Why Doug Payne Let One Advanced Horse Getaway
The tall, lean bay gelding arrived at the Payne Equestrian farm as a sales horse.
Getaway, or “Flynn” as he’s known around the barn, quickly proved he had a bright future ahead of him in the sport of eventing. So Lisa and Bob Wall, the parents of the then teenaged Olivia Wall, bought the horse as an investment.
“My mom loved him,” remembered Olivia, who is now 20 and studying psychology and criminology at the University of Kentucky. Olivia had been training under Jessica and Doug Payne since she was 14 and living in North Carolina. “We watched him on the flat and just knew he was going to be really cool. So my parents bought him for Doug to campaign at Intermediate for a while, and then maybe I could get the ride on him for Young Riders.”
After six months with Doug, the horse completely transformed, Olivia said.
“I was able to make it to Young Riders on the horse I had at the time, and my parents decided to keep owning Flynn to see how far he could go,” she said. “We thought maybe Kentucky or he’d make a team.”
One year of training turned into two. And then three, as Doug and Getaway continued to move up the ranks. In 2018, when Flynn was 11, the pair were selected for a Jacqueline B. Mars International Competition Grant to travel to Eschede, the Netherlands, and represented the United States during the Military Boekelo CCIO***.
Along the way, Doug and Getaway won the Advanced division at the Virginia Horse Trials, were 6th at the Fork CIC*** and placed 8th at the Cloud 11-Gavilan North Carolina International CIC*** that year. Getaway also placed 6th at the Mars Inc. Bromont International CCI***.
“I was going to ride him for a year, get him on the right track, and when she was ready, she’d take him,” Doug explained about the arrangement with Olivia. “But honestly, he ended up being more talented than expected. We just decided to keep going with it. He’s an incredible horse.”
When the gelding had a minor injury that required some rest over the spring, it gave everyone some time to re-think the arrangement.
It’s unique for a professional to give the ride away on a horse capable enough to go Advanced, Doug explained. That kind of talent is hard to find, let alone the time commitment it takes to produce to that level. But this situation isn’t the same as an owner pulling a horse out from underneath the rider, which does happen from time-to-time in the sport.
“To be totally honest, it was tough,” Doug admitted. “You never want to see a top horse leave, but that said, where he’s headed and where he’s going, it’s the right thing.”
“There’s no obligation to keep the horse with us indefinitely,” he explained. “I don’t own him, and I was paid to train and compete him. I’d love to have him, but I’ve known from the very beginning what the arrangement was. I enjoyed the opportunity and I’m thrilled for Olivia. She has a horse who is capable of doing anything, and she is a very talented rider. That’s the part that is really rewarding. She is motivated and has the ability to do it.”
Flynn now lives in Lexington, Ky., where Olivia is going to school. She said she often sends Jessica and Doug videos of their progress, and relies heavily on them for advice.
“Timing-wise, everything just worked out. I was ready to move up to a bigger horse and Flynn had the spring off, which offset his chances to make a team,” Olivia described. “So my mom said – why don’t you just take Flynn?”
She still remembers when Flynn was just “too much horse” for her when she rode in him in the past. Now she describes him as “pretty much perfect.”
“When we first met him, he was so shy. But Courtney [Carson, the barn manager at Payne Equestrian] did a great job loving on him all the time so he’s more friendly,” Olivia said. “He is super well behaved and loves to go to work. But he can be a bit spooky, even though he’s actually really brave.”
Olivia is training with Alexa Ehlers at Clear View Equestrian Center. They plan to compete at Training level, and then Preliminary later in the season. Olivia said maybe they’ll aim for the 2-star at Jockey Club in Ocala, if all goes according to plan.
“Doug always asks me when I’m going to go pro,” Olivia said. “I would like to do horses full time. But I don’t think I can make that decision until I run around Advanced.”