the wayside since we first started. In the Northern Region alone we’ve lost Scarvagh, Lisnabrague, Richhill, Tandragee, Ballygraffan, Dukes, Lylehill, Kircubbin, Rademon and Craigantlet to name a few. It would be great to see even some of these venues back on the fixture list.”

Hitting the right note

With 30 horses in work during a regular season, it’s small wonder Trevor and Steven have little time to pursue other sports but they do like to enjoy their down time musically. Steven can often be found playing the piano while Trevor is well-known locally, and at international events, for the variety of instruments he plays. His daughter Bonnie, who is studying for a PhD in psychology at Queen’s in Belfast, shares Trevor’s passion for music and plays with him when time allows. She still rides on occasion but just for fun.