RIDING his way to a top six finish at the 2018 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials means Harry Meade can definitely be proud of his weekend’s work, writes ANDY BABER.

Meade and horse Away Cruising finished the weekend sixth in the overall standings after an enthralling and incident-packed few days of equine action at Burghley House, near Stamford.

And the West Littleton eventer was thrilled with the gutsy display turned out by his mount on the final day of competition.

“He’s a very long striding horse and there are a lot of short combinations,” said the 35-year-old. “The first part of the course is very unrelated, and the second part is all related to five or six distances.

“But I’m delighted – show jumping is his weakest phase and we said at the beginning of the week that if he finished with one down I would be pleased.

“Obviously I was desperate to jump a clear round and the main thing was I just kept saying to myself, as long as I keep executing my plan, I don’t want to have any regrets.

“He travels so easy across his fences and we have to ride him in a very specific way. He’s coming together well.”

Meade’s fellow Chippenham rider Georgie Spence also scored well, clinging onto a place in the top 20, despite a couple of slips on the final phase.

“He’s a very, very good horse and we all make mistakes, so it’s not the end of the world,” said Spence.

“With him, you always like to expect a clear because he is a very good jumper, but this is one of those things and I’m delighted with him that he’s completed another Burghley.”

The multi-award-winning Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials from August 30 – September 2 has been established as a major international equestrian and social event in the Autumn Sporting Calendar for over 50 years. For more information visit burghley-horse.co.uk