Rain can’t dampen enthusiasm at the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event

By Nancy Jaffer
May 12, 2019

Could there have been a more appropriate winner than Doug Payne for a division of the 2019 Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event?

Even though Doug lives in North Carolina now, he’s still considered a hometown hero in the Garden State, so it was nice to have him finish at the top of the standings today in the CCI 3-star Long, presented by Zoetis.

Doug’s roots are in New Jersey; he grew up in Tewksbury Township at Applewood Farm, a facility run by his mother, Marilyn Payne, an Olympic judge, trainer and all-around expert in the sport of eventing. Starr Witness, the mare he rode to the title today came from Emil Spadone’s Redfields Farm in Tewksbury. And he has ridden at Jersey Fresh for many of its 17 years, although he didn’t come last year.

Jersey Fresh sometimes has struggled in the past, but many of the riders who competed in the event at the Horse Park of New Jersey commented how much they appreciate the efforts to improve conditions by event organizers and the park’s board. The weather cooperated Saturday for cross-country, with gorgeous sunshine and moderate temperatures that drew hundreds of tailgaters, although today was a complete opposite, drenched in cold rain. Even so, the footing installed a year ago in the grand prix ring held up well enough. Unfortunately, however, it was decided to cancel the park’s first Preliminary Eventing Derby as the rain continued to pour down after the regular divisions wrapped up.

I asked Doug what he thought about the event, and he replied, “There are pretty dramatic improvements. The arena footing is good, the cross-country, you couldn’t have asked for a whole lot better as far as footing goes. The courses were good, they were challenging,” he said of the routes designed by Mark Phillips.

“I was glad to see that in the end it wasn’t a dressage show. In years past, they’ve gone a little bit softer and now it got a little harder, and I think appropriately so,” said Doug.

To find out what happened on cross-country, click here to read yesterday’s story.

Going into the show jumping phase, where the course was designed by Chris Barnard, Doug stood second to overnight leader Lynn Symansky on RF Cool Play. With 27.3 penalties to his 30.1, she did not have a rail to play with. When Doug turned in a clean round, the pressure was on Lynn, who dropped a pole and finished second. Doug was also fourth with another double clear on Cascor, who came up from seventh after dressage. Doug characterizes that gelding as the mare’s “boyfriend.”

Starr Witness is a former hunter, but she was too hot for that division despite her classic jumping style, so Emil thought it would be worth it for Doug to give her a shot in his discipline.

“She goes in a rubber snaffle and you hardly have to touch her reins,” he said. “She’s just learning now to relax and open up her step and become more efficient on cross-country.”

Doug was standing third on Quantum Leap in the CCI 4-star Long after cross-country, but he wasn’t presented at today’s final horse inspection because he had a “pretty wicked” heel grab incurred yesterday.

“This sport’s not easy at all, and it can be very frustrating,” said Doug, who really came into his own in a big way this year, finishing fifth at the Land Rover Kentucky 5-star last month on Vandiver. It was a long journey.

“At this point, over time, we have a great group of horses. It’s been incredibly rewarding. It’s an exciting time, because we’ve had the majority of these horses forever,” said Doug, thanking his wife, Jessica; Starr’s owners Catherine Winter and Laurie McRee, and the others on his support team, as well as Emil, who kept a 5 percent interest in the Dutchbred mare so he could be in the winner’s circle photos.

Starr Witness, Cascor and Vandiver are all under consideration for the Pan American Games squad that will go to Lima, Peru, this summer in an effort to get the U.S. eventing team qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The squad will be named next month, after U.S. horses compete at the Bromont, Quebec, event, and longtime selector Bobby Costello promised, “We’ll have a winning team.”

Jersey Fresh’s featured CCI 4-star Long, presented by B.W. Furlong Associates, went to Fylicia Barr, who moved up from fourth in dressage to first yesterday with a fault-free cross-country trip on Galloway Sunrise, the mare she bought for $500. (For the back story in yesterday’s article, click on this link.)

Fylicia had a rail in hand going into today’s competition. Sunny toppled a pole during her round but she still had extra margin after Arden Wildasin, standing second with Il Vici, also had 4 penalties. Fylicia’s final score was 38.4 penalties to 43.2 for Arden. It was the inaugural 4-star win for Fylicia, who was the first person ever to sit on Sunny and has brought her up through the levels. Her goal is to qualify for the 2020 Kentucky 5-star.

A Pennsylvania professional, Fylicia didn’t take Sunny to Florida this winter, so she wasn’t sure about her degree of fitness for cross-country going into Jersey Fresh.

“I knew after the first jump, she was game-on the whole time, hunting the flags. It’s just a really cool experience to have a horse who knows her job so clearly,” said Fylicia.

“And then today, we’ve always struggled with the show jumping but my eye was in and she was just jumping out of her skin for me.

“Despite the weather, she came in and put in almost a foot-perfect show jumping round. It’s been a long time coming, and I feel like all the pieces finally came together this weekend, and it’s really exciting.”

Fylicia is thinking about breeding the mare with an embryo transplant into a surrogate, so Sunny can still compete.

Arden thanked her parents for supporting her “through all of my journeys, because they’re who allow me to do what I love to do. If I want to go out and do something, they’ll say, `Go for it.'”

She added, “I’ve learned to enjoy every moment. And that’s the biggest thing. No matter what happens, you enjoy it, because you never know when it’s going to end.”

Arden, an amateur, has competed in dressage and show jumping as she seeks to expand her skill. She did both on Mystery Whisper, Phillip Dutton’s 2012 Olympic ride.

But her thirst for expanding her horizons isn’t just limited to riding.

“I went to leather-making class; when I have spare time, I can make a bridle,” said Arden.

“I’d rather learn everything in all disciplines…but also, all the horse care. You might not understand it at that point, but you always have it in your tool bank.

She keeps her horses at her house.

“I wake up, I feed them, I do night check. Everyone asks, when do I take a vacation? This is a vacation.This is my best time I can spend. Me being the happiest is always around horses.”