Does anyone remember back around 1980 when George still rode hunters? If he had a good round and thought he should win, he would jump the last fence and whip his head towards the judge, staring him/her down and trying to intimidate them. I’m sure he’s trying to do that now.
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Exactly, especially pedohphiles. It is literally their #2 goal, to hide in plain sight. They even have forums online based around how to do this and help each other fool the public and people they know.
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His rant would be more effective if he used punctuation.
The GM (and RG) supporters are unable to separate George the person from George the “God of horsemanship”. I rode with AK in the early 90s. I witnessed the name calling, etc that happened every day. George liked me. He was always very complementary of my horse and my riding. Every time I saw him at the horse shows he was friendly and pleasant. I was able to see his abusive bullying side as well as his supportive side. It is possible to accept someone for their talents yet not like them as a person. Another example is Tiger Woods; he is an exceptional golfer, personable, but also had multiple infidelities. People either supported him or despised him.
I do believe the pushback is that people hate their idols/mentors to not be who they think they are. They hate that someone has a different opinion. The SS sport case I was involved in was identical to the GM and RG cases. They focused on “30 years ago, one time…” None of that was true but it helped them keep their opinion of the person untarnished. People will believe what they want. If 50 witnesses come forward some will take a step back but others will always see George as an equestrian god.
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You SAW GM molest an underage person at a clinic (with others present as well, I presume) and no one reported that molestation to the authorities?
Yes. I saw it. It was a long time ago, maybe in the '70’s. Remember, I said “essentially”. As I said in an earlier post, he put his hands all over the boy to “correct his position” in what I considered to be a very inappropriate manner. Yes, I was appalled. Yes, It was in public - there were others in the stands. I had/have no idea who the boy was and if his parents were present. No, the boy himself didn’t say anything. So, no, I didn’t speak up. I doubt seriously if anyone else did either, but I have no idea. I will say that I have watched many GM clinics since and I have NEVER seen anyone speak up, no matter how verbally abusive he was to anyone - child or adult - even recently.
Exactly what was I supposed to say or do? Who was I supposed to take action with? No cell phones, no photographs, remember? No proof except in my memory. Any so-called authorities would have laughed at me. At worst, I would have been viciously attacked, like people are now who allege that GM is anything but a saint and the “Father of the sport” (gag) At best I would simply have been dismissed as a troublemaker, or perhaps as just jealous that it wasn’t me.
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This is so true…
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Wow.
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So I mentioned earlier in a comment that it seems the Safe Sport investigation into George was in excess of one year. Another poster justifiably pushes back, and wanted sources, and I acknowledged all I had was Facebook and social media comments, as well as comments from a NYT reporter about when her own reporting began (but apparently she wasn’t aware of the Safe Sport investigation).
I saw Kristin’s post last night, and someone else linked to it a few posts ago. It seems to indicate the investigation has been going on for 18 months. And that GM has been well aware for awhile that the walls were closing in, and that in recent months there has been a concerted effort of some sort to “take others down with him.”
I don’t know details… I’m sure others do. What I can say is that after seeing an earlier post on this thread about GM wanting to take people down with him, and Kristin’s comment, everyone should pause and consider carefully what the HECK is going on with the whole bizarre “I Stand With George” response.
Longtime contemporaries of GM surely knew what was up with him. So why are they standing with him? Uggh. They all deserve to have their names turned to mud. And businesses fail. No sympathy from me.
The ban is about a charge that this man sexually abused minors. It wasn’t just “young men.” The issue is teenaged boys. He made the insane claim in his own book that he has had 10,000 partners. So I feel pretty comfortable using boys… because this is NOT simply about one person from 1968 to 1972. People need to say it - don’t let the PR narrative get away with that crap. Furthermore, Homosexuality is not an excuse for an adult to have sex with a minor… it doesnt matter if it was a different time and everyone was in the closet, etc etc. It doesn’t matter if it was 1968, or 2019. The whole “An adult male used to do this and show a teenaged boy the ropes about a homosexual lifestyle” argument justifying any of this is utterly evil. An adult male having sex with a male or female minor is a PREDATOR. PERIOD. The girl didn’t ask for it, and she wasn’t “screwing for the blue” and there was nothing emotionally beneficial about a young teenaged boy who may, or may not, have had questions about his sexuality having their first sexual relationship be an abusive one, involving an imbalance of power and an adult predator.
Teenagers who are minors aren’t capable of informed consent. Period.
I have now seen multiple comments multiple places about a victim from within the last ten years, a victim from the 90’s, and a comment alluding to a victim who committed suicide. Yes… it’s Facebook. People say all sorts of crap. These comments were not idle chatter from folks nobody has heard of though. In addition, no one knows for sure what the nature of the relationship was with JS and GM… but obviously JS has had some troubles as an adult as well, and was caught with child porn in 2006. It’s a fact JS lost his father at s young age, and went to train with GM at age 13, and later was his assistant trainer. When I think about the span of JS’ life, and the fact that he was once a teenaged boy without a father, and now has his name on the Safe Sport list and a criminal record… the word that comes to mind is TRAGIC.
So yes, GM can appeal the Safe Sport decision. But I don’t think there is a snowballs chance in hell it will be overturned. And I pray the reporter from the NYT who cracked the Jimmy Williams story wide open does the same for this one (although any victim who wishes to remain anonymous or keep their experiences private should be respected). There are multiple people who STILL support JW, who actively spoke up in defense of RG, who now stand with GM. They are very public about where they stand on these issues.
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Hey @FiSk123 I know you were putting together a spreadsheet/list of all the permanent ineligibility sanctions from Safe Sport’s website…have you completed that yet? I was trying to verify some of your earlier posts on the RG thread that were reposted here (namely, the 292 total bans vs. 32 non-criminal disposition, and the details of those 32) but I’m having a bit of trouble with the Safe Sport website, since you can’t just browse through all sanctions. I’d be happy to buckle down and comb through each sport individually but I figured if you’d done the work already and had a list of names I could use that as a jumping off point for verification.
edit @Virginia Horse Mom it was me that asked where you heard about the investigation timeline! I just want to clarify that I didn’t ask because I don’t believe it; I just like to be able to point to a good source to back up any claims I might make in a discussion. Can you tell I went to journalism school? :winkgrin:
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That’s the point many defenders are making. That the complaint should go through the judicial system.
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I came to that conclusion decades ago after watching him teach a clinic. There were plenty of other clinicians out there who imparted wisdom without the humiliation and sarcasm. I know people who took it as a badge of courage that they had survived riding with George.
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This is pretty rich considering GM claims to have had sex with 10,000 people
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Excellent post and could not agree more.
Those who will be taken down with him are most likely those making some loud loud noise right now.
Sexual predators thrive because evidence is so scare in this form of abuse/crime. It is almost always he said/she said unless its recent and DNA evidence can be used. Predators have long gotten by on the fact that victims will be feared or shamed into silence. The loud noises in the back are just trying their damnest to keep those victims quiet, and future vicitms complacent.
They make loud noise because they are losing the battle. Things are about to get messy but I feel the outcome will mean a safer sport for us all to enjoy.
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No worries - we are good 
Take a look at Kristin’s public post referencing an 18 month investigation though. That’s a pretty solid source I think. That’s what got me started on my last rant - I wanted to make sure I passed that on to you. Then I just got pissed off at the whole “I Stand With George” crowd, and let it fly. These people… words fail.
I hope you or someone else who went to journalism school and has a great platform shines a white hot light on the professionals in this industry who are actively shrugging off child abuse. It’s awful.
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There are multiple examples of people given temporary suspensions that were rescinded that seem to be doing fine.
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It occurs to me that GM was not simply the “Father of the sport”, but likely the father of a lot of the worst aspects of our sport’s CULTURE. Hard to believe that others weren’t emboldened by observing his behaviors over the years…and knowing that people felt powerless and scared to speak up.
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So your friend who coaches high school cross country may not be impacted by SafeSport per se, but I guarantee that as a school district employee they are already following all the same policies and subject to significant supervision. Instead of accusations of misconduct going to Denver, they go to the school principal, then superintendent and school board. There would be a local investigation and finding, a report to law enforcement, and the coach could lose her job whether or not law enforcement chooses to act. Losing a job in this situation today generally makes you impossible to hire in education again.
The MAAP policies are the same that I was trained in as a 4-H and school volunteer a decade ago.
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That is why I am a bit sickened by this part of GM’s statement:
Any allegations that suggest I have acted in ways that are harmful to any individual, the broader equestrian community, and sport that I love dearly are false and hurtful.
We all know he has acted repeatedly and publicly in ways that have been harmful to individuals. It’s been written on this board as testimony from public events for literally two decades, and known before that. People have recounted those stories over and over, and in ways that certainly got back to him.
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I’m not currently a USEF member, but I will join just to spite the 2,400 in that group :lol:
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I just looked. It’s up to 3.5k now. I’m sure I have quite a few friends in there too.
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<<STATING THIS AS A GENERAL DISCUSSION POINT, NOT AS A SS HATER OR GM SUPPORTER>>
Here is my issue with comments like the above against the appeals process… If “we’re” asking everyone in the NGOs and general sport community to accept SS’s findings as thorough, fair, and ultimately our NGO’s law, then we must accept that their appeals process is equally thorough, fair, and ultimately NGO law.
We can’t pick and choose saying that the process is beyond reproach in its initial investigators process and ruling as long as the accused is held at bay, but will probably fall apart when challenged. That makes little sense. If the case is that strong, it should stick. If the witness statements were strong enough the first time around, shouldn’t they hold in the second? I get that people may have second thoughts and back out, but shouldn’t the initial evidence presented stand?
If we have faith in the system and its process, giving it the power to permanently remove people from our sport based solely on the system’s ruling, then we should maintain that faith throughout.
I do trust that the system’s process is beneficial in removing scum from our sport, including the likely very guilty GM. The stories have been out there and we’ve all seen his comments either in print or person.
However, I’ve also read about too many cases where later evidence exonerated the accused. If we trust the system then we should, you know, trust the system.
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