Photo: Libby Law
Jonathan – better known as Jock – Paget, is ‘almost’ an Aussie. Born in New Zealand, he moved with his family to Sydney in 1986. After working for Kevin McNab for a couple of years, Jock set up his own training stable in Sydney in 2006. However, the equine influenza outbreak of 2007, made a return to New Zealand a very attractive proposition – especially when he was offered the head rider’s job at Frances Stead’s Clifton Eventers.
Since then Jock’s rise to the top has been fairly meteoric. In 2010, he rode Clifton Promise to 27th in their first four star – Kentucky. Later that year, the pair returned to Kentucky to place 7th at the WEG!
At the Olympic Games in Greenwich, the pair starred once again, finishing in individual tenth as part of the bronze-medal-winning Kiwi team. In 2012, the pair were sixth at Kentucky Rolex and second at the four star at Pau.
This year, they continued their triumphal march, taking the crown at Badminton with a stellar performance. Jock certainly gave himself a good chance of victory…
“I don’t think you can ever know you are going to win at an event like Badminton, but both my horses were in top form, they’d had good runs the year before, and I thought if I can do my three best phases, I think it can be enough to win, but you never know at that level.”
Tell me a little about your Badminton winner, Clifton Promise – a New Zealand Thoroughbred?
“New Zealand Thoroughbred – Frances Stead, the owner, she bought him as a three year old. He didn’t really do too much early. I got him when he was nine, he was a Novice horse then but it didn’t take him long to get up the grades.”
When did you first get the feeling that he was an international star?
“Certainly when I first started riding him, I didn’t think he was the champion he is – but the owner always thought he was. After the first couple of competitions, I realised how good he was, since then it’s been a matter of experience. If you look at the great four star horses, they don’t usually win their first four star, it usually takes a couple of years for them to understand the job properly and go out and pull off their best three phases on the one weekend.”
Last year you were a bit unlucky – very close to winning at four star level, but for a couple of unlucky rails?
“I was a bit unlucky at Pau, we had a good round showjumping and he just touched the back rail, that put us from first to second. At the Olympics I was very happy with his performance, he had a job in a team, and that’s a different scenario. At Pau and Badminton you get to ride for yourself a bit more, and take a few more risks and not worry too much about the consequences. I guess if you keep taking the risks, eventually they come off.”
Do you think Michael Jung is sad that he invited you over to work with him?
“He’s a very nice guy, and it is a really nice family. Definitely the work I did with Michael in the winter has helped me a lot. That probably did make the difference, so perhaps he regretted it in that sense, but I don’t think he regretted it in any other sense.”
What areas were you concentrating on when you were with Michael?
“I worked a lot with his father as well. With his father, we did a lot of test riding. Working on the very small details. I took three good horses, so the horses I took, they didn’t need to be trained, we just went through the tests and tried to perfect the movements. Like anywhere you go that is good, the basics are done really well. There is a lot of attention to detail.”
You were a late starter in the equestrian game?
“I was 19. It was just something to do at the weekends with the old man and my brother. We were living in Sydney – trail riding, having fun.”
When did you decide to get serious about eventing?
“I finished my apprenticeship as a bricklayer and I thought if I was ever going to do something else, now was a good time. I was 20 years old. I was looking to go to Ireland, and I went through an equestrian employment agency, to find a job overseas, and they said, nothing really in Ireland for someone with no experience but there is a guy in Queensland, who can take you on – Kevin McNab. To be honest, it’s a big call and it is hard to say, but had I not gone to Kevin, I wouldn’t be here now. He has been a huge player the whole way through. I still train with him now. It was one of the best things I ever did, going to Kevin’s.”
What is the future now, do you keep it cool and wait for August next year and the Worlds?
“I’ve never been good at backing off, I don’t want to try that now. If they are ready, I’ll take them to Burghley, I’ve got another one going to Lumühlen or going to Pau, and I will come out next year, and hopefully do Kentucky and Badminton again. I definitely won’t be backing off.”
You like those big events?
“That’s why I do it.”
The pressure never gets to you?
“I think the pressure gets to everyone, it is just a matter of figuring out how to manage it. I’m not sure how I handle it, I just do my job, there is a job to do and I just try to do it…”