That guy seems off his rocker. He wouldn’t be called out for something that happened in the 80’s, while in college, unless there was a serious pile of evidence to act on and more recent indicators of bad behavior. What little has been pieced together indicates that he was found guilty of bad conduct later on, while running his stable with his business partner, who shut the location down and walked away around the time he was being investigated.
8 Likes
Michael Cintas, a former student of George Morris, who went on to have a solid and notable instructor career of his own,has been tapped by Safesport for allegations of misconduct. No further information at this time.
8 Likes
I hate that the sport has ill goings on.
Children should always be safe. Everyone should always be safe.
12 Likes
That was a wild ride.
2 Likes
Mike Cintas? Wow, that’s a name from my past. He has been around forever.
4 Likes
I’m curious why there seems to be more suspensions in the HJ world than other disciplines. Is sexual misconduct more prevalent or are the victims/witnesses braver than say the eventing world.
I’m also shocked at the 3 local HJ people here on the list that I know… I guess shocked isn’t the right word. Only one sort of surprises me.
3 Likes
I’ve been thinking a lot about that too…
One potential reason that comes to mind is that it appears that the H/J world has much larger power dynamics going on between trainers and clients. H/J trainers seem to be more able (and focused) on keeping clients “dependent” on them for all knowledge, and very much push back whenever someone asks a question or wants to make a change - sort of a “My way or the highway” mentality, and then they paint the highway as a place full of murderers and thieves. Try to make the clients feel like the trainer is actually doing them a favor by keeping them and their horse safe.
This is a generalization for sure, but it feels to me like other disciplines have clients who are much more able to be independent horse people and trainers who are much better about fostering a sense of independence in their clients - and/or not as much pay-to-play aspects that keep the relationships between trainers and riders much more transparent and businesslike, which makes the situations less of a fertile ground for abuse.
22 Likes
I think you hit the nail on the head and what I thought as well. There is far more idolization and dependence on trainers in the HJ world than other disciplines. And with that comes power.
8 Likes
There’s also a much more established youth/children circuit and participation in H/J (vs. dressage, eventing) – higher exposure as well.
19 Likes
Dressage I would agree. Eventing, I don’t believe this is the case… look at USPC which just starting requiring SS this year. And this isnt just talking about young children-I think the teens are the group most at risk which eventing has tons of.
2 Likes
I completely agree about the youth participation aspect of HJ. There just isn’t the same number of juniors involved in Dressage or Eventing. Not even close. And with respect to Eventing, many of the juniors that were/are involved came up via the old Pony Club model… and the dynamics with coaches and trainers are very different than in the HJ community.
I also think it’s noteworthy that a number of the banned people in the HJ world seem to have ties to one another. Michael Cintas had ties to Jimmy Williams, GHM, and RG. Cintas was VERY outspoken back in the summer of 2019, after RG died. Some of what he said on his public social media accounts was pretty shocking.
11 Likes
Interesting - You made the Eventing and USPC connection too 
I think it’s wise that USPC start following SS. I’m surprised they haven’t already implemented something like it.
8 Likes
Unfortunately USPC has done a half-assed attempt at it. They require adult members and officers to do it, but not trainers, parents, or coaches which who are the group that spend the most amount of time with children. Children as most likely to be assaulted by someone they know not a stranger, so they’ve kind of missed the point here. I’m the DC of an all adult USPC club and all my members have to do SS/BC but USPC doesn’t require the adults that are volunteering and in the barns, staying over night at rallies, traveling etc. to do them unless they are a DC or other officer. Statistics would suggest those are the more likely predators than my club members who have no interaction with children.
At least USEF is requiring all adult participating members to do SS. I’m not convinced SS is deterring the behavior but at least its bringing the predators public.
11 Likes
That IS disappointing. All adults involved with the volunteering and chaperone duties should complete training. That’s common sense. If nothing else, it will promote more awareness of grooming behaviors, and by having more people aware, hopefully predators are more readily identified.
5 Likes
Just doing a very surface-level survey of relative numbers, but there are more <18yo members of USHJA than there are all members of pony club (comparing 2019 numbers: 33% of the 40k total members for USHJA is ~13k for the under 18 segment vs ~11k total members of USPC). I used the advertising facts & figures for each association’s magazine as my source here.
For the opposite extreme, USDF advertises that 75% of their members have a college degree-- implying at a minimum 75% of the total membership is over the age of 21 - 22. Not a whole lot of surprises there that the population of kids and teens is proportionally lower in dressage vs. HJ.
Not arguing that there isn’t a systematic culture issue in HJ, but that the exposure is higher vs other equestrian sports.
9 Likes
There are a number of suspended individuals in other USEF areas, too. I suspect there are violators in the breed world, too. The power differential between client and trainer is there, and so are kids (AQHA/Paint/Arab world has lots of youth participants). I’m sure there’s abuse.
I’m beginning to see false or improper allegations being made in the H/J world… retaliatory rather than real. That makes me sad and angry. Absolutely call out the real abusers, but ugh. Stop with the fake stuff.
6 Likes
Many of the stock horse breeds (AQHA, APHA, ApHC etc) do not fall under the USEF umbrella. So they can be reported to SS, but not kicked out of USEF. I have no idea if those registries have adopted SS training or not, I haven’t been following.
2 Likes
The whole Barisone - Kanarek situation has unfortunately highlighted how SS can be used in a toxic situation involving a degrading trainer-client relationship. It’s incredibly unfortunate that some people can’t distinguish the difference between bad interpersonal dynamics, which mean it’s time to move on to a different trainer… and actual abuse and exploitation of minor athletes.
SafeSport isn’t going to be something that can solve all challenges in sport. It’s creation… and primary purpose… has revolved around the difficult and prevalent issues related to the sexual abuse of minor athletes who participate in sport related to the Olympic movement. I really hope that addressing that key concern can remain the central focus and priority.
16 Likes
Honestly? I believe we have more abusers in the H/J discipline than in others. In part it’s because the H/J world seems to attract them more. In part it’s because they can get away with it more than in other disciplines. In part it’s the sheer number of juniors involved. Lots of different factors. But we really have some folks in our ranks that are rotten to the core. We truly do. Certainly other disciplines have their problems as well but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a larger percentage of SS violations originate from the H/J ranks than other affiliates.
19 Likes
I think the existence of a few VERY high profile, legendary trainers in the HJ community… who also happened to be serial abusers… well, that set a certain tone. Open secrets like that, which were tolerated within the sport community, led to a sub-culture of turning a blind eye to signs of abuse. Overtime… more predators were drawn to the sport.
Similar issues have be played out in gymnastics, swimming and figure skating. Very high profile coaches who are serial abusers… and it’s an open secret… seem to lead to a subculture of abusive coaches within the sport.
It’s really sad.
8 Likes
