So true, but…
What if USEF’s IRS stated purpose includes “welfare” as well as “safety for members” of the organization? What if, all of the employees who showed for CP were also USEF members and were unsafe? What if prominent USEF coaches or representatives observed abuse but did not officially report it? Lip service is not going to satisfy the members. Well… it might satisfy the 1,000 members who attended Andraes Helgstrand’s fully paid PR stunt involving Isabell Werth Avenue…
Just saying ….
In Germany we have a big discussion about this topic as well. One of these visa holders contributed. She went to CP (in 2017) to work for him as a rider. Very soon she watched all the things people are talking about now. So she went back to a Germany and tried to report him. According to her nobody believed her she was threatened and finally she simply shut up and didn’t say anything anymore…. She shared her frustration when the newer video came out. So what did you expect her to do? I believe the public not only failed the horses but also the people involved….
oh and specially for you because you are a lawyer and don’t like statements from “somebody I know” 
….
I have my own personal experience with a horse abuser but without the visa problem.
When I was 19 and a college student I had a horse boarded with a young and upcoming trainer in my area. I witnessed how he beat up a young horse until it was bleeding all over. It was supposed to show the next day and didn’t perform well enough…
So I tried to move my horse to another barn…. Well the consequences were that my parents decided that I couldn’t ride my horse as well as him and sold him the horse (they continued to board with him) all my friends in college dumped me and I was told that I was a bad person talking bad about this young hardworking good riding trainer….
I was isolated and unhappy and thought about quitting riding. finally I moved far away to another College. And yes I went to therapy as well about it…. It’s something I don’t really wish anybody and I image a visa situation could make the situation even worse….
I only lost my horse my parents and my friends.
I’m sorry that happened. Consider that you’re better off without any of them. I wish you could have taken your horse with you.
No. There is no statistical rigor or analytical testing of the data.
This article gives examples of the use of Kappa and Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance.
Inter-Rater Reliability: Definition, Examples & Assessing - Statistics By Jim
And most important in any statistical test is the “p-value.”
Exactly what she did: leave. Not participate once she saw what was happening.
I did not address reporting or not reporting b/c I know that is trickier. All I was discussing was, for many of those riders, like the lady you mention, they could have left when it became clear what was going on. They didn’t have to sit on those horses while they were being whipped or keep participating. As long as they had funds to fly back home they could have left. That is all.
Nah, I don’t really care. That was just b/c that poster was so crazy overtly hostile right out of the gate. It was super odd.
Yes, I remember your story which is super sad. I’m genuinely sorry that happened to you. It’s also why I tried to note ‘for the most part’ in my post. I know some of those people are going to be in a tough situation and cannot easily get on a plane or whatever. I’m speaking of the rest who could, like the one you mention in your post.
I’m just curious about this. What were they told, that they could not leave the country? Did Parra hold their passports?
To be clear, he’s such a vile person I can believe he would do this, so that’s an honest question.
My point is that people threaten other people’s visa status and those people comply b/c they want to stay in their current situation or the situation they would return to is untenable or drastically worse. Here, since it is a sporting opportunity, if you are coming from a stable environment and you are here to learn dressage, as long as you could afford you return ticket*, you could leave.
*Actually, thinking of it, you are not typically allowed in a country on a visa like this if you cannot show that you have a return ticket and funds so that you won’t become a burden on the host country. So I would suspect that most people in this programme would already have return transport sorted as part of the visa programme itself.
But you don’t need a lawyer to quit your position and return to your home country.
Again, this keeps them from reporting, not leaving. You cannot hold people physically somewhere and say they cannot freely travel back home. The NDA keeps them from reporting or talking about what they saw, not from leaving.
I agree with you mostly…. But there is something else which I experienced and I don’t think you should underestimate it…. Besides all the other things it was hard for me to make the final decision and leave that barn. I personally knew what he had done, but if there is nobody else agreeing with you , you start to feel feel like you might be wrong and everybody else is right. so you start to question yourself….
During my therapy I learned that that feeling is common in people who got sexually abused. they know what happened but many times (especially when the predator is a well liked person) nobody believes them or tell them it was their fault…
So there was a reason why they came to ride for him and even if they witnessed the abuse everybody else is telling them how great he is and how lucky they are to be there… Believe me it does something to you and makes you hesitate…. I hesitated for some time too and when my life went down I really questioned if I made the right decision…
It’s not always easy to make the right decision if you have no support. I guess the German girl either had a strong mind or she had strong support….
Yes, that all makes perfect sense. I’m sure that whole environment was abusive in every way imaginable if he’s capable of what we are seeing here. The man must be a monster. Just thinking of that video of William or thinking of that horse with the necrotic jaw. This guy is epically disgusting and I’ve no doubt that it was the most toxic environment imaginable. Especially if someone is young or has little support back home, as you note, I can see how challenging it would be.
He somehow had these kids believing they were stuck. Who knows what the terms of their agreements were. I’ll venture a guess it wasn’t in writing. Did they have to commit to a year? Was he providing housing? Were they getting paid a stipend? Maybe nothing? Maybe he had something in the aggreement/arrangement about reimbursing transportation, housing, meals and any other expenses if they left early. Maybe he dropped the onerous bits on them only after they arrived. There’s no reason to think he treated these kids (young adults) any better than he treated the horses short of beating them bloody.
If the human trafficking investigation goes anywhere maybe we’ll get answers to these types of questions.
This is from the Dressage-News article.
The FBI–Federal Bureau of Investigation–has launched an investigation of Cesar Parra on allegations of human trafficking by imposing controls on foreign employees on visas in violation of both U.S. and Florida laws. As many as 40 complaints are reported by sources to have been received.
Former foreign employees have reported to authorities and confirmed to dressage-news.com that Parra imposed rules that implied he had the power to withdraw visas to work in the U.S. that kept many employees working at his training centers in New Jersey and Florida.
None at all. I’m sure he’s a nightmare to every living creature he encounters. Dude’s a psycho.
The governing bodies could do a PSA campaign and have basic info for people who come to do these internships about what rights they have and what their sponsor cannot do wrt their visa status, etc. That would actually be really useful.
A story stated that Parra was holding their passports.
That is so sad. He has no right to do that and it’s a shame they didn’t know.
Another reason it might be good for the various governing bodies to have basic information for people who take on these positions so that they cannot be completely hoodwinked by dishonest people like CP.
Something like these tips for temp workers:
That is a very good idea. I wonder if these people join USEF et al when they come over. Are they showing horses? The trainer has to be a member but what of the trainers working students?
There could be a section for each jurisdiction, like: rights and protections for temporary workers in the EU; in the US; in the UK.
That would be an concrete useful thing the various organisations could do for their members.
Since it is illegal in the US for him to have taken and held their passports, I assume that act in and of itself is a violation of more than one code of conduct since it is standard to require adherence to applicable laws.
Ex: USEF
Adhere to all applicable state, federal, and foreign laws, as applicable, including those governing
the possession and use of drugs and alcohol and providing of drugs to any person and alcohol to
minors.
I assume not, but don’t know. That’s why they are wise to go after him for trafficking and violation of US laws governing workers over there on working visas.
There’s no way this guy shouldn’t be doing time for a fair bit of this. And that’s even before we know anything about the sexual harassment/assault claims.
Yup. The trafficking penalties are way more substantial than any cruelty charges.
I think that an official criminal complaint against Parra may be the legal trigger that releases Sven and others from their non-disclosure agreements and allows them to talk freely about their experience working for CP. I read that somewhere but have not confirmed it (and I’m not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV).
Not sure about whether USEF needs law enforcement to file an official criminal complaint before they take action too. I do suspect that taking a bit of time now to get ducks in a row might result in a more solid case that expedites things in the long run.
I’m not sure you understand emotional abuse and how these people had put their careers, futures, and livelihoods on the line. What would happen if they walked? Would they manage to get a new visa to try again with some other trainer?
These people were not you and me looking to do better at our hobby. These were/are athletes looking to make it and do well as professionals in their chosen career.
I’d like to think I’d have had the gumption to up and leave and make either another career choice or another attempt with another mentor who would help me with my visa, but I’d ont truly know what I would do if I got sucked in and made to feel stuck there. But, I didn’t walk away from an emotionally abusive situation the moment I was legally able to do so. I didn’t know how. I had been made to feel terrified of what would happen if I did and so on.
I absolutely cannot judge anyone for staying when I don’t know the whole situation. That human trafficking charges are being discussed is more than enough for me to add up the elements and withhold judgment of any of them for the time being.
Some fair points, for sure. But if the people reporting are to be believed (and I do believe them) this behaviour was so open, notorious, and constant that one would have known of it very early in one’s tenure with CP, before any sort of pattern of emotional abuse could get going (unless you’re saying that level of manipulation can happen in the first fortnight or something in which case I defer as that was not my understanding).
Just b/c someone is labeled an ‘athlete’ or a ‘professional’ doesn’t mean they have less of an obligation to the voiceless/agentless animals; they arguable have more.
I said riders who stayed had to answer for themselves. If their answers are compelling then so be it. But I simply do not believe everyone but that one German woman was in some kind of indentured servitude situation without options or support. Plenty of them were there for years, plural.
Not everyone who came in on a visa was coming from some Dickensian dystopia. It just doesn’t stand to reason or statistics and if we abandon all expectations that the people sitting on these poor animals while they were beaten were all, each and every one, unable to get up and walk out and at the very, bare minimum least stop participating in this abuse, even if unwillingly so, then we are not seeking a solution at every level of these fiascoes. We are letting some people off the hook just they because they MIGHT have a reason they stayed that is compelling. If they do, grand, let them tell it. But everyone involved in this situation needs to answer for what went on there. If their explanation absolves them of some or even all the responsibility, then great.
Stop, seriously. I would be happy if they just actually did an investigation. “Funds” won’t fix this problem if the abuser is not dealt with.
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