Olympic Equestrian Teaches

By KIM JORIS

U.S. Olympic Equestrian Doug Payne was in Jasper County last week to conduct an elite equestrian jumping clinic. Mr. Payne was at Silversea Farms off Gilbert Road in Jasper County at the invitation of local equestrian Jacel Galloway.

Specializing in premier jumper and hunter training programs, Mr. Payne and his champion rider wife Jessica own and operate an equestrian training facility on their farm in North Carolina. His connection to Jasper County is through his wife. Her best friend from her early riding days is from the Jasper County area. When Mr. and Mrs. Payne aren’t traveling around the country providing riding and jumping clinics, they make their home in Rougemount, NC with their two children Hudson and Abigail.

Mr. Payne’s accomplishments and achievements are many. The son of Olympic dressage coach and judge Marilyn Payne, he grew up in an equestrian family, starting his own course in the equestrian world at age 7. He is a Grand Prix show jumper, a member of the 2019 gold medal winning Pan-American team, an elite jumper coach, an author of The Problem Horse Repair Manual, and he has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rockwell Institute of Engineering.

It is a degree, he said, that he wouldn’t change for anything and one he uses often in his work studying the mechanics of each horse and rider and how they work independently and together as a team. Because he knows how things work and he is constantly studying the mechanics of horse and rider, he has a decision making skill set that helps him make snap judgements while training, devising exercises and explanations quickly and easier for the horse and rider.

Sixteen riders and almost 30 auditors from Jasper, Morgan and surrounding counties attended the Doug Payne Clinic at Silversea Farms. Participants varied in ages and skill levels from notice to advanced and included amateur and professional riders.

The Pie, Slate, William and Sunny were just a few of the horses that made their way around the arena and over the jumps, proudly ridden by Eden Miller from Monroe, Ava Vojonovic from Roswell, Jennifer Logreco from Covington and Nick Teszler from Monroe.

Observing rider and horse from a slight distance or at times walking from jump station to jump station alongside horse and rider, Mr. Payne patiently and quietly presented a calming and commanding presence of insight and instructions for both horse and rider as they executed jumping skills around the arena.

Silversea Farms is an equestrian facility being developed by owners Jesse and Barbara Benson. Moving to Jasper County a few years ago, the Bensons have made steady progress on building Silversea Farms into a premier facility.

It is currently home to an arena, a small cottage and a new state of the art horse barn. Future plans include hosting more clinics, more schooling and show events and developing a trail riding training course on an adjacent 30 acres. The Bensons own love of horses and all things equestrian stems from their experience with and love for polo.

Ms. Galloway, who coordinated the clinic, lives in Jasper County with her husband and three children and is herself a professional rider and previous student of Mr. Payne. She is an avid fan and a believer in his teaching and training style techniques, describing his training as versatile and very specific to each individual horse and rider.

She is also a strong supporter of the Benson’s efforts in creating Silversea Farms and shared that they are committed to developing the highest quality horse venue. A real estate agent by trade, she helped create an Equestrian Property Certification for realtors to teach realtors about the proper management and conservation practices of equestrian properties.

Silversea Farms plans on hosting its next clinic this fall with hopes to start offering clinics on a quarterly basis and they looking forward to completing the trails training portion of their facility.

Mr. Payne and his wife will continue their clinics on the road and building their future at their facility in North Carolina. Living the equestrian life has been good to the Paynes. And with all the accolades and awards and accomplishments he has amassed over his years as an equestrian, he is most proud of his chance to represent his country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing as the top place American rider.