Clayton Fredericks

Clayton Fredericks secured a silver medal with Team Australia at his very first Olympic Games this summer. The Perth born rider also claimed an individual seventh placing.

Clayton first rode for Australia at the Open European Championships in France in 1995, but an injury to his horse robbed him of the opportunity to compete in the gold medal-winning team at Atlanta a year later.

Winning the inaugural World Cup title in 2005 could be regarded as a turning point in Clayton's competitive career. He went on to take the titles at Chatsworth, Saumur, the British Open Championship and took the individual silver and team bronze medals home from the World Equestrian Games.

At the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, Clayton kept his cool under pressure to jump a clear show-jumping round, securing the team bronze for Australia and an individual silver medal. In 2007 Clayton finished first in Lexington, second in Deauville, sixth in Burghley and fifth in Luhmühlen. This year Clayton won at Chatsworth.

Clayton has been riding since he was six years old and as a young boy he would take the pony he kept in his parents' garage to shows and regularly win. For ten consecutive years he claimed the championship at the prestigious State Show Rider of the Year. He then switched to eventing and immediately clinched the Australian national young rider champion title before he moved to the UK to pursue a career in the sport in 1994.

Clayton partnered Bundaberg, a chestnut gelding, until he was retired back to Australia. He went on to train Ben Along Time and two years later the pair claimed the World Cup.

Clayton, who lives in Wiltshire, is chair of the Event Riders' Association and a trainer. He regularly travels to Germany and Hong Kong to teach, and was team trainer for the Hong Kong team at the 2002 Asian Games. In his spare time, Clayton can be seen as lead singer in his band Snatch.

Clayton's Record
4th FEI Rider Ranking (as at 1 January 2008)

Individual silver and team bronze World Equestrian Games, 2006 (Ben Along Time)

Other recent notable successes are
Team Silver Bejing Olympics 2008 (Ben Along Time)
7th Individually Beijing Olympics 2008 (Ben Along Time)
1st Lexington CCI**** 2007 (Ben Along Time)
1st Chatsworth CIC***W 2006(Ben Along Time)
1st Saumur CCI*** 2006(Ben Along Time)
1st British Open Championships, Gatcombe Park 2006 (Nullabor)