 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Jonathan Paget" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 Paget and Clifton Promise competing at the 2012 Olympics. | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing New Zealand | ||
Equestrian | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 | 2012 London | Team eventing |
Jonathan "Jock" Paget (born 17 November 1983) is aNew Zealand equestrian who won a bronze medal inTeam eventing at the2012 Summer Olympics.[1] In 2013 he became only the second rider to win theBadminton Horse Trials on debut after fellow New ZealanderMark Todd.[2]
Paget was born inWellsford before moving toSydney,Australia in 1986. After completing his education he undertook an apprenticeship as a bricklayer and began riding at age 18. He went torodeo school and applied for a working pupil role with Australian event rider Kevin McNab in Tamborine, Queensland. Under McNab's tutelage Paget progressed from never having jumped a fence, to competing at three-star level eventing in less than two years. After working for McNab for three years, he went to Sydney in 2006 to set up a business producing and competing horses. However, the2007 Australian equine influenza outbreak near Sydney in August resulted in all horse movements being halted on much of the east coast of Australia.[citation needed]
With no ability to ride in Australia, Paget was invited by Frances Stead, a former Auckland businesswoman and strong supporter of New Zealand eventing riders and horses, to return to New Zealand in September 2007 to become the principal rider at her Clifton Eventers base atMuriwai, north-west ofAuckland.
He competed on Clifton Promise, a 16.3 hands (67 inches, 170 cm)bayThoroughbredgelding, born 2 November 1998) in April 2010 in their first CCI****, theRolex Kentucky Three Day, where he finished in 27th place. In June 2010, Paget and Clifton Promise went to the United Kingdom to prepare for the2010 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG), which was held in Kentucky in October of that year, the pair finished seventh.
Whilst Clifton Promise returned to the UK, Paget returned to New Zealand to compete in their Spring season on several other Clifton horses, returning to his Surrey base in the UK in February 2011. Frances Stead sent several more young horses to the UK for Paget to compete in the Spring season there, including Clifton Razz, Clifton Signature, Clifton Cognac and later Clifton Dickara.
Since his move to be based in Surrey, England, Paget has worked closely with fellow New Zealanders Mark Todd andAndrew Nicholson, as well as the UK-based New Zealand Eventing Coach, Erik Duvander. In March 2011, he took over the ride of Clifton Lush from fellow New Zealand rider, Joe Meyer.
In October 2013 Paget was suspended from national and international competitions after his horse Clifton Promise tested positive forreserpine, a banned substance.[3] Paget later said he had no idea how the drug – a sedative – came to be in his horse, and vowed to clear his name with a B sample test.[4] He was cleared in August 2014 and allowed to return immediately to competition.[5]