Harold Megahey With His Gold Team Medal

At the end of September, Co Antrim’s Harold Megahey returned from the European Young Rider Eventing Championships in Portugal with yet another team gold medal, making it his fourth European medal in three years.

After two years on the Junior Eventing team, 19 year old Harold and Chuckelberry, his famous grey gelding, advanced onto Ireland’s Young Riders team and competed for three days, against 45 other European riders in Vale Sabroso, Portugal.

Supported since his early teens by local business communications company, Barclay Communications, Harold and Chuckelberry kept their nerve and stamina as they tackled some testing conditions, including thunderstorms during the Cross-Country phase, to come fourth individually and first with the Ireland team.

Over the last three years Harold has won a bronze, silver and two gold medals at the Europeans, making him an exciting prospect for the future of Irish Eventing.

As Harold explains, these experiences really made an impact on this young Eventing hopeful, “I’ve learnt so much this year, my riding has moved up a level and I’ve seen what it takes to be a four star rider and to run a high-performance yard.”

While the Templepatrick teen has just started university, he’s still committed to his International dreams, “I’ll have to juggle things a bit more this year, but I’m still focused on getting selected for some of the senior Irish teams next year.”

Josh Pimm, Elizabeth Hayden and Jodie O’Keeffe, were also on the Ireland team and, along with Harold, they kept Germany in silver and the British team in the bronze position.

Harold’s sponsors, and local O2 Centre of Excellence, Barclay Communications congratulated the entire Ireland team for their gold winning performance at the European Championships and continue to support this young man with his quest for a place on Ireland’s senior Eventing team.

IRELAND’S Harold Megahey won the British Young Rider Eventing Championship at Weston Park in England, aboard Britt Megahey’s Chuckelberry yeterday.

The Co. Antrim-born rider, who was a team gold medallist for Ireland at the Junior European Eventing Championships in France last month, saw off 22 other combinations bidding for the two-star title.

In the two-star Pony event at Weston Park, Ireland again claimed victory, with Kildare’s Shannon Nelson and the Irish Sport Horse Millridge Buachaill Bui taking the trophy. Nelson was a member of Ireland’s bronze medal-winning team at the European Pony Eventing Championships in Italy in July of this year.

Horse Sport Ireland

Harold Megahey and Chuckelberry’s Silver and Bronze Medal winning performance at 2012′s European Championships in Poland.

Barclay Communications supports local lad as he aims for double gold in Europe and sets sights on 2016 Olympics.
County Antrim’s Harold Megahey has made the Irish Junior Eventing team for a second year in a row and is now preparing to fight for Gold at the FEI European Eventing Championships for Young Riders and Juniors in France, with his grey gelding Chuckelberry.
Proudly support by local business communications company, Barclay Communications, Harold will return to the European Championships on the 12th of September to compete for three days, against nineteen other countries as he attempts to surpass his 2012 team Silver and individual Bronze medals.
At eighteen years old, this is Harold’s last year in the junior eventing field, but he has big ambitions for his senior eventing career and has already set his sights on the 2016 Olympics.
Harold Megahey explains, “Over the next three years we are focusing on Rio. I have just completed my A-Levels and can now concentrate on building myself and the horses into real Olympic contenders.”
Barclay Communications have been supporting Harold since 2010 and after he achieved the only Irish individual medal at last years’ European Championships, they have also committed to supporting him along his Olympic journey.
Chuckelberry, Harold’s fourteen year old European ride first boosted his performance on the Irish eventing scene last year, and they’ve continued to make a formidable team with a recent win at Ballindenisk International and high positions in Camphire and Tyrella.
Sourced from Ireland’s 2012 Olympic rider Joseph Murphy, Chuckelberry has also been competed by Olympic medal-winning William Fox-Pit and Mark Todd. However he isn’t Harold’s only potential Olympic ride, with at least one other prospect in the wings Harold and his horses are the ones to watch on the eventing circuit over the next few years.