Wulfcrest is currently listed in the voting rounds for the Best of Loudoun in the Equestrian Center category. River Chase isn’t allowed to be a nomination due to Tom’s status. Loudoun Times Mirror allows Wulfcrest since they don’t have solid proof that Tom is affiliated. It’s very unfortunate… it’s just another way for Tom and SW to be supported in the community.
Voting ends next week I believe. But they made it to the 2nd round of voting with the top 5 contestants.
Anyone have suggestions on how to stop this from being allowed?
That has been done previously. But unless they have solid evidence that TN is associated with the facility they won’t remove their ability to be nominated and voted on.
Tom Navarro is lifetime banned by SafeSport because he has a criminal record involving a felony - sodomy of a minor.
River Chase Farm/Tom publicly posted about attending a show at YOUR facility last August and bringing students.
Soooo… it does seem like someone here is not being fully transparent/honest about whether or not Wulf Crest allows sex offenders or people banned by SafeSport onsite.
Is Luis Cortes officially on LLC documents pertaining to Wulf Crest? @LexInVA - haven’t you looked at public records related to this issue in the past?
He (Luis) is listed in multiple public posts as the point of contact for people to reach out to if they are interested in boarding at Wulf Crest. Here is the pinned post from the WCF social media…
Curiously enough though, there are multiple public posts on Facebook from winter of 2022 and April of 2023 which are associated with River Chase Farm, in which Luis Cortes is tagged. The boarders at River Chase seem to consider him part of the River Chase family, and a key River Chase staff member who supports various issues at the farm.
Just a reminder for everyone, Tom Navarro (lifetime banned by SafeSport) publicly states on his own social media that he is the owner/president/CEO of River Chase Farm.
So obviously Luis works?/worked? for Tom at River Chase.
The question is… does Luis also work for Tom at Wulf Crest? If Luis really is the owner/manager of Wulf Crest… Is it actually SafeSport compliant for someone to continue working for a banned person, while simultaneously opening a farm right down the road from their banned employer… a farm with a VERY similar business model that caters to young riders who want to show, and has an IEA team? That seems a little… problematic.
Luis is the listed person on the LLC paperwork for Wulf Crest. Took me 2 minutes to pull it up Does he work at River Chase, according to locals, yes.
I refuse to associate with anyone who supports River Chase and allows Tom Navarro on the property so I will not associate with either farms. My money, my preference. Yes, I share the SafeSport article every time I see any barns recommended in my area. Parents need to educate themselves.
If you are on the SafeSport list you should change your business model to not work with children. If you want to work with kids, you should remove all contact with those on the SafeSport List.
Thanks for weighing in and sharing who is on that LLC paperwork.
And I agree… I have no desire to deal with people on the banned list, or people who still choose to do business with convicted sex offenders or welcome them to their property for schooling shows. There are plenty of other venues and trainers available in this area that don’t have these associations.
I also completely agree… people on the banned list for actions involving exploitation of minors shouldn’t be coaching minors anymore. Pretty simple. But the reality is that in this area…. There’s a lot more money to be made coaching minors and taking them to shows, and hosting shows, than there is if someone is just running a boarding barn catering to adults who trail ride.
This situation will just continue the way it has until someone with a governing body decides to look into it seriously and actually do something about it.
I have said for a long time that my distaste for Tom and River Chase and River Chase II (aka Wulf Crest) has little to do with the sex offender status and more to do with his shady business practices and poor horse care. The sex offender thing is just an easy target.
Fairly often I have students come to me, switching from his program (and I’m referring to both barns, because they are one in the same). The parents are always shocked they didn’t realize sooner how sketchy it was. And not just Tom and his sex offender status - but quality of horse care, billing practices, etc.
I’ve also heard of a parent who had a child riding at River Chase, and switched barns TO WULF CREST not knowing it was the same organization. Imagine her surprise when she walked into the barn and saw good old Tom was in the office.
So we now have more contradictory information indicating a lack of candor about what they said concerning not having had sex offenders onsite.
I wonder if he hangs out in the office when they hold VHSA shows there? I know of multiple local people who are USEF members and who are supposed to abide by SafeSport code who attended those shows.
Again, any screen shots of prize lists, local shows included, results from schooling shows or USEF shows, anything that shows a connection with a USEF member interacting with Navarro and his students is helpful.
Obviously one of the people involved is aware of this thread and may be deleting things, but some things can’t be deleted and there is a way back machine.
To clarify, VHSA is a USEF affiliate, so they do have to comply with USEF rules and USEF rules take precedence over any and all VHSA rules, except when VHSA affiliate groups not affiliated with the USEF are in the mix of whatever the rules are being applied to, which means VHSA rules take precedence and USEF rules are not in effect. It’s the first Article in the VHSA rulebook.
