Today was a good day. Even if with cold temperatures and rain in the morning. Today was a good day. Three Americans sit at the top of the Rolex Three-Day leader board. The sun came out. The freestyle for the Kentucky Cup CDI3* is set to take place soon. And oh yeah, I had a lovely chat with Jonathan “Jock” Paget this afternoon. For those of you not familiar with one of New Zealand’s top riders, Jock and Frances Stead’s Clifton Promise are making their debut at the 4 star level here at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day. Clifton Promise, an 11-year-old New Zealand Thoroughbred, was the 2009 and 2010 Horse of the Year in New Zealand and is ranked 15th in the FEI world rankings.

I caught up with Jock for a few minutes in the late afternoon while he was experiencing one of his first lemonades, apparently there’s no such thing in NZ (they don’t have sweet tea either, I can only imagine how deprived they must feel).

On how he started riding:
Jock was a late comer to the sport, having started eventing at age 20. A bricklayer by trade, he started riding his father’s horse and quickly became interested in learning to ride. He became a working student for Australian Kevin McNab, and moved back to NZ to work with Clifton Eventers in 2007.

On what will be the most challenging phase for Promise this weekend:
Promise is an excellent galloping horse who loves to jump. He gets a little tense on the flat so dressage will most likely be the toughest phase for the pair. Jock has been preparing with twice-a-day work outs and is pleased with the way Promise is settling in.

On the trip from NZ to Kentucky:
Jock and Promise had the longest distance to travel to reach the Kentucky Horse Park. Promise flew out at 6:00AM on Monday (NZ time) and Jock met him in Indianapolis on Wednesday at 12:30PM for the final leg of the journey to Lexington. Jock stopped over in L.A. on Tuesday and in an effort to save a few dollars stayed at a “backpackers joint.” I’m sure you may have guessed that this was not exactly 4 star quality lodging and was in fact in a very “dodgy” (translation ghetto) part of town. Although trying to catch up on sleep proved impossible with all the “rap music and people milling about,” he made it out alive and would consider becoming an American gangster if the riding thing didn’t work out.

On the Kentucky Horse Park and Southern Hospitality:
The KHP (as we refer to it here) is in immaculate shape and even to those of us who see it every day it’s impressive. For a first-time competitor in the US Jock is finding everything here to be very “nicely done up” and stated that “everything is on such a bigger scale here.” One of the main differences he’s a fan of is the golf carts, apparently these wonderful vehicles are only used on golf courses in NZ. Having had experienced big American cities like New York and Las Vegas Jock says that he’s finding the people of Kentucky to be the most gracious. He hasn’t tried a hot brown or Ale 8 One, but he especially enjoyed the Mexican cuisine that is quite popular around the horse park. And although he won’t be trying to trade in his lovely accent for a southern one, he says he does love listening to it and the “way they draw out their words.”

Jock and Promise will be riding their dressage test at 10:02AM tomorrow, and are set to take on the cross-country course at 1:40PM on Saturday. For more information about Jock, Promise and Clifton Eventers visithttp://www.cliftoneventers.com.