Harry Meade has three horses in the top six at the close of the Defender Burghley Horse Trials cross-country today (Saturday, 6 September).
The British world number one rode three clear cross-country rounds today with just a handful of time-faults between his horses. He now sits fourth on Dinah and Stephen Posford and Juliet Carter’s Annaghmore Valoner, fifth on Charlotte and Peter Opperman’s Cavalier Crystal and sixth on his own and Mandy Gray’s Et Hop Du Matz.
Harry’s day started on the 11-year-old Et Hop Du Matz, who was third at Kentucky Three-Day Event in April. He finished with 2.4 time-faults.
“I was thrilled with my first horse,” he said. “He’s a big, gangly, young horse. It’s his first Burghley and it’s not that easy going out as pathfinder. I’m pretty used to it – this is the third year in a row I’ve done it. I’ve done it before as well, but this year was slightly more difficult because the course was quite unusual to ride.
“It was so intense and it was a bit of a judgment call how much horse you used at what point in the course. ‘Hoppy’ was very, very good. I wasted a couple of seconds here and there on him, but I think he’ll be a very, very fast horse, because he can get better. He was great, but he’s in his infancy at this level.”
The smoothest round for Harry Meade over the Burghley Horse Trials cross-country course came next, on Cavalier Crystal, who finished with 2.8 time-penalties. This mare has finished third here at Burghley in 2023 and 2024.
“She’s just great. She’s a cool little girl. She gave me basically a textbook ride. If you could do the computer simulation of how to do it, bang on, she was that from first to last – very, very good,” he said.
Harry’s third ride Annaghmore Valoner – fourth here last year – incurred 3.2 time-faults today.
He said: “She’s come into this really, really short of match practice. She’s had one run since this day last year. She missed the spring, then I ran her around one open intermediate at Upton, got off and said I’d like to run her four times between now and Burghley, just very gently, round a lower level, to allow her to breathe and relax.
“I then stupidly fell off a bike two days later, so I couldn’t do anything on her, so she’s come off the back of nothing. She’s quite a sensitive, worried lady – overachieving, slightly unsure of herself – I was very proud of how resilient she was out there. She gave me a great ride.”
Harry Meade: riding the Burghley Horse Trials cross-country with injuries
Still dealing with the injuries from falling off his bike, Harry saw a physio today between his second and third horses.
He said: “The thing I try and do before coming into Burghley is get three decent nights sleep, because I’m the last one to bed and first one up in the morning every day probably on the entire site, and it’s boom, boom, boom, real intensity. So mentally it is very busy.
“I was a bit unsure this year, because obviously I’ve come into it off the back off quite a substantial injury and particularly some puncturing in my lung. I haven’t been able to do that much. I’ve only been able to sleep in a bed for the past two weeks – I’ve been sleeping in a chair as I couldn’t lie down – and so I was sort of a little bit unsure how I would cope. But it was fine.”
Harry paid tribute to his team, who make it possible for him to compete three horses here, particularly lynchpins Jess Errington, who has been with him 18 years, Molly Parkin, who has been with him for 11, and his wife Rosie.
“They have such a slick set up,” he said.
To stay up-to-date with all the breaking news throughout Burghley and other major shows this year, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website, from £1 a week. Horse & Hound’s 20-page magazine report on Burghley is published in 11 September issue, including full analysis and exclusive comment from six-time Burghley winner William Fox-Pitt.
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