I’m not from this area, but Google/Yelp/FB reviews stating the name of the pros working at these barns and their legal histories (or just a suggestion to Google them thoroughly before considering doing business with them) might help out some non-horsey parents…
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Someone posted in a horse group several years ago about being wronged (financially) by a trainer who was banned via SafeSport. Trainer (John Lipari) worked out of the Norco, CA area and is now dead. I asked why you would do business with someone who was on the list because 1-daughter’s safety and 2-someone who is a child predator might not be the most ethical person generally. She said that he’d been quite open about “all that” and had said it was all behind him in part because he was too old to catch a teenager. So she had zero problems with her daughter riding with him.
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There are several Google and Yelp reviews warning people away from his lesson program, and speaking to the SafeSport concerns, as well as really poor care the lesson horses receive, and generally poor horsemanship.
Like I said earlier… it’s the geographic location that allows Tom to keep on operating a successful business. I’ve lived all up and down the East coast… the population density of affluent suburban parents looking for activities for their kids to do in Northern Virginia? It’s kind of crazy. A really easy place to find paying clients. Tom also clearly has a knack for identifying real estate opportunities to run his programs out of… farms that are in transition and in need of help managing. He definitely is running two programs right now… both targeted toward lower level/teenaged students… River Chase (based in Aldie) and Wulf Crest (based in Leesburg).
One thing that hasn’t been done that I can see, is a general PSA Facebook post in either the Middleburg Uncensored group or Wearern Loudoun Community Connect group. Someone who is less worried about online privacy than myself could just post something like this:
“PSA for local families looking for riding lesson programs for tweens and teens in Loudoun County. The USEF SafeSport list is a great resource to check out, to make sure the instructor you are considering entrusting your child with isn’t identified as having a problematic criminal history, or other allegations regarding g misconduct with minors. Here’s a link to the updated list of sanctioned individuals.”
A post like that might catch many local folks’ and local parents’ attention, and possibly come up if people searched “riding lessons” in either of those groups, looking for recommendations… and those are two ‘go to’ groups I know of offhand that people use to find those sort of recommendations. The Virginia Horse Network group used to be busy too… but now it mostly is just used tack sales.
Tom would darn well know a post like this was pointing squarely in his direction… but legally, I don’t see any problem with it, or anything he could do about it. It’s pretty straightforward truth.
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It’s super sad to me when people care more about being financially wronged than they do about sexual predators who target minors.
Good for you for calling the poster out @Peggy .
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When they say, “You can’t fix stupid.” this is what they’re talking about.
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Most children’s activities these days go through a club or nonprofit or community center that does background checks on staff. Parents probably assume this. I doubt too many parents run police checks in multiple states on school teachers. Parents may not fully realize that riding lessons are an entirely unregulated small business or owner operator kind of thing with absolutely no oversight, regulations, certification process or governing body. They might not realize that any fool can start up a lesson program. It is indeed quite shocking when you think about it in relation to other kids sports and instruction.
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You know… I’ve thought about this issue some more, relatively recently. I was talking with a friend who is an instructor… about the challenge in terms of identifying quality instruction and quality professionals. We were speaking more about intermediate to advanced instruction, ICP for eventing coaches, the German Bereiter program, the British Horse Society accreditation programs… honestly… there are multiple interesting models to look at for how to come up with a decent certification program.
But the US is so fragmented and varied in terms of equestrian sport, and various organizations that are local or National in scope. And honestly, in my opinion… every time people talk about some sort of certification program… they ignore the lowest common denominator… where it is desperately needed. Beginner lesson barns. In my opinion, it would be great if USEF had some sort of “Beginner Riding Instructor Certification.” In order to qualify for this, people should:
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Be able to pass a background check, and not be under investigation by SafeSport, much less banned by SafeSport
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Pass some sort of written exam, that covers a wide range of basics. How to properly groom a horse before it’s tacked up and ridden. It’s appalling how many lesson ponies are not adequately groomed… but still dutifully go around rings with small children on them.
What sort of helmets all beginner riders should wear. Etc. I’m talking about basics… lots of Pony Club manual type of stuff. -
The instructor should have some sort of competition record demonstrating that they themselves are proficient at riding up through a certain level. They might be older and no longer ride themselves… but maybe they achieved their “B” rating in Pony Club years ago. Or evented at Training Level. Or competed in recognized Hunter/Jumper shows at some point in a division that was at least 3’6”. My point is, the person seeking the credential needn’t have been top level rider themself… but should have done enough riding and competing up to a certain level that they have demonstrated a decent degree of proficiency. That’s necessary for someone to have a healthy respect for the time it takes to build solid basics so that a young rider is safe and solid enough to move from walking and trotting, to learning to canter around and jump small courses of cross rails or 18 inch jumps. I’m a mom with a kid who is now jumping small courses… and we’ve taken our time to build STRONG fundamentals. It’s now fall, and pony has been a little spooky and spicy lately… and I’m glad my kid got great instruction and has half a clue how to ride through some of the naughtiness, do lots of transitions and circle the pony, etc etc. Adjust the pony’s speed at the trot over and over, to get her more responsive to the aids, and focused. Go through some trot poles. Basic stuff, that makes riding safer for my child on the days when the pony is NOT being her best self.
I don’t know. I’m just spitballing here. But some combo of a background check, passing a written test, and having some sort of recognizable riding and competition credentials… all 3 together… and a small fee… and voila - a USEF certification with respect to beginning riding instruction.
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You are basically describing the components of Equine Canada instructor certification. Pass a riding competency exam, a written test, a teaching demo, and a background check and I think a concussion course too now.
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@Virginia_Horse_Mom: ask the administrator of the group to post on your behalf. I see these posts all the time in my neighborhood group (“Posting for a group member who requests to remain…”). Maybe that will be enough to give parents a heads-up.
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That’s interesting @Scribbler ! I’ll mentally add Canada to the list of countries with reasonable basic certification programs. And a concussion course? VERY good idea 
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The new USHJA Credential Program aims to do just this. It should be rolled out in the next 6 months and is a different program than the former TCP.
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Pony Club?
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Holy what? Really?
I was looking through the list and while there are a couple of eventers, dressage, saddlebred trainers on it, the majority are from the Hunter/Jumper disciplines. I wonder why that is? What makes H/J more prone to this activity?
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Maybe just the H/J are busy reporting?
In my part of the world the number of H/J lesson type barns far exceeds the number of eventing/dressage lesson type barns (I don’t think there are any saddlebred lesson barns). That might be part of the reason for the slanted numbers.
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Also overall greater numbers of h/j participants in USEF as compared to many disciplines.
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It is a manifestation of the sheer number of riders. Statistically speaking, H/J is the most popular, organized, and communal of the Horse sports, with the largest concentration of riders and instructors, with the riders being mostly young and female and the prominent instructors apparently being male, whereas the others are either very individual-oriented and/or skewed towards older participants who are female. That, coupled with the culture of “anything goes” acceptance within the social circles at all levels of the sport, makes it very easy for those in a position of social/political power to do as they please and get away with it. We know that there are many misguided and delusional people in those social circles who genuinely feel and openly state that George Morris did nothing wrong at any time and that he was just getting what he needed, how he needed it, and that he should be fully reinstated, with financial reimbursement for the pain and suffering that SafeSport has caused him. Because these sorts of people are and have been the nucleus of the sport and it’s supporting culture for decades, they are the ones who have set the tone and made it the cesspool that it has become.
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In related news: Wulf Crest has added who their trainers are to their website: https://www.wcfstables.com/team-3
No mention of Tom Navarro who lives in property. Also, looks like they are holding all day camp during the week of Nov 1 when local
Schools are closed.
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Yup. KMSFH posted that it was coming.
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