My name is Jamie Smith. I was born and bred in Bega, Southern NSW to a very horsey family. I spent most of my childhood around horses, competing in pony club gymkhanas and local agricultural shows.

Showjumping was always my passion so when I left school I hit the road with 5 horses, competing far and wide on Australia's jumping circuit. In the early days I trained with Grant Hughes in Canberra and then Robert Stewart in Sydney - these guys helped me immensely with my riding and horsemanship skills.

I competed right up to world cup level having many starts on many different horses with my best results winning the Prince of Wales cup at Melbourne Royal and winning the the Bega Showjumping Cup in 2010. I worked and competed in Japan for a year when I was 20 and then worked and competed for William and Pippa Funnell in England which was a great experience.

I then moved to America in 2000 after the Sydney Olympics working in sales barns in Maryland and New Jersey, competing in shows from Florida up to Canada. It was in the US I was introduced to Antares who were a very new french saddle company doing great things and when I had a ride in their saddle I was blown away how good it was and that I could actually get one made to fit me.

I became very good friends with the owners and reps from Antares over the next 5 years and formed a great love of the brand and products, so when they asked me to bring Antares to Australia I was very honoured.

After moving back to Australia and competing nationally for a while, Antares US organised me to travel to Antares France to the workshop in Saintes in the south of France to see how the saddles were made and to spend time training with reps in England and Switzerland.

I launched Antares at Equitana Melbourne in 2010 to a great response from the equestrian community.

8 years on and Antares Australia is thriving.

A massive THANK YOU to the Australian equestrian community who love Antares just as much as I do.

Jamie Smith, 2018.