Biography

New Zealand rider Jonathan (Jock) Paget (32) is based near Marlborough in Wiltshire. Last year he was third at Badminton with Clifton Lush.

He was a member of the New Zealand Olympic team that won bronze in London 2012 where he was 10th individually (Clifton Promise). In 2013 the combination won Badminton and he became the first Badminton debutant to win since fellow New Zealander Sir Mark Todd in 1980. With Clifton Lush he won the 2013 British Open Championship at Gatcombe. He followed this by winning Burghley but was subsequently disqualified when Clifton Promise failed a drugs test – testing positive for the banned substance reserpine – and was suspended from competition. In August 2014 he was cleared of blame after an herbal supplements supplier accepted responsibility for “calmer” contaminated with the banned sedative reserpine. With Clifton Promise he was back in the NZ team for the 2014 WEG in France although retired on course. The pair took second place at Burghley a week later.

Born in Wellsford, New Zealand the family relocated to Sydney, Australia in 1986. After completing education he undertook an apprenticeship as a bricklayer and did not start riding till he was 18. He applied to be a working pupil with Kevin McNab (entered at Badminton) in Tamborine, Queensland and under his tutelage progressed from never having jumped a fence to competing at three-star level in less than two years. After working for Kevin, Jock went to Sydney and set up a business producing and competing horses in 2006. However, as the 2007 outbreak of equine influenza near Sydney resulted in all horse movements being halted, Jock returned to New Zealand took the job of principal rider for Clifton Eventers at their base at Muriwai. In 2008/’09 he was the leading event rider in NZ and won ‘Eventer of the Year’ title at NZ Horse of the Year Show in 2009 and 2010. After successful completion of his first four-star at Lexington in 2010 (Clifton Promise) Jock came to the UK to prepare for the WEG where they finished in seventh place.

He has been based in the UK since February 2011 and has been joined by several more Clifton horses. In 2011 with Clifton Lush, formerly ridden by Joe Meyer, he won the CIC3* at Bramham, was third in the Open Championship at Gatcombe and made an impressive Burghley debut with two horses in the top 12.

Jock trains with Erik Duvander, Andrew Gould, Luis Cevera and Isobel Wessels. He is married to Australian Tegan (nee Niven), a former event rider. In his downtime Jock enjoys mountain biking.

Clifton Lush is a 17-year-old New Zealand Thoroughbred. He is by Half Iced out of a mare by Le Grand Seigneur. In April 2007 Lush fell in the field and broke 9 thoracic vertebrae (withers) which resulted in him being cross-tied in the stable for 3 months and then a further 3 months on box rest and as a result he is now two inches shorter! Clifton Lush first started at Badminton in 2010 with his former rider Jo Meyer.