George Morris on the SS list

[YEG]

I am so happy they confirmed their decision!! Holding sexual predators accountable puts a smile on my face. Although, I wish he were being prosecuted criminally. Actually, the more I think about it the more my smile fades… this is basically a slap on the wrist for these crimes. He should be behind bars.

Also, I’m losing more of my smile because Eric Lamaze supports him. I’m a proud Canadian and have supported him for a long time, and think it’s amazing what he has overcome. But his stance on this issue is truly disappointing, and I just can’t support him anymore.

[Anniemaymay]

@McGurk

Dianna’s article -

https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2018/07/19/the-ethics-of-employment-in-the-horse-industry/

Donate to Kevin, or don’t donate to Kevin. But don’t pretend that the reason you’re not donating is this article or Dianna’s support of George.

No pretending. People have a limited amount of money to give and there are many worthy causes out there. Its valid to no longer want to give money to a family who openly holds those beliefs when there are less problematic options to donate to.

[Sticky_Situation]

@Alterforme

Curious if Tryon eq center took his name off the stadium?

Some of my favorite pics of my horse and me are in that arena with his name in the background, ugh … anyone good at photoshop? :lol:

On a more serious note, I’m happy to see SafeSport doing what it’s supposed to do. There are parts of it that I remain critical of (see: the sweeping policies of the MAAP), but I’m glad that SafeSport didn’t allow hero worship and success in the sport to override the damage done by sexual misconduct.

[smoofox]

@MyssMyst

This was sent to me this morning and it sums it up perfectly.

BINGO.

Some of those Facebook comments are nauseating. I am glad that I will not hear dearest George insulting young riders at the top of his lungs at his yearly clinic at the farm next door…

And you know what? I can tell you the exact date and details of a time I was assaulted (Dec. 6, 1976 - it was a Monday - around 6 pm) even if I cannot remember WTH I was doing on July 13, 1985. How effing dismissive of that person to think that a traumatic event is NOT remembered… how effing condescending and rude…

[oneequestrienne]

@fair judy

I’m going to say something I am pretty certain will not be well received here. I rode with and know George fairly well. I will always hold the things I learned, the discipline, the expectation of excellence as part of the horsewomen I became. Nothing in Relentless came as a surprise. I have a beloved and tattered first edition of his first book…owned and inscribed by him to my mentor and only two years ago reinscribed to me. I’m not going to take that book off my shelf. His influence on my life wasn’t a negative . There is nothing that can mend the horrible wrong he wrought… I condemn it. I will not condemn every good thing I learned from George. I say this knowing that I’ll catch hell from some.

I understand. I was the victim of a different horseman in my youth. However, I have to admit that re-reading Hunter Seat Equitation about 15 years ago literally saved my butt. One evening I read his explanation of how to correct a rearing horse. The next morning my normally docile Appendix QH spooked and seriously reared. Way up, not a little pop off the ground with his front end. According to witnesses, he could easily have gone over backwards with me. As a junior years before, I might have known what to do but it was more than 20 years later and I had recently started to ride again. Because I had just read what to do, I grabbed mane to stay forward and used an opening rein to bring him around and down. It absolutely doesn’t excuse anything he did nor help his victims but it also doesn’t change the fact his book truly helped me in a very tangible way.

[NoSuchPerson]

@no.stirrups

Back to banning USEF members from doing business with banned individuals for a moment, please. Black-balling is illegal. How is this different from black-balling? Serious question.

Serious answer:

For starters, black-balling is a private endeavor without the official sanction of any regulatory body. And lots of other reasons I don’t have the time or inclination to list.

Safe Sport was created by an act of Congress. It has official, legal standing. When you join USEF, you agree to abide by USEF rules, which include a requirement to abide by Safe Sport rules. As a USEF member, you agree, as a condition of membership, that you will not do business with individuals that have been banned by Safe Sport. If you don’t like it, then you don’t have to join USEF.

[TooManyBays]

@fair judy

Are you assuming that Only “ grown” adults will participate?

Well, I would hope that parents would have the intelligence to not send their children to a clinic with him. However people are stupid.

What is weird to me is if the clinic thing could even be really enforced. I’m sure there will be USEF members who just ‘happen’ to be riding in the ring where George is. I just kind of doubt that banning clinics will actually lessen his contact with kids.

This reminds me of something that happened locally to me. A music teacher at a local school was found to be being inappropriate with students. He was banned from entering school property. However, people in the local area still used him for music lessons as he was very talented.
I’m sure the school wasn’t very happy about that, but they also didn’t have any way to stop it. Legally he wasn’t on any sex offender list, and you can’t stop people from talking to him.

[vxf111]

@no.stirrups

Back to banning USEF members from doing business with banned individuals for a moment, please. Black-balling is illegal. How is this different from black-balling? Serious question.

I’m not sure the legal basis for these statements. But even setting that aside, it’s not “black balling.” USEF is a private membership group. If they want to exclude members who eat oatmeal for breakfast or can’t carry a tune or associate with Keanu Reeves-- they can. No one is being “black balled.” He has been excluded for failure to abide by the organization’s rules. Assuming they interpret “aiding and abetting” as clinicing with GM (I have not seen a statement from USEF/SS that they do interpret the clause that way, but it’s not an unreasonable read of the language) then the clinic participants would also be excluded from failing to follow the organization’s rule.

USEF could pass a rule saying no one who is a USEF member can wear green on Monday. If you get caught wearing green, they can revoke your membership. If they pass a rule saying anyone who eats lunch with non-member violates the rules, and you’re caught eating lunch with a non-member, USEF can exclude you too.

It’s not that complicated.

That being said, it is not 100% clear to me how expansively USEF/SS will interpret the “aiding and abetting” language. Now I think we’re finally in a situation where they might have to start applying the language. A fish sufficiently big got himself banned… finally a fish so big that people are going to continue to publicly associate with him.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

@no.stirrups

Back to banning USEF members from doing business with banned individuals for a moment, please. Black-balling is illegal. How is this different from black-balling? Serious question.

So no, riders and trainers being sanctioned for taking lessons or clinicing with GM is not “blackballing” them. USEF members are in a club and have to follow the club rules, including those imposed now by SafeSport. USEF, as a club, can set whatever rules and regulation they want.

If they wanted to set a rule that all riders in any discipline had to wear only rust colored breeches at any USEF event, they could. Anybody wearing any other color is fined $10. Does that mean that they are “blackballing” everyone in beige breeches? Nope. You want to wear your favorite gray or beige breeches? You can - you’ll just pay the fine for doing so.

You may not agree with the rules. You may find rules discriminatory or unfair (or in my example above, a huge fashion faux pas). But they are the rules. It is still your choice to be a member of the club (USEF) or not.

[Foxtrot_s]

All this makes me so sad…

[Altag]

@Darkwave

Another example of “legal blackballing” is US State Department imposed sanctions. For example, the US has announced sanctions against the Syrian government, and so US based companies and individuals cannot transact business with those Syrian groups and individuals identified by the US government. (however, you can still support humanitarian aid to Syria)

For the record, it’s the Treasury Department (Office of Foreign Assets Control) that deals with sanctions, not the State Department.

[Darkwave]

@Altag

For the record, it’s the Treasury Department (Office of Foreign Assets Control) that deals with sanctions, not the State Department.

You are right, I was sloppy. Thanks for the correction on my tangent

[MHM]

@Anniemaymay

No pretending. People have a limited amount of money to give and there are many worthy causes out there. Its valid to no longer want to give money to a family who openly holds those beliefs when there are less problematic options to donate to.

How do you know those beliefs are held by everyone in the family?

I can tell you that there are members of my family who hold very, very different views from mine. Just because people live under the same roof, that does not mean they all hold the same beliefs.

Until Kevin goes on the record one way or the other, I will not assume that he has the same views.

[Mara]

@smoofox

BINGO.

Some of those Facebook comments are nauseating. I am glad that I will not hear dearest George insulting young riders at the top of his lungs at his yearly clinic at the farm next door…

And you know what? I can tell you the exact date and details of a time I was assaulted (Dec. 6, 1976 - it was a Monday - around 6 pm) even if I cannot remember WTH I was doing on July 13, 1985. How effing dismissive of that person to think that a traumatic event is NOT remembered… how effing condescending and rude…

The SafeSport board could print those ISWG comments out with the caption: “This is WHY we don’t trust you to police your own sport”.

To your first point: sure, he quit calling riders “fat”, but I feel sure it has nothing to do with a change in his attitude. It’s just not PC to do so anymore, and he’s all about image.

[dannyboy]

I remember a parent turning to me in bewilderment at a GM clinic one time and asking “why is he being so mean to young people who are just trying to do what he wants?” I thought privately “and who are paying a heck of a lot of money for the privilege, too.” but I didn’t say that,

I didn’t have any answer for him at all.

[mroades]

Understand that i refused to stand with George. I do however treasure every single thing I learned from him over the last 40 years. But having just taken the safe sport refresher course, all they had to do was watch a few hundred videos of his clinics and he would have been done, without any sexual assault accusations.

[Laurierace]

@dannyboy

I remember a parent turning to me in bewilderment at a GM clinic one time and asking “why is he being so mean to young people who are just trying to do what he wants?” I thought privately “and who are paying a heck of a lot of money for the privilege, too.” but I didn’t say that,

I didn’t have any answer for him at all.

If you attended a clinic you had to have been the incredible transformations he made with every horse and rider combo over the course of the clinic. He IS very insanely good at what he does which accounts for his cult following. None of that excuses what he did to earn this lifetime ban but answers your question as to why the people were paying for that privledge.

[NoSuchPerson]

@mroades

But having just taken the safe sport refresher course, all they had to do was watch a few hundred videos of his clinics and he would have been done, without any sexual assault accusations.

Yes! Exactly! (Because just liking this post wasn’t enough. )

[Mara]

@Laurierace

If you attended a clinic you had to have been the incredible transformations he made with every horse and rider combo over the course of the clinic. He IS very insanely good at what he does which accounts for his cult following. None of that excuses what he did to earn this lifetime ban but answers your question as to why the people were paying for that privledge.

It IS possible to provide effective, even genius-level, instruction without cruelty. He got away with it for so long because he was The Exalted George.

[fair_judy]

@mroades

Understand that i refused to stand with George. I do however treasure every single thing I learned from him over the last 40 years. But having just taken the safe sport refresher course, all they had to do was watch a few hundred videos of his clinics and he would have been done, without any sexual assault accusations.

You are a courageous woman my friend. We both know that there may be repercussions for those who
have not bent the knee. We can respect the genius without excusing the acts.