She’s familiar with the entire case, I am not. I also don’t know them beyond a 30 second conversation checking in at a show. Still, I’m happy to reach out to them.
Correct. I don’t have any personal connection to the owners of Beverly Equestrian. And I don’t have a personal connection to Tom Navarro. I’ve heard multiple stories about him from other people over the years… people I know and trust. But that is all 2nd and 3rd hand information. So what am I supposed to be doing/reporting? I’m neither a victim nor a person who has firsthand witnessed anything.
If I had been there at the schooling show when he was there, you BET I would have said something to farm management about his presence. But I wasn’t there. I just saw his public post on social media after the show announcing that he was there… and pictures of all the teenaged riders he brought with him.
I’m not sure what exactly I should be “reconsidering” about my “position” on “doing something” about Navarro. The guy is already ON the SafeSport list. Myself and a few others have discussed his presence in the NoVa horse community multiple times on this VERY public thread, calling attention to the many many ways he continues to seem to slip through the cracks. We’ve talked at length about what the criminal charges against him were, and the fact that he’s fallen off local sexual offender registries, and how parents of young riders need to be aware of him, and careful in the NoVa area.
I’ve personally spoken to a few friends about him as well, because they did have firsthand knowledge of him.
I’m really not into boycotting or bullying any farm for a one off incident in terms of a problematic character like Navarro turning up at a schooling show. But I sure will mention it on this thread, so people are aware. Navarro himself publicly posted about his presence at that show on social media… so it’s not like I’m repeating some sort of secret gossip. And I hope by mentioning it, that encourages other eyeballs following this topic to:
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Be aware of who is attending local/schooling shows, and be aware of who is on the SafeSport list, and in the local area… and just keep your eyes open… because some of these guys like Navarro seem to just be acting as though they aren’t actually banned…
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If you are a farm hosting a schooling series… again… be aware of who is on the SafeSport list, and is also local, and take note of it if they show up on you property. And consider politely requesting that they LEAVE. Because it would be nice if the ‘banned for life’ people were not present at local schooling shows too. At least that’s what I think. Because I prefer to just avoid those people when out and about. Go figure.
I hope that this position makes basic sense.
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Yes…. It’s truly REMARKABLE. He’s on the SafeSport banned for life list.
In other news… he and his clients lobbied hard for River Chase to make the “Best of Loudoun” 2021 list in the equestrian facilities category… the delusion is very strong with these people.
ETA - a friend just reached out and informed me that actually, River Chase won “Best of Loudoun” in 2020. 
As of 2020, the lesson program and farm there were run by a guy (TN) who was banned for life by SafeSport… the George Mason equestrian team had left the farm, in part because of TNs record and his presence on the SafeSport list.
I know the “Best of Loudoun “ lists are kind of a joke… but this? This is comical. And pretty sad. The Loudoun Times Mirror (I think they are the ones who coordinate the voting) should try to not actively promote equestrian facilities and lesson programs run by guys banned for life by SafeSport! Duh! 
Should somebody from the area contact them and fill them in?
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I get that. But for every 1 person in the area who participates on the COTH boards, how many are there who don’t? A lot, I imagine. Maybe I’m misreading the intent of your posts – it almost comes across as an unwillingness to share information beyond what you have done in the past because “people should know”. It’s OK if you don’t want to, but don’t be shocked that people don’t know what they don’t know.
Creepily enough, I think I spotted him today. Sitting in a cafe with a young woman who looked to be college aged, no less. Discussing “training” . From the way she was looking at him, I can just hear him uttering the tired old chestnut, “You’re not like other girls. You’re so mature for your age”.
He drew no notice from anyone else that I could see. If not for spending obscene amounts of time procrastinating on COTH, I would’ve just thought it was yet another sad sack middle-aged dude who chases young girls because “women hit the wall at age 30”.
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Just so I have this right - you start your post admonishing someone for being unwilling “to share information” about a certain banned trainer in a general sense, and then you admit that you saw IN PERSON this same trainer with a young woman in a public setting, assumed from your observations that something untoward may have been happening, but you don’t say that you interrupted and warned the young woman that the man she was sitting with was banned by Safesport, so we have to assume you did nothing? Do you really not see the hypocrisy you are presenting here?
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He’s already been discussed at length on this thread and the other SafeSport related threads, by myself and others. Mostly last year though.
As far as what people SHOULD know? Well, if they are hosting clinics or shows at their facility, and are members of USEF… they should know who is on the USEF SafeSport banned list. There are only two names living in Virginia who are on that list right now. Tom Navarro is one of them.
Soooo… what is it that I’m expecting of people? Well, I’m expecting professional facilities in the area who are closely tied to USEF to keep Navarro out of public events. Technically, I guess they can allow his presence at unrecognized schooling shows … but why would they want to? Beverly Equestrian is hardly hurting for money, and in dire need of the extra schooling show fees in order to keep their lovely facility running. C’mon now. So why has he now attended not one… but TWO of there summer schooling shows with students?
Presumably, this has happened because none of the management at Beverly asked him to leave. I find that disappointing. If you are managing recognized, or just unrecognized small schooling shows these days, you should be generally aware of SafeSport, and who is on the banned list.
I’m posting here about it, because in my opinion, it’s something that they should be called out about, no matter the reasons for him attending shows on their property. I could contact them privately… you are correct. But I think posting about it on the forums on this viral thread is more likely to be effective in terms of ‘nudging’ them to no longer accept Mr. Navarro’s presence at their facility when they are hosting shows.
Furthermore, I made my comment after another poster noted that Navarro was hosting a better known coach, and active USEF member, for clinics at his business, River Chase Farm. As many of us noted… that’s a violation of USEF rules (with respect to the person giving the clinics). The clinician in question is quite literally aiding and abetting someone on the banned for life list when it comes to him continuing to be a part of the sport, come in contact with minors, and continuing to do business. I don’t know the clinician involved… maybe it’s an honest mistake. Maybe not.
I think it’s worth calling out both issues in tandem on this thread though, as Mr. Navarro is clearly pushing the boundaries of his SafeSport ban, and seeing just how much he can get away with in the NoVa area. People need to be aware. Not everyone reads the forums… but many do. Some that do, then go and chat with friends at the barn who don’t. And that is one way that word gets out about stuff like this.
As far as the tone or intent of my posts… I will admit, I’m really disappointed that he has attended not one but two Beverly Equestrian schooling shows now, and publicly posted about it. I thought that Beverly was better managed than to allow a guy like Tom Navarro on property, schooling show only or not. He’s banned for life by SafeSport for very clear it reasons that are part of his public criminal record. Anyone can dig it up, if they wish. Or they can just take the SafeSport ban at face value.
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Do you know the name of the clinician involved?
I don’t. If you look up thread, you can see that @mroades posted about this. I’ll leave it up to her discretion if she wants to call out the clinician or not. I already have called out Beverly over TNs presence at their schooling series…
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You are right about this one. I will contact the LTM to give them a heads up that I a personally think it’s despicable that they continue to allow River Chase into their “Best of Loudoun” contests, given that the business owner and primary coach is banned for life by SafeSport for criminal sexual offenses involving minors.
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Being that @mroades is a licensed official I’d like to think she has already done so. However I wouldn’t expect for her to confirm it here.
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In order for the A&A to kick in, you have to USEF members as participants, a show/clinic/facility affiliated with the USEF or local USEF affiliate and governed by their oversight, and a banned USEF member or formerly affiliated individual as a clinician/coach/instructor. TN sticks to the unrated schooling shows, so he’s not likely going to run afoul of the A&A rules and neither is D. BE is free to have him around and vice-versa, so long as it’s not an official affiliated horse show, official affiliated clinic, or anything where the local affiliate or USEF would have any oversight or governance. However, if any of the riders or parents TN has tied to his barn are USEF members that compete in these shows or take these clinics, the A&A kicks in. As far as we know, none of the kids are, but the older riders or the parents may be USEF members. One would have to cross-reference the USEF membership database with whatever information is available about the barn’s customers and who attends any given event.
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I’m confident she’s taken steps to address it. I respect her for calling it out on this thread, as it was my impetus to peek at TNs public social media… and low and behold, when I did, I saw that he was publicizing his presence at the Beverly shows. It’s pretty obvious from his social media that he is cultivating an impression that he is NOT still banned for life by SafeSport. I actually went back and double checked the lists before calling out the farm … just to be sure I wasn’t missing something… and he IS still listed in both the USEF and the SafeSport database as banned for life. And it is no longer subject to appeal.
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All Fair points. I get what you are saying. I’m coming at it from the simple perspective that whether it’s allowed or not, it’s a PISS POOR choice on BE’s part of they are willfully permitting him to attend these shows. They should be better than this.
As for the clinician going to River Chase… if the clinician themself is a USEF member, I assume that is all it takes to trigger the A&A provision. TN owns the business known as River Chase (even though he’s just a tenant on the property). Maybe it’s more of a gray area than that though, if all the participants in the clinic are not actually USEF members.
Whatever the case… even if it’s technically not a rule violation (like the BE schooling show issue)… it’s a PISS POOR choice on the part of the clinician involved. And it caught the eye of a licensed official, because the clinician involved posted about this clinic on Social media.
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Keep in mind that the Safesport code for A&A has the “included, but not limited to, knowingly” specification, so you can certainly put it in front of them and they may run with it or point to the exact text of the code, as is their discretion. Again, you’d have to prove that BE knows TN has been a naughty boy and isn’t following the rules.
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Important update.
It’s my understanding now that Darrin of Beverly Equestrian has taken it on herself to look into Tom Navarro’s presence at their schooling series, as she apparently has no desire to have someone banned by SafeSport attending these shows.
Apparently he is now aware that he’s not welcome.
So… regardless of any minor back and forth between myself and @TheDBYC … we got a good result to this situation. And it’s really reassuring to know that Beverly does take SafeSport seriously, and has handled this matter.
It’s a good thing when folks don’t need to get mired in the minutiae of the rule book, and can just come together as a local community and decide that the sport is better off WITHOUT certain people attending shows. Even schooling shows.
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Hopefully, this means that she will stop doing business with him all-together and not just say “Your riders can come to the show, but you can’t.”. Given her job and standing at the higher levels, I would think that she is smart enough to avoid the liability and potential SafeSport fallout by cutting all ties with him.
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I hear you, but have no information as to that wrinkle.
Given the nature of Navarro’s program and clientele, and the public pictures on social media, it seems like most of these folks are using the farm trailer for transport to and from shows, and that they are at the stage where they do need coaching when out at shows (nothing wrong with that… it’s just my impression from the public info I saw about this… they don’t appear to be super experienced adult ammy types, who can operate independently).
So my guess is that by limiting his attendance, it will de facto limit theirs.
Hopefully, this causes some folks to just pause and think about the wisdom of continuing to ride with, and support someone on the lifetime banned list. Especially parents of minors who are currently riding in this guy’s program.
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It looks like a bunch of RCF students competed last weekend at a rated show at Morven, with one of the RCF trainers, Sarah Willson.
He’s also hosting summer camps targeted for pre-teens - disturbing.
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