The USEF Affiliates are breed and discipline organizations.
Recognized Affiliate Associations | US Equestrian (usef.org)
The USHJA Affiliate organizations tend to be the state horse show orgs, like VHSA, and it’s not listed amongst them.
Find an Affiliate :: USHJA
I’m not a VHSA member so I’ve got no dog in this fight. But their members should be asking for clarification on this issue, and enforcement of those bans.
Per the VHSA 2024 rule book, they are an affiliate of USEF.
Here is a link to the rule book.
http://www.vhsa.com/assets/images/uploads/9EpE2024RuleBook.pdf
Here is a screenshot of Article I which spells that out.
What is noteworthy is that Wulf Crest Stables became a lifetime VHSA member in December of 2023, and their member information seems to indicate that VHSA regards Luis Cortes as President and Owner of Wulf Crest.
Per USEF rules, USEF members are prohibited from doing business with individuals banned by SafeSport. I’m curious if VHSA recognizes the same requirements for their membership? Luis Cortes and Tom Navarro have a longstanding business relationship (employer - employee).
I received an email saying that USEF and the IEA have been made aware of this matter. Our contact would like you all to know they are continuing to work on it, and are as unhappy about the situation as we are.
Thank you for the helpful screen shots. 
My pleasure. 
You would not think it is that hard to keep sex abusers away from kids, but apparently it is.
I want to make it clear that I have only been relaying information that COTH members have provided, to a well respected person in the H/J world who is actually doing something about it.
They deserve the credit, not me.
Absolutely! I’m just glad someone had the right contacts to pass the info on and the knowledge to use the board for resources/receipts.
Kudos to you anyway for passing the info along! I’m sure they appreciate anything they can get.
Kudos to the COTH members who stepped up to provide the information that a person who is permanently banned by Safe Sport for the criminal sexual abuse of a child, is indeed in the horse business, having summer camps for kids.
He’s been teaching kids (and apparently has been for years) while people who know of his Safe Sport ban, PARENTS WITH CHILDREN, are making excuses and looking the other way.
Well done you COTH for letting the sun shine in on that darkness…
If they’re claiming this then they should be enforcing the rules. Their membership needs to push this with VHSA, and enforce the ban at their shows, the way skydy has gotten folks to take it up with USEF and IEA.
Unfortunately, as of late last summer, public posts on social media indicate River Chase (Tom Navarro) took a trailer full of young riders to a schooling show held at the farm of a Senior VHSA member. I guess it’s possible that she didn’t know who he was, and that’s the reason he was allowed on the farm to participate in the show with a truck full of young students. That’s what happened when he did the same thing with Beverly Equestrian in 2021. But honestly… he is the only SafeSport banned person in NoVa trying to pull these stunts and still coach kids and attend shows. He’s been banned for YEARS. Many people know exactly who he is, and what the issues involved are. I really don’t think it’s too much to expect that senior VHSA members are aware of who he is, and refuse to allow him to bring students to participate in schooling shows at their farms. He uses every opportunity like this to promote his farm on social media and create the impression that he is a respected and legitimate part of the local horse related community…
A neighbor was interested in being on the board of our local Big Brothers/Big Sisters. When he was talking to a board member about the organization, he asked them what their mission was. The board member replied that their main activity was screening out pedophiles. It floored my neighbor, but the reality is that people who want to exploit youth relentlessly search for the organization that ignorantly/deliberately/carelessly lets them in.
Think about how sick someone must be to make this the main focus of their life.
Think about how strong and relentless the rest of us must be to keep them away from our kids.
Kudos to everyone in this discussion who is trying to stop this from happening in VA. There’s really no way for you to know who you are protecting from having their life ruined, but keep the faith and do the right thing. We support and admire you!
call me an @$$ but willingly allowing your child/teenager to spend any amount of unsupervised time with a registered sex offender would classify as child endangerment to me.
I understand that these offenders have been offered their punishment and served it but in my eyes there is no rehabilitation for the sickos like this in the world and I have a hard time believing anything that is stated along the lines that they will never prey on a child again.
Zero argument from me.
They run camps for ages 5 and up during winter, spring and summer break at this farm. They are drop off camps that go all day…
Here’s a screenshot of this summer’s promotion, though I cropped out the contact info.
Again, the farm is proudly owned and operated by someone who is lifetime banned by SafeSport due to a felony record involving a charge of sodomy with a minor. He was listed on the local sex offender site for over a decade until he got his name removed, allegedly because of specific terms related to his original plea deal. But his record is still out there, and he lost his attempt to appeal his SafeSport ban.
I can’t fathom why anyone would leave their child with this person all day for camp. There are MANY MANY MANY other camp options available in this area.
That’s one of the things that really baffles me…it’s been a while since I lived there, but unless things have changed drastically you can’t throw a rock without hitting a barn in that area. With all the options, why on earth would you choose the one run by someone with a SafeSport ban?
There exists no universe in which I’m more upset about shady business practices and poor horse care than (i) conviction of sodomy with a minor; (ii) sex offender status; and/or (iii) a Safe Sport lifetime ban.
Holy hell.
The area has had an INSANE amount of suburban growth over the last decade. There are a ton of parents who live in the ‘burbs of eastern Loudoun who have kids in school. And the kids hear from a friend about what a fun time the friend is having taking riding lessons somewhere, and so the parent signs their kid up for lessons at the same place.
It seems like the majority of his minor clients have parents who don’t have a riding background of their own, and don’t know to check out something like SafeSport, and thus his business can continue to thrive with the steady stream of newbie clients.
Eventually people hear about the criminal past or ban from other people in the local equestrian community and switch barns. But it seems to take a little while for many folks. And the parents who are new to the whole riding thing don’t necessarily know to look at a USEF list, etc.
There is a specific circle of loyal Tom clients involving a few adult amateurs who have been supportive of him for years. I guess they just believe his excuses/justifications regarding the original criminal record. Clearly SafeSport was unpersuaded.
What I find galling are the attempts to attend local schooling shows at respected places, then publicize it on social media. It creates the appearance that he is no longer banned. That’s deliberate. The reality seems to be that he is slipping through the cracks, and very persistent in his attempts to circumvent his ban.
I’m getting flashbacks to Flintridge, where so many adults chose to look the other way, despite warnings, because JW was such a great coach with a gregarious personality and besides, he wasn’t molesting their daughters.
Let’s see. How did that eventually turn out?
This exact scenario happened in
Ct. where a young girl in my extended family was enrolled in
a riding program.
Despite the rumors about the past history of the barn owner,
none of the parents took action
to pull their child out of the program. This barn frequently had parties and evening activities where large gangs of minor girls were dropped off unattended by parents.
The parents were all new to the horse world and ignored the
warnings about the convicted pedo barn owner.
What finally got my family member to disenroll their child?
One night BO allowed a large group of girls (8-12 yrs. old) to
have an unsupervised trail ride,
after dark, on the lesson horses,
then they all decided to race back to the barn.
A horrific crash of horses and little girls happened. Injuries needing life flight and several more ambulances were called.
Finally,my family member disenrolled her 9 yr. old.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
