That’s his son. He was briefly in the USMC.
I can assure you this farm is not a multi-million dollar business. If they are bringing that much cash flow in it’s from something unrelated to the horse world. The farm is falling to pieces and is crumbling beneath TN. No credible lesson program. His business partner has apparently parted ways and is no longer “coaching” the IEA team (on paper of course). The farm is physically falling apart from lack of maintenance. Boarders are supposedly leaving in droves at this point. The only ones left are die-hard Navarro believers. Sadly, the teenage girls and their parents look past his record for whatever reason. I know of at least a few who, when asked, are blatantly aware but state “he’s never shown us any indication of being a creeper… it’s a really sad story that he got mixed up in… its all a misunderstanding…” whatever the story du jour is. It’s really sad, because teenage girls are so easy to groom. If you can manipulate them into thinking they misinterpreted you, you’re golden. If you can get them to believe it’s all part of succeeding in their riding goals, you’re golden. It’s truly terrifying that he was allowed to be part of a lesson program while on the registry, and just like that, he’s off of it at the snap of his fingers and now he is teaching teenage girls (and younger), was allowed to take them to shows, etc. I sincerely hope he never laid a finger on any of them.
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River Chase Farm and Tom Navarro, I’m assuming.
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Truth!
The multiple issues you succinctly packaged bother me on multiple levels, but most especially because I am fortunate enough to count numerous excellent horse industry professionals as my friends. It stinks to witness good hearted, crazy hard working, young and talented people pour their heart and soul into a horse related career… and struggle to find opportunities and to make ends meet, and then you witness a middle aged piece of work luck his way into a great location, and just run a poor string of lesson beasts into the ground, while simultaneously squeezing middle class suburban parents for every last penny possible…
It’s aggravating to see this. I love our sport, and there are so many nice young folks trying to make a decent career of it as a pro… I loathe the posers…
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This point is worth considering for the larger issues of anyone doing any form of victim blaming, whether that be asking why they didn’t speak up or why they later because less-than-model-citizens and did trauma-expressing things like become sex offenders themselves.
I don’t think the “groomed teenager” is born of a type or is created in a vacuum that’s limited to the kid and the adult. Rather, I think the kid might sense that something is wrong with some bit of “unorthodox” interaction with their respected mentor. They feel either shame or guilt or a sense of things not being quite right… but then look to other trusted adults to help them gauge the degree of “not right”-ness, and to help them figure out what people do about that.
So when parents blow it off, or have somehow become part of the group of adults that kiddo thinks he/she can’t talk to about any problem, they help isolate the kid with the problem and with the perp. They contribute to creating a kid who is vulnerable to being groomed.
IMO, that is why stopping sexual abuse in its tracks is properly a problem for every adult.
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Shortly after the RG suicide news exploded into our lives, I began asking parents of IOC sport athletes about SS and their own reactions to sexual predators in sports. Of the many parents I’ve asked, only 1 knew of SS, and that’s because she is a USEF member. The rest didn’t have a clue that people are undergoing intense sex with minors investigations and being banned from the sport’s governing body as a result of the findings.
The more I read and learn, the more I realize that while SS is a clear path to eradicating the predator scum from our membership, it’s not the entire solution when it comes to protecting children within our sport. Unless there’s a criminal case resulting in a name on the sex offenders registry in addition to the SS charge, a depressing number of parents won’t know that their child could be at risk by engaging the predator’s services. If they’re new to the sport or only ride / show at the local level, they may not know the USEF exists much less to go on the website looking for banned members.
TM is evidence that SS (and the registry) won’t keep predators away from our sport’s children athletes. This is so, so, so troubling and suggests the need for solutions that aren’t limited to the USEF’s membership. The best one that comes to mind is to borrow other countries’ models and require national certification or a license before giving lessons and have said credentials connected to SS in some way. Such a process would take care of banned people setting up shop outside of the USEF. It would be a massive change, yes, but it could help the young pros you mentioned while solving some of the other unethical issues ruining our sport in the process.
How many times to we see / hear attorneys in TV, movies, or books claim that they can’t / won’t do something because they could be disbarred? Or a doctor because he could lose his license and no longer practice medicine? How awesome would it be for people within the horse industry to have that same consequence after illegally drugging (or killing!) a horse or preying on a child…? Good riddance.
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@Tiramit OTE=mvp;n10458812]
This point is worth considering for the larger issues of anyone doing any form of victim blaming, whether that be asking why they didn’t speak up or why they later because less-than-model-citizens and did trauma-expressing things like become sex offenders themselves.
I don’t think the “groomed teenager” is born of a type or is created in a vacuum that’s limited to the kid and the adult. Rather, I think the kid might sense that something is wrong with some bit of “unorthodox” interaction with their respected mentor. They feel either shame or guilt or a sense of things not being quite right… but then look to other trusted adults to help them gauge the degree of “not right”-ness, and to help them figure out what people do about that.
So when parents blow it off, or have somehow become part of the group of adults that kiddo thinks he/she can’t talk to about any problem, they help isolate the kid with the problem and with the perp. They contribute to creating a kid who is vulnerable to being groomed.
IMO, that is why stopping sexual abuse in its tracks is properly a problem for every adult.[/QUOTE]
@Tiramit , I can’t tell if you are saying I am contributing to victim blaming or not. If so, then my post has been misinterpreted. I am specifically talking about the parents here. The parents who look past the record, or justify leaving their children with him, or who believe the story he gives without doing their own research. Those people are putting their children in danger and children, especially those with goals, or those with a shit home life, or those who otherwise would not be able to have the experience they are getting with horses, are especially susceptible to being groomed.
You do bring up a good point though. Kids look to adults, and if adults don’t speak up or indicate that they are uncomfortable or don’t trust someone, kids will second guess their own feelings or intuition. I was talking about this thread and the SS stuff with someone and they asked me yesterday - “if someone came to you and asked what you thought of this individual or this situation, would you honestly speak up?” Truth be told, it depends. If I were a boarder on that farm and some family came looking for boarding and lessons for their kid, but I suspected me speaking up would jeopardize the care of my horse or would cause the individual to make my life hell as a boarder, I don’t know if I could be honest. If I were an ex-boarder who was safely out of that toxic situation, then absolutely I would speak up. But of course, by then you are deemed the “disgruntled ex-boarder” and are not believed anymore. It makes me a coward. But I also know that I have been in similar situations and I need to take care of myself first before I can do that for others, which for me means skirting around the truth (“the care is good but I would do your own research on the trainers as I have never taken lessons with them myself so am not the best source of information”) until I was safely out.
I was that kid that grew up with a cold and unemotional family, who became a live-in working student as a teenager and liked that I had a sense of family now. I liked that I was being allowed to work towards my goals, and the family thought I was amazing, and they treated me well. Thankfully the family didn’t abuse me but a boarder also treated me kindly, claimed to see my potential, wanted to help me reach my goals, etc etc. The fact that I was receiving positive attention and love felt amazing. So when the boarder then began grooming me, I didn’t even see it. He was smart. He set me up and when I turned 18 he took advantage (because it’s not illegal at that point, even though this was a product of three years of planning and effort on his part). When I got the guts to tell my parents, they acted like they didn’t believe me. Surely I misunderstood this person who had been so good to me growing up. That man then continued that pattern with others, as I would later find out, but thankfully I spoke up years later just before he happened to hit on my former BOs teenage daughter.
I have lived through rape and sexual abuse as a young adult. I have seen red flags but also saw other older adults claim to love this person and talk about how great they are for the organization, and how people look up to them. So I thought surely I gave mixed signals or misunderstood what happened. Surely it was my fault. He raped me and then assaulted me several times in the work place, and then got one last chance from me (because I was led to believe that I must have done something, in my Nike shorts and t-shirt, to suggest I was asking for sex even though I fought him verbally and physically, so again, he couldn’t be that bad, it was my fault) to sexually assault me. After that I opened my eyes. And after that I began hearing stories of other young women who experienced similar trauma and it was swept under the rug. I was the ONLY one who chose to report this in a format that would lead to investigation and trial, because the other victims believed they would have their career ruined or they were at fault. During trial I dealt with over 12 hours of testifying and being beaten down by high dollar defense attorneys who insisted that I was old enough to know better, that I didn’t see the red flags at first so I must have wanted it, that I set him up, that I asked for it (what? In my Nike shorts and t-shirt? You mean verbally and physically fighting him off to the point of being bruised wasn’t enough of a sign that I didn’t want it?). They had witness after witness talk about what a shining example of a person this guy was. He was the office morale booster who cared about everyone. He would never rape someone. Or groom them to believe it was all a misunderstanding and then re-assault them later. And the guy was found not guilty. Despite me having text messages where he apologizes (they were inadmissible, I later found out, because they could not reasonably separate those messages from unrelated messages and therefore the judge would not allow them presented by the prosecution, but they certainly were cherry picked and used by the defense (gasp! I said good night to him! I must have wanted to sleep with him!) Despite photos of bruising on my arms. Despite everything I let out on the stand while being beaten down to feel like nothing.
This is really long, sorry. It doesn’t even really apply fully, but it felt good to get that release of telling my own story. Long story short, I understand how easily a teenager or young adult can be groomed, especially if parents or other adults/respected individuals look the other way. I also know the severe psychological damage that it causes and deal with that every day. I don’t ever want you to think I was trying to blame the victim - I couldn’t determine that one way or another from your post.
I can’t tell if you are saying I am contributing to victim blaming or not. If so, then my post has been misinterpreted. I don’t think you are, but just want to ensure we are on the same page. The parents who look past the record, or justify leaving their children with him, or who believe the story he gives without doing their own research. Those people are putting their children in danger and children, especially those with goals, or those with a shit home life, or those who otherwise would not be able to have the experience they are getting with horses, are especially susceptible to being groomed.
You do bring up a good point though. Kids look to adults, and if adults don’t speak up or indicate that they are uncomfortable or don’t trust someone, kids will second guess their own feelings or intuition. I was talking about this thread and the SS stuff with someone and they asked me yesterday - “if someone came to you and asked what you thought of this individual or this situation, would you honestly speak up?” Truth be told, it depends. If I were a boarder on that farm and some family came looking for boarding and lessons for their kid, but I suspected me speaking up would jeopardize the care of my horse or would cause the individual to make my life hell as a boarder, I don’t know if I could be honest. If I were an ex-boarder who was safely out of that toxic situation, then absolutely I would speak up. But of course, by then you are deemed the “disgruntled ex-boarder” and are not believed anymore. It makes me a coward. But I also know that I have been in similar situations and I need to take care of myself first before I can do that for others, which for me means skirting around the truth (“the care is good but I would do your own research on the trainers as I have never taken lessons with them myself so am not the best source of information”) until I was safely out.
I was that kid that grew up with a cold and unemotional family, who became a live-in working student as a teenager and liked that I had a sense of family now. I liked that I was being allowed to work towards my goals, and the family thought I was amazing, and they treated me well. Thankfully the family didn’t abuse me but a boarder also treated me kindly, claimed to see my potential, wanted to help me reach my goals, etc etc. The fact that I was receiving positive attention and love felt amazing. So when the boarder then began grooming me, I didn’t even see it. He was smart. He set me up and when I turned 18 he took advantage (because it’s not illegal at that point, even though this was a product of three years of planning and effort on his part). When I got the guts to tell my parents, they acted like they didn’t believe me. Surely I misunderstood this person who had been so good to me growing up. That man then continued that pattern with others, as I would later find out, but thankfully I spoke up years later just before he happened to hit on my former BOs teenage daughter.
I have lived through rape and sexual abuse as a young adult. I have seen red flags but also saw other older adults claim to love this person and talk about how great they are for the organization, and how people look up to them. So I thought surely I gave mixed signals or misunderstood what happened. Surely it was my fault. He raped me and then assaulted me several times in the work place, and then got one last chance from me (because I was led to believe that I must have done something, in my Nike shorts and t-shirt, to suggest I was asking for sex even though I fought him verbally and physically, so again, he couldn’t be that bad, it was my fault) to sexually assault me. After that I opened my eyes. And after that I began hearing stories of other young women who experienced similar trauma and it was swept under the rug. I was the ONLY one who chose to report this in a format that would lead to investigation and trial, because the other victims believed they would have their career ruined or they were at fault. During trial I dealt with over 12 hours of testifying and being beaten down by high dollar defense attorneys who insisted that I was old enough to know better, that I didn’t see the red flags at first so I must have wanted it, that I set him up, that I asked for it (what? In my Nike shorts and t-shirt? You mean verbally and physically fighting him off to the point of being bruised wasn’t enough of a sign that I didn’t want it?). They had witness after witness talk about what a shining example of a person this guy was. He was the office morale booster who cared about everyone. He would never rape someone. Or groom them to believe it was all a misunderstanding and then re-assault them later. And the guy was found not guilty. Despite me having text messages where he apologizes (they were inadmissible, I later found out, because they could not reasonably separate those messages from unrelated messages and therefore the judge would not allow them presented by the prosecution, but they certainly were cherry picked and used by the defense (gasp! I said good night to him! I must have wanted to sleep with him!) Despite photos of bruising on my arms. Despite everything I let out on the stand while being beaten down to feel like nothing.
This is really long, sorry. It doesn’t even really apply fully, but it felt good to get that release of telling my own story. Long story short, I understand how easily a teenager or young adult can be groomed, especially if parents or other adults/respected individuals look the other way. I also know the severe psychological damage that it causes and deal with that every day. It’s easy for us to say “yes we would speak up if we knew the families putting their kids at risk… but in person it is a lot more challenging unfortunately. It shouldn’t be, but it is, and that’s sad. I’m guilty of not saying anything myself in those situations.
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The one huge thing to come out of this thread is the body of stories bravely told by our members. Thank you to each for your brave words
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Which book?
The fact that this is a legitimate question really demonstrates the whole dichotomy of the situation. His book Hunter Seat Equitation has been regarded as a classic for decades, and has been read countless times by generations of riders. That book, based strictly on its own merits, is considered by many to be the textbook (or the Bible) of the sport.
His memoir (which I have not read) sounds like an entirely different book, especially in light of recent developments. That one seems to be a more likely candidate for a bonfire.
So do we burn both books? Burn the memoir and keep the textbook on the shelf? Keep the textbook but remove the cover with the picture? Run over the textbook with the tractor but not burn it? That’s the mental struggle for many people.
On a slight tangent. I wonder what might have been different if he had never written the first book. I believe the column in Practical Horseman came after the book, and probably as a result of it. Without that first book, would he still have reached the position he did as the ultimate authority in the sport for many people? Or would he have been just another trainer from New Jersey with several successful riders?
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del
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A bit of a detour but Unrelenting should probably be burned just for looking like it was written by a tween on an iPhone. Did they get paid solely by the number of exclamation points?
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the Memoir. I am relatively disgusted with myself for even forking over a dime to him for that book. I am not dismissing the fact that George Morris was a tremendous equitation trainer. He was. And he demanded discipline from his students in the arena. Something we still need today. But he hid behind that discipline and that fame that he built for himself in order to verbally abuse many…as well as other things. His verbal abuse is well known, well quoted, and well documented even in very, very recent years. And for many years it was joked about, laughed about, etc despite clear rules from USEF for such behavior. There is no excuse for some of the things that he said to his pupils.
It is well known that GM is not a great horseman either. he has admitted to that. He has abused horses for the sake of his career. He had staff for the horse-side of things. The horse was merely a means to get from point A to point B in the sport, a vehicle at his disposal. And he demanded every inch of perfection from them as he did from his students and spared no expense of the horse trying to make that happen.
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A large group of boarders at the farm left at once a few years ago, all of them gave 30 days notice not a single one got their security deposit back which wasn’t fair. He also kept some other money that was due to a boarder who clipped a number of horses there. I toured the farm before knowing his history and it’s run down, fields have no grass and horses get limited hay in stalls. I don’t think anyone really serious about riding boards there but parents who don’t know better and don’t know horses can’t see those problems and certainly haven’t googled him. It’s a shame that there’s no way to stop him from teaching little kids but how the heck do you get the word out to the general public?
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The problem isn’t limited to sexual predators. Years ago I rode in an area that was “headlined” by a big barn. The woman trainer was reckless, ambitious, and cut huge corners on training to the point of being dangerous. She inflated horse prices, cheated on deals, used up horses, pushed students and horses beyond their skill and comfort level, and burned out a good % of her riders.
A lot of people got hurt in her training program. While I was in the area, 3 of her junior riders ended up int the hospital with life threatening injuries after riding accidents. When they left the hospital, doctors told 2 of them they could never ride again or do many other life activities due to the injuries (something to do with motion) and the 3rd was too scared to ride. These were riders who had been talented up and comers under another trainer who had moved away. I lost count on the broken arm type stuff. I struggled with how to report her as she wasn’t directly abusing them. They fell off or with their horses in training or competitions. It was chalked up as a dangerous sport.
The above didn’t matter a bit to her business. She had a thriving lesson program with new families and a steady stream of people buying fresh horses to replace the broken ones for years.
Sadly she is far from unique within the horse world. The question is, how can abusers be stopped?
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The point of the deposit is that when you give the 30 days notice you don’t pay that last board bill as your deposit covers it, so of course you never get the deposit back. Did the boarders not realize that is how it works? My horse just died and I had to eat 30 days of board. Sucks but that’s how it works. I couldn’t really give 30 days notice in advance of his death, and a boarding contract is a binding contract.
This is probably another horse thing that might run afoul of the law. Security deposits labeled as such in my state cannot be used to pay the last months rent. It may vary by state though.
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there are so many things I’d like to add to this thread on rcf and tn. Some very good points have been made about his willingness to exaggetate- sponsorships, USMC affiliation, and the amount of $ his business makes. There are many other things he has exaggerated, such as his level of training, riding and knowledge in the industry. Basically anything he says should be viewed with suspicion.
There are people who need to take responsibility for TN still being in the business. When we saw that GMU was putting their equestrian team at RCF, my husband called both the human resources department and the athletic department to bring awareness of TNs conviction of sodomy against a minor. Both offices were already aware but neither office took action because he was supposed to have “very limited contact” with the students.
Rcf is always hanging on by a thread. The groom’s do the best they can with limited resources. There have been times that the farm had one working wheel barrow to clean 50 stalls. They are underpaid and overworked, and there’s no way so few grooms can take quality care of 90 horses.
In my opinion, Tn gains people’s confidence and exploits that confidence in the interest of making money. Do not support this business and for gods God’s sake, don’t buy a horse from him
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So sorry to hear of your loss. We would have given you your board back…
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