Doug Payne is now on the U.S. Olympic eventing team

Although he started as the traveling reserve for the Olympic eventing team, I always had a feeling Doug Payne would make the squad. And today he did, with his longtime partner, Vandiver, owned by Doug; his wife, Jessica, and Debi and Kevin Crowley.

How strong was my feeling? I ran into Doug’s mother, Marilyn Payne, on the Friday of dressage at Land Rover Kentucky in April and told her I dreamed the previous night that Doug was on the Olympic team. A no-nonsense trainer, rider, judge and Olympic official, she was polite, but perhaps a bit skeptical about my psychic powers.. So I was thrilled to be able to write her today and say, “I told you so.”

Doug, a native of Tewksbury Township, was named to replace Liz Halliday-Sharp when her Deniro Z was withdrawn from the team due to “veterinary concerns” following pre-travel horse evaluations before the horses left for Europe, where they will spend pre-export quarantine until heading to Tokyo.Tamie Smith and Mai Baum will now take Doug’s place as the traveling reserve combination.

According to the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s statement about Deniro, “it was determined it is in the best interest of the horse to be withdrawn from the team after confirming he has sustained an injury. He is expected to make a full recovery.”

Being on the Olympic team is another in a series of achievements for Doug, the father of two who has a mechanical engineering degree, is a pilot, author, a Pan American Games team gold medalist, and competes successfully in show jumping and dressage, even when those disciplines are not part of an eventing competition.

He noted that the Olympics is “the dream of every little kid, but it always seemed such a distant target. It’s a surreal experience; for sure, it’s something you always dreamed to do.”

At the same time, he emphasized, “you don’t want to go to just say you went, you want to go to compete. There’s definitely pressure to make sure we can do the best we can and if that’s good enough, that would be great.”

He added about the chances of being selected for the team, “If you’re able to have a string of horses you can develop to that level, odds are you’re going to make it and the chance is something you should savor for sure and we’ll try to make the most of it.”

Vandiver, known as Quinn, was bred by Debi Crowley in Alabama. The American-bred is paired with the only rider on the team who was born in America. The other two team members, Boyd Martin and Phillip Dutton, were born in Australia. Quinn. is by Windfall, as is Boyd’s mount, Tsetserleg.

At age 17, Quinn “is stronger, better now than he’s ever been.He’s a horse with about the biggest heart that I’ve ever worked with. It’s exciting,” said Doug, who has worked with the horse for more than six years.

The heat in Tokyo is expected to be a factor in the competition, but it plays to Quinn’s strength.

“He really handles the heat well. He’s a lighter, leaner type. He’s particularly well-suited for the environment,” Doug believes..

Now based in North Carolina, Doug is still proud of his roots in New Jersey, where his mother and father, Richard Payne, own Applewood Farm in Tewksbury. Doug pointed out he is an alumnus of the Somerset Hills Pony Club, while noting, so is Devin Ryan of Long Valley, who made the short list for the U.S. Olympic show jumping team. Ditto Alice Tarjan of Oldwick, who finished sixth among candidates for the U.S. Olympic dressage team.

In fact, when Alice was a kid, she owned a naughty pony named Licorice that she would ride in Pony Club lessons. When Licorice felt he had done enough, he would take off, scattering those watching at ringside in his wake.

The day the pony clubbers first switched horses was an eye-opener. Alice recalled Doug Payne getting on her pony while she got on his.

“Oh my God,” she realized after riding Doug’s pony, “he doesn’t run out of the ring!” Meanwhile, Doug was able to get Alice’s pony around the arena without disturbing spectators—or their chairs.

In a statement following the announcement that Deniro was off the team, Liz said,”Niro has always been such a fighter, and has continued to feel excellent in his training, but I know him so well and after the mandatory outing we were concerned that he was not completely right.

“With support from the excellent U.S. Eventing Team vets and farriers, we ultimately determined that he has some bone bruising, and it will not be in his best interest to be put under the pressure of the Olympic Games.

“While I am completely devastated to not get the chance to represent my country in Tokyo this year, Deniro is my friend and my partner above all else and it would not be fair to put him in an environment as intense as the Olympics if he is not 100 percent

“We feel confident that Deniro will be back in fighting form after a period of rest and rehab and we are already looking ahead to the World Championships in 2022 and beyond with this very special horse.”