Harry Meade’s eventing yard is always bustling with activity, with each day presenting something different to the last. The team here at Church Farm is relatively large considering the number of horses, making it possible to maintain high standards across the board without cutting any corners.

Morning yard

The morning begins by bringing in the horses living out at night, whereupon each horse is checked heat or filling that may have emerged overnight. Once they’re in, breakfast is given before all the horses on the yard are weighed, allowing Harry to closely monitor their condition. After the daily weigh in, any horses that did fast work the previous day are trotted up to check they are all 100%. This is followed by trotting up the younger horses; a rota is in place for them to practice on a weekly basis so they become used to trotting up with a correct technique.

The morning haylage is given and any horses who live in overnight (the ones who get too fat with too much time in the field!) now have their two hour morning turnout. Every field is skipped out each morning, which is so important to maintain turnout quality. The stables are mucked out, leaving the banks up until they come in to allow any damp to dry and water buckets are scrubbed and refilled ready for when the horses come back in. When the horses are turned out on their holidays at the end of the season, all the horse bedding is emptied and the stables are disinfected and left empty for a few weeks – helping to maintain a hygienic environment. All our horses are on dust extracted rape straw bedding from Caviera, we use a mix of their Raviera with Lavender and Raviera Pro. The lavender keeps the stables smelling fresh whilst the Pro is sterilised, helping towards an healthy stable environment. It’s highly efficient to muck out – a crucial factor for making our morning yard operation a slick one.

Afternoon jobs

The horses that are turned out in the daytime have another two hours in the field each afternoon following exercise and their lunchtime feeds. This routine of two separate stints of turnout, alongside their daily work, means they’re out of their boxes three times a day which is great for them mentally and physically. It also means their digestive system is working all day, mimicking their natural grazing habits and reducing the likelihood of stomach ulcers. The horses’ second bout of turnout lends time to skip out their stables, fill up the hay-bags, mix feeds, top up waters and clean the morning’s used tack.

During the season, there’s often manes or tails to pull, horses to plait or the lorry to pack for the next event, so the afternoons are spent preparing. The team also carry out various stretching exercises on the horses, in line with the physiotherapist’s instruction. Other regular afternoon jobs include setting out a new course of show jumps in the grass training field, or moving the grass dressage arena onto fresh ground.

Afternoon yard

The daytime horses are brought in again and afternoon feeds are dished out to those spending the night in the field. Once they’ve eaten up and been turned out, it’s all systems go to get the remaining stables mucked out and the yard clean, tidy and the muck heap maintained. It’s an easy job as it rots really fast and is relatively small considering the size of the yard, the rape straw bedding from Caviera is to thank for that.

The horses living in at night are given their teatime feeds as the team wrap up the afternoon yard. The tack room is reorganised – washing machine started, ice made, kit neatly folded away – so everything is poised, ready to begin again the next day.

Late night checks

Around 9 o’clock, a few members of the team head out for late night checks of the horses. Their legs are felt, waters topped up, and haylage and late feeds are given. The team double check the weather apps to match the horses’ rugs to the forecasted temperature. Harry sends the training plan for the following day, and it’s time for bed!