In the eventing competition at the New Zealand Horse of the Year top Kiwi rider Jock Paget, who has flown in from the United Kingdom to compete at the show, is sitting in second spot in the Land Rover CIC3* aboard Henton After Dark. The class is being led by Mathew Grayling and NRM Lowenberg (above) on a score of 42.3. The showjumping phase is being held tomorrow, followed by what promises to be a cracking cross country on Saturday.
In the Hansen Products CIC2*, Clarke Johnstone (Matangi) leads the field with his bronze medal winning World Championship team horse Orient Express, who has come out of retirement.
Later in the day Jock was interviewed by Hawke's Bay radio journalist Ross Holden during the gala dinner celebrating the Horse of the Year Hall of Fame when show jumping rider Katie Laurie was honoured. Jock gave the crowd an insight to his life with horses, including the shock of finding out that his horse Clifton Promise had tested positive for a banned substance, and the long road back.
“Through all this I had to use my brain in a different way,” said Paget. “I had to research and learn a lot, because this was so important to me. It took my focus away from horses, and nothing had done that before.”
But it all helped, and just before the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, Paget was found to be cleared of any wrong doing. Now he's back on his mission to achieve the Grand Slam of eventing but first he’s quite keen to win this event in New Zealand!
View our Thursday photo gallery from HOY by Libby Law here
