Olympics Friday, July 22, 2016 From rodeo to Olympics, ex-bricklayer rides highPaget’s equestrian career includes bronze medal in London GamesCHEPSTOW, Wales — There was a time in Jonathan “Jock” Paget’s early equestrian career when staying on a horse for eight seconds was considered a good going. I’d go up there on the weekends to see him and he’d have the horse and start mucking around. If the dressage, with its formal dress and meticulous steps, might seem intimidating for “a bricklayer who rides a horse,” Paget said the jumping element was actually the biggest initial challenge. “The horse is very experienced, I’ve ridden him around Badminton three times, Burghley three times now and we know each other well,” said Paget. The team bronze medallist at the London 2012 Games, and only the second rider to win the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials on his debut in 2013, started riding at 18 and first jumped a fence properly at 20.

Source: Bueno Aires Herald July 22, 2016 03:11 UTC