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How to manage horses for a long and successful career – the Harry Meade way
For Harry Meade, five-star success is no flash in the pan – it’s the result of meticulous, long-term horse management with soundness at its heart. From laser therapy to careful surface choices, short shoeing cycles to icing after every canter, Harry leaves nothing to chance. In this article exclusive to H&H subscribers, discover Harry’s system – and why it’s keeping his elite string at the top of their game, year after year
You don’t get to be eventing world number one without a string of sound horses at top level. Horses that not only reach the heights of five-star but continue to compete year in, year out are both rare and meticulously managed. For the new world number one Harry Meade, who has five eventers competing at CCI5*, horse management is inextricably entwined with his stellar results.
Anyone who has ever competed knows how critical soundness is to longevity, and it’s no surprise that Harry leads no stone unturned to give his horses the best possible chance of staying sound. Here’s how he does it…
Soundness underpins Harry Meade’s horse management system
Harry is emphatic about balance and softness in horses’ training and competing, alongside a couple of everyday basics – shoeing and icing.
“I like all my horses to be shod on a four-week cycle,” he says. “You don’t have to be an engineer to understand that if the angle of the foot changes by a small degree it will change the angle of the pastern and the load on the soft tissue structures.
“You might save a set or two a year shoeing less often, but if that increases the chance of the horse having a leg injury and missing a year, it’s a false economy.”
For the horses in more demanding fitness work the legs are iced after every canter session.
Harry’s head groom Jess Errington icing a horse’s legs. The advanced and three-day horses have their legs iced after every canter session.
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)
All Harry’s horses have stints on a water treadmill, particularly pre-season before the fitness work takes over. Harry shattered both his elbows in 2013 and knows “from my own injuries that the resistance of working in water is the best kind of rehab, as well as good pre-season conditioning without concussion”.
While icing and cold water are age-old remedies to help combat inflammation, Harry is a fan of the more modern laser therapy to manage injury, using two types of Pioneer Multi-Radiance lasers on his yard.
“Lasering is a well-proven science and really effective, both in the acute stages of an injury and in the ongoing management of any kind of weakness,” he says.
“We have a class one laser, which is a handheld device like a shower head. It’s great for accessible, superficial injuries like a puncture wound or a rub where time is an issue and you want to accelerate healing.
A handheld laser is useful for superficial injuries to speed up the healing process.
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)
“We also use a class four laser, which goes much deeper – for the treatment areas of past weaknesses in soft-tissue structures. It’s not a magic wand, but I’m in no doubt that it’s very beneficial.”
Beneath the surface: going concerns
A final asset as soundness goes is the surfaces on which he works his horses. Harry trains on grass as much as possible, estimating that from April to November, “95% of their work is done on grass”.
“Working on a variety of surfaces, including soft ground, is really important for conditioning legs and joints,” he says.
“When I resurfaced our arena I did a lot of research, trying to find something that mimics springy old turf with life in it, and on which they can twist, slide and move, but not jar.”
He ended up with a bespoke surface from Martin Collins.
“It has life in it,” Harry says. “You can feel the horses let go – especially when jumping big fences or in extended canter on a circle.”
Harry Meade aboard CCI5* campaigner Cavalier Crystal, working on his bespoke arena surface.
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)
Harry adds: “The sport gets really interesting when the horses reach the top of the tree, so we want to keep them sound and fit into their later years, helping them in every way we can.”
Harry Meade’s attention to every detail of horse management to promote soundness reflects a deep-rooted philosophy built around longevity. With soundness as his cornerstone, it’s no wonder his horses are flourishing at the very top of the sport.
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Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
