People Attempting to Undermine Safe Sport

[JFJ]

On Horse show Diva they say that Katie named the second accuser, did she? I did not see it in the letter posted. Was that brought out on the ISWG page? I knew George a bit from being a groom on the team a few times and never had a problem personally but I can’t join that group or support him.

[skydy]

@Jenerationx

Crying about someone being banned from the sport for raping children WHILE you’re teaching children that could have been victims if they were being trained by him. It’s mind boggling.

Agreed. I can’t imagine why anyone would have their child taught by her at this juncture.

[Mara]

@LexInVA

It is possible that she is on the denial bandwagon because she herself had played a part in providing George with young riders to abuse and wants to use her Glory Days clout and long-time association with George to dissuade the masses of the notion that George (and by extension, herself) had any sort of untoward interactions with anyone who was exploited and abused by him. Sort of an “I would never let such a thing happen, so I’m not a piece of ****, so George isn’t!” position, I suppose.

She has a son (who apparently didn’t inherit his mother’s talent; Adam is as rough and ham-fisted a rider as I’ve ever seen)…I wonder if she’d ever have ever, when he was a junior, given serious consideration to sending him to George as a working student?

I’m sure Anne Kursinski appreciates her fellow Olympian’s views on Jimmy Williams.

[skydy]

@Mara

I’m sure Anne Kursinski appreciates her fellow Olympian’s views on Jimmy Williams.

I can only imagine how horrible this must be for Anne. I am truly angry on her behalf and on behalf of every victim of these predators.

Anne Kursinski, never mind the apologists for your abuser and the abusers of others. Please remember that the majority of good people stand with you and have the utmost respect for your courage. :yes:

[rah]

I am really struggling with Katie’s letter… I reported her and sent the letter to USEF ( as I’m sure many others did too) and I was really hopeful something would be done, now I wonder. When you go to SafeSport to report something, the website directs you where to go, in this case you are supposed to report to your NGB. I’m trying not judge the USEF too harshly but knowing Katie is the godmother to Reed, the daughter of the USEF’s president, and knowing how the upper echelon of the sport works, I can’t help but wonder if this matter is going to be taken seriously. Katie was openly discussing details and bullying witnesses in a SafeSport case, and did so to shame them or anyone who dares to question her. IMO, she does need to be sanctioned by SafeSport and disciplined by the USEF. I know I can also just report directly to SafeSport but I guess I’m asking if I am seeing this correctly or am I way out of line?

[SolarFlare]

The latest and ![](reatest from AfE:
[h=1]Athletes for Equity in Sport, Inc.[/h] [h=1]Today’s news[/h] [h=2]Honor Patrick “Packy” McGaughan’s Memory with Your Donation!

Help Athletes for Equity in Sport Raise $10K in 60 Days[/h] [h=4][/h] [h=1][IMG]https://mcusercontent.com/6318e06e64661a087e875d415/images/3a37c54a-e26a-47db-930d-548f06eed581.png)

In loving memory of Patrick “Packy” McGaughan’s unwavering passion for and commitment to the mission of Athletes for Equity in Sport, please help us deliver his message to Congress regarding Senate Bill S.2330 - Empowering Olympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2019. Packy dedicated the last eight months of his life to the sport he loved and to lobbying efforts on behalf of Athletes for Equity in Sport (AES).

AES is a broad-based group formed by coaches, parents, owners, and athletes involved in Olympic sports. Our mission is to ensure equity in SafeSport procedures. DONATE by visiting AthletesForEquity.org, where you’ll also find details about AES’ mission and Senate Bill S.2330.

More Information
AES has a 3-pronged strategy for effecting changes to achieve equity in SafeSport procedures:
1. Legislation
Packy took on the legislation prong, working closely with Tom Sheridan of The Sheridan Group to get the necessary contacts for AES to secure a registered lobbyist in Washington, DC. We want to continue Packy’s legislation program and bring it to full fruition.
2. Litigation
Legal plans of action have been formulated and are ready to be executed at the appropriate time(s).
3. Education
AES informational meetings; letter campaign to Congress; video statements from athletes and coaches; and social services wraparound programs, plus additional support to be announced in the summer of 2020.[/h]
Thank you for donating in honor of Packly!!

[LexInVA]

@Mara

She has a son (who apparently didn’t inherit his mother’s talent; Adam is as rough and ham-fisted a rider as I’ve ever seen)…I wonder if she’d ever have ever, when he was a junior, given serious consideration to sending him to George as a working student?

I’m sure he’s seen her son socially, being in Wellington for years and having connections to him through others, but it is my understanding that Adam’s education and career began overseas and then came back to Murica. By the time he would have been a working student in the late 2000’s, GM was pretty much not doing anything except acting as Lawn Gnome For Hire and Hunterdon INC had been euthanized due to his legal troubles and age, though Adam has been personally trained by those who like his mother, were GM’s students/proteges at one point or another, including GM’s long-time partner Chris Kappler, so there’s a likelyhood of some level of interaction between the two of them.

[ladyj79]

@SolarFlare

The latest and greatest from AfE:
Athletes for Equity in Sport, Inc.

Today’s news

[B]Honor Patrick “Packy” McGaughan’s Memory with Your Donation!

Help Athletes for Equity in Sport Raise $10K in 60 Days[/B]

[B]

In loving memory of Patrick “Packy” McGaughan’s unwavering passion for and commitment to the mission of Athletes for Equity in Sport, please help us deliver his message to Congress regarding Senate Bill S.2330 - Empowering Olympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2019. Packy dedicated the last eight months of his life to the sport he loved and to lobbying efforts on behalf of Athletes for Equity in Sport (AES).

AES is a broad-based group formed by coaches, parents, owners, and athletes involved in Olympic sports. Our mission is to ensure equity in SafeSport procedures. DONATE by visiting AthletesForEquity.org, where you’ll also find details about AES’ mission and Senate Bill S.2330.

More Information
AES has a 3-pronged strategy for effecting changes to achieve equity in SafeSport procedures:
1. Legislation
Packy took on the legislation prong, working closely with Tom Sheridan of The Sheridan Group to get the necessary contacts for AES to secure a registered lobbyist in Washington, DC. We want to continue Packy’s legislation program and bring it to full fruition.
2. Litigation
Legal plans of action have been formulated and are ready to be executed at the appropriate time(s).
3. Education
AES informational meetings; letter campaign to Congress; video statements from athletes and coaches; and social services wraparound programs, plus additional support to be announced in the summer of 2020.[/B]

Thank you for donating in honor of Packly!!

I could say something…but yep, fitting tribute and how he’ll now be remembered.

ETA just saw that at the end they refer to him as Packly, which makes this simultaneously 50 times funnier and yet sadder. Cant even get his name right, but at least he supported pedophiles.

[oneequestrienne]

@Jenerationx

”¢ Is our sport safer because Jimmy Williams’ name was taken off the Hall of Fame after he had been dead for more than 20 years?
There are now more people aware of the decades of abuse that have existed in the sport, so yes, this is a good thing.
Ӣ Is our sport safer because Rob Gage killed himself?
There is one less predator preying on children, so yes. I wish he were living out his life, banned from the sport, and nowhere near any children, but his abuse has now stopped.
Ӣ Is our sport safer because George Morris is banned?
One less serial predator in our sport, again, yes.
Ӣ Do his accusers feel better about themselves now?
Unfortunately for those survivors that do eventually see some justice, nothing erases what happened and they are serving a life sentence of the emotional aftermath of being preyed on. Would you feel better if they stayed silent and allowed your idol, the predator, to continue abusing others?

These people make me physically sick.

Hmmmm. RG killed himself to avoid facing his accusers. AND I personally have seen evidence of RG exhibiting inappropriate physical contact with a minor in 2017. I turned it over to both Safesport and the USHJA. Make no mistake, RG had not changed his ways.

[LilRanger]

@LexInVA

… Lawn Gnome For Hire…

Hee hee! This is a great image, I thank you!

[Denali6298]

@oneequestrienne

Hmmmm. RG killed himself to avoid facing his accusers. AND I personally have seen evidence of RG exhibiting inappropriate physical contact with a minor in 2017. I turned it over to both Safesport and the USHJA. Make no mistake, RG had not changed his ways.

This. There is a reason chemical castration is a thing for sex offenders.

[BigMama1]

@Alterforme

March 19, 2020
KATIE MONAHAN, INC. Plain Bay Farm P.O. Box 1214 Middleburg, VA 20118
I was giving a lesson the other day to a group of my students who were competing here on the Florida circuit. The lesson was geared specifically around one junior, who had just lost his jumper classic the previous Sunday by knocking down the last vertical in the jump-off. In his eagerness to win the class, this student had galloped to the last fence; found a flying distance; thrown his shoulders forward at the takeoff; allowed his horse to dive to the corner; and “BAM”, knocked down the jump!
During this calm Tuesday lesson, it was time to get back to basics. I set a low gymnastic line of several short one-strides. Then I asked the riders to stand straight up in their stirrups, not letting themselves lean forward or fall back as they jumped down the small line. I explained to my students that this exercise was for body control, something vital to learn if they wanted to jump that last vertical clean.
As I watched the kids repeating this exercise, I started to cry. Because at that moment, I was reminded of something that I think of often: Everything that I know about teaching — everything that I’ve given my thousands of students over more than 40 years — was taught to me by George Morris. The discipline, the exercises, the basics, the work ethic, striving always for high standards — it all comes from George.
George Morris has been the greatest influence in the American hunter/jumper/ equitation world for more than 50 years. When I was growing up, every professional copied George; every coach talked like George; every rider, trainer, judge, and groom cared what George thought of how they did their job. When George was around, everyone was at their best.
I’m writing this open letter because I want everyone to realize what a colossal loss it is for all of us to not have George Morris at the horse shows, to not have George Morris giving us his words of wisdom, and to not have George Morris teaching his clinics worldwide.
It is so wrong for George’s name to be removed from arenas, events, and walls of fame. I want future generations to know who George is and what a giant he will always be in our sport. Still today every equitation student, through their trainer, is influenced by the George Morris system of riding.
What has happened in America over the last few years makes me very, very sad and also very angry. I want to ask some questions:
First, what has SafeSport done to make our sport safer?
”¢ Is our sport safer because Jimmy Williams’ name was taken off the Hall of Fame after he had been dead for more than 20 years?
Ӣ Is our sport safer because Rob Gage killed himself?
Ӣ Is our sport safer because George Morris is banned?
Ӣ Do his accusers feel better about themselves now?

KATIE MONAHAN, INC. Plain Bay Farm P.O. Box 1214 Middleburg, VA 20118
Next, I’d like to talk about George Morris’s two accusers. I was at Hunterdon, George’s barn in Pittstown, New Jersey, when they were there. I’ve known them both for more than 40 years.
The first accuser was always strange. He even went by another name during the Hunterdon days. I remember very well seeing him out at night, especially at horse shows. He was very druggy. Years later, he was arrested for and convicted of having child pornography on his computer. He is now and forever a registered sex offender in the state of Florida.
This man was banned from our sport by SafeSport. But guess what? The day after he testified against George, SafeSport reinstated him. He is now allowed to teach children at horse shows and at private farms.
Does that sound safe to you?
The second accuser was a tall, strong young man. I remember that during our Hunterdon days, he was very friendly with a couple of the other young men at the barn. This individual’s story was that during a clinic George was giving, he was a demonstrator. During the night, George allegedly came into his room, held him down, and raped him all night long. He said he cried out for help, but no one came to save him.
Again, guess what? A good friend of mine was also a demonstrator at that clinic. He had breakfast every day with the accuser and never heard, saw, or sensed anything unusual.
In addition, if you’ve ever done a clinic with George, then you know that he doesn’t even like to have dinner with the organizer. He goes back to his room with his notes and his books in order to be able to give every day and every student 150% of his energy.
Personally, I don’t believe George’s accusers. My third question is this:
Ӣ Who is behind these accusers?
Ӣ Who pushed them to tell their tales?
Ӣ Is there a person, or a family, who blames George for their own failures in life? Thinking
it was George’s fault that they didn’t become as great as they thought they should be?
Ӣ Is there a high-up authority somewhere who thought it would be good for our sport to
take down a high-profile figure?
In my opinion, Safe Sport has damaged our sport.
For me, George Morris is the greatest person any young rider could have grown up with. I think of the thousands of people George has helped over the years. So many of his students, including me, have gone on to become professionals with students of their own. It is fair to say that over the course of the last half century, George’s philosophy and teaching methods have

KATIE MONAHAN, INC. Plain Bay Farm P.O. Box 1214 Middleburg, VA 20118
been handed down through generations. Directly or indirectly, George has helped hundreds of thousands of riders around the world!
How can SafeSport be allowed to end the career of a great man whose life has been dedicated to helping people?
How can SafeSport be allowed to accept unproven accusations made by two men with questionable motives?
There is something VERY fishy and VERY dishonest in all of this. Who is behind it?
Furthermore, SafeSport acted illegally when they banned George Morris. In America, a person is innocent until PROVEN guilty. Not only was George Morris not proven guilty, his accusers are not even believable!
George Morris should be un-banned and immediately reinstated.

WT actual F? Has she been living under a rock for all of George’s career? And why post this now? I’m assuming that’s a current letter…which also begs the question why is she teaching lessons and why are horse shows still being held? Is there no coronavirus in the alternative reality in which she clearly lives?

[FlaxenChestnut]

[quote=“SolarFlare,post:537,top![](c:463807”]

The latest and greatest from AfE:
[h=1]Athletes for Equity in Sport, Inc.[/h] [h=1]Today’s news[/h] [h=2]Honor Patrick “Packy” McGaughan’s Memory with Your Donation!

Help Athletes for Equity in Sport Raise $10K in 60 Days[/h] [h=4][/h] [h=1][IMG]https://mcusercontent.com/6318e06e64661a087e875d415/images/3a37c54a-e26a-47db-930d-548f06eed581.png)

In loving memory of Patrick “Packy” McGaughan’s unwavering passion for and commitment to the mission of Athletes for Equity in Sport, please help us deliver his message to Congress regarding Senate Bill S.2330 - Empowering Olympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2019. Packy dedicated the last eight months of his life to the sport he loved and to lobbying efforts on behalf of Athletes for Equity in Sport (AES).

AES is a broad-based group formed by coaches, parents, owners, and athletes involved in Olympic sports. Our mission is to ensure equity in SafeSport procedures. DONATE by visiting AthletesForEquity.org, where you’ll also find details about AES’ mission and Senate Bill S.2330.

More Information
AES has a 3-pronged strategy for effecting changes to achieve equity in SafeSport procedures:
1. Legislation
Packy took on the legislation prong, working closely with Tom Sheridan of The Sheridan Group to get the necessary contacts for AES to secure a registered lobbyist in Washington, DC. We want to continue Packy’s legislation program and bring it to full fruition.
2. Litigation
Legal plans of action have been formulated and are ready to be executed at the appropriate time(s).
3. Education
AES informational meetings; letter campaign to Congress; video statements from athletes and coaches; and social services wraparound programs, plus additional support to be announced in the summer of 2020.[/h]
Thank you for donating in honor of Packly!!

[/quote]

Tacky. Using someone’s death to make money is inappropriate.

[Laurierace]

Why don’t they just let George fade into the sunset with whatever dignity he has left? The more they protest, the more they remind people what he did. How often do you hear people talking about Jerry Sandusky? And who the F wants their death used to raise funds to assist pedophiles? What kind of legacy is that?

[skydy]

@FlaxenChestnut

Tacky. Using someone’s death to make money is inappropriate.

I agree wholeheartedly, though he did back them. It’s par for the course with these folks though.

[Jenerationx]

It makes me sad to hear that he backed them, and it’s definitely tacky to use his death to try to raise funds for that.

[LexInVA]

@Jenerationx

It makes me sad to hear that he backed them, and it’s definitely tacky to use his death to try to raise funds for that.

As a trainer/coach of many youth clients and a boutique lawyer, he was exactly the sort of industry professional who would have a fervent interest in being a part of that group. Beyond that, I can only ponder the matter based on what I learned of him and his activities before his unexpected demise, as I did not know him personally or know anyone who seems to have had anything beyond a passing familiarity with him.

[skydy]

The cause of his death has not been mentioned anywhere that I have seen. That sometimes is indicative of a certain cause… Do you know the cause of his death?

[skydy]

Sorry, I didn’t quote. My question was meant for you @LexInVA .

[LexInVA]

@skydy

The cause of his death has not been mentioned anywhere that I have seen. That sometimes is indicative of a certain cause… Do you know the cause of his death?

The family did not release the COD in the obituaries and I absolutely do not know the legally transcribed cause of his death, per the autopsy performed with an unexpected and sudden death, nor do I have any second/third/fourth-hand information about it. I expect that your question will be answered at some point, though I could not make any guess as to whether it would be sooner or later. When things happen, they happen when they happen.