Harry Meade

Six months after a serious brain injury, the British rider finished fifth at Kentucky five-star. Pippa Roome finds out how he did it

- Pippa Roome

THEY say performing at your best in the face of adversity is a mark of greatness. They also say lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place. If the first is true, Harry Meade is the greatest. He is also, surely, living proof that the second is absolute rubbish.

In August 2013, Harry had a rotational fall, shattering both his elbows and requiring seven elbow operations. He started riding again in late January 2014, with both his arms in braces and three degrees of flexion, and just over three months later, achieved his best top-level result, finishing third at Badminton riding Wild Lone.

Last October, Harry was dragged by the stirrup in a cross-country accident at the British Young Horse Championships. He suffered a serious brain injury, didn’t start riding again consistently until early March and is still living with the effects. But last month, he scored his best five-star placing since that 2014 Badminton when he claimed fifth at Kentucky on Superstition.

The main symptom of Harry’s injury has been an overwhelming “neuro-tiredness”, which puts the brain into “complete shutdown” if he does too much. Returning to competing has been all about minimising his activities aside from riding.

“I started riding before I would have done if I hadn’t been aiming to go to something big,” Harry says, sitting in his kitchen the week after Kentucky, in front of congratulatory bunting made by his children, Lily and Charlie. “Either there wasn’t much point in starting at all or I was going to aim for Badminton – or, once that was cancelled, Kentucky.”