Sexual abuse of women and children in society is a problem that has no political affiliation. And politicians in general are absolute DIRTBAGS. Right and Left.
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Seriously, leave the “p” word out of this. Walk away. Someone will take offense to the word “the” in a blanket statement made with good intentions and won’t be able to resist commenting. Next thing you know, the entire thread will be shut down. :no:
This has been a good thread with a lot of rational voices. While the majority of the voices tend to be on the same page, I appreciate that those who disagree have been able to do so in a more mature manner than what is happening on social media.
And it’s refreshing and encouraging that so many individuals on COTH find sexual misconduct to be an actual problem in the horse industry. Reading FB has made me lose faith in humanity.
So… changing the subject. I see SafeSport announced a new CEO this week:
https://safesport.org/files/details/129
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Yes their are other issues as to why some breeds may want to leave USEF BUT when you read the comments some these members have about Safesport it is the same doom and gloom we are seeing in the hunters now. I believe the old message boards are gone but I think you would see some of the same sentiment on them as well.
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I agree. And I think putting Jimmy Williams on the list sent a great message. You can’t get much bigger than Jimmy Williams. And, the rise of the MeToo movement along with the fact that JW had been dead for years, likely gave women the impetus and courage to speak up - and a lot of women spoke up. So many women! And so many who also have some degree of status within the industry.
In effect, it allowed SafeSport to say, “See? We don’t care how big you are or how long it has been, we’re going to come after you if you molest children” and in this case, they were able to do it with such overwhelming evidence that no rational human being could deny that it happened. I think in a way the fact that JW was already long dead is what allowed this to happen.
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I haven’t seen those message boards so unless they started in on victim shaming it’s not at the same level. Also, they put their money where their mouth is and left. BN and others have threatening for years. Instead of spending their energy to leave, they spin a false narrative and say so what? It was 30 years ago. That’s not doom and gloom. That’s repulsive. Convicted child molesters are getting likes and support from these people.
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You are right. Thanks for being a cooler head 
I found another more comprehensive press release about her. It seems like she has extensive experience in terms of missing and exploited children, and the problem of sexual abuse in general. And also, a lot of experience with large national organizations. She certainly is an “athlete centric” choice and I would assume the emphasis will be on how best to set up a Center and processes that are effective in terms of addressing child sexual abuse in sports.
https://www.einnews.com/amp/pr_news/488258957/the-u-s-center-for-safesport-names-ju-riese-col-n-ceo
Don’t you think 52 pages of the same thing said over & over might just be enough? Denali6298 has been dominating this thread since 12:55 last Saturday morning. Evidently, she doesn’t have much else to do. Tired of all the complaining. Either do something about pedophiles, sexual abuse, and the like in our society, or get off the pot. No body ever died from NOT going to a horse show. Soon, this thread will be replaced by another, and the same outrage will start all over again. It’s like talking to a bunch of 16 year old’s.
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I am not sure how you’re improving the quality of the discourse with those comments.
As always, choosing not to read a thread you don’t find valuable is an option.
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No one has left but the carriage drivers and I don’t think it had much to do with Safe Sport. The other breeds are still with USEF.
Not sure why you want victim shaming and Safe sport hatred to only be a hunter thing. As many have posted this is the result of a cultural problem and thus goes across breed and sport lines.
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And yet, here you are.
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I haven’t entered an Arab show in the last mumble years, but a quick check of the entry form for the next one in my region shows that it is still a USEF recognized show.
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I thought the breeds left as well? I could have sworn I read they did some where. My mistake as I thought they left as well.
@anotherera by all mean talk politics if you want, but there is a reason no one has touched on that. It’s against forum rules. I’m sorry my posting habits offend you.
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@Texarkana I feel the same way about the level of discourse in this thread. I think that 90% of us are on the same page that we recognize there is a serious problem and something must be done to help victims of abuse (adults as well as minors) in the industry. Even if there is some disagreement regarding the best way to go about it.
It’s interesting, because FB is far less anonymous and so much of it–not just on personal pages but even on the Chronicle’s posts–was just crazy and ill-informed.
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None of the breeds have left USEF. They talk about it frequently but never follow through.
The combined registry offices of the Shetlands, Welsh, Show Pony and Minis (AMHR) have breeds both under and not under USEF rules.
Carriage Driving and Endurance have voted to leave.
FEI terminated agreements with NRHA and AQHA last fall.
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Thank you for the clarification. My intent is not to make it seem like hunters are the only ones that have a problem. However, when they speak about defecting it’s never about other issues with the USEF like is it cost effective for us to even belong or in the case of endurance, the way the USEF and FEI handle things most recently WEG. It is always about people getting caught drugging horses and molesting people/children.
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Well it does seem that way for sure but I think I have seen people bring up the cost issue once or twice in regards to hunters separating from USEF.
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I’ve seen rational people do the same. Thank you for the information.
I have seen a lot of people I know a respect IRL support this nonsense on Facebook so that colors my opinion.
@Texarkana - thanks for being a cooler head. Blanket statement that I made about the p word has been deleted, because you are 100% right
As far as the new CEO for Safe Sport, I tried to link to a longer press release that came out about her two days ago… but I think the COTH software still has me pegged as a spammer or a Russian bot… so I can’t post any links! LOL. Oh well. That news release did go into detail about her resume, and 15 years of work with the national center for missing and exploited children, and a variety of other organizations. I find it interesting, and will be curious as to how she does. It seems like a tough job, that is going to require a skill set that will deal with funding shortfalls. It does seem like she has sufficient experience with organizations in the field of missing and exploited children to hire key people for open positions who have a lot of knowledge about these issues. That’s a good thing when it comes to developing good training and education policies and programs. Hopefully a good thing in terms of conducting effective investigations as well.
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So if the figures that someone put forth, Safe Sport thought they would have 35 cases a year and they really have 800, it no wonder the funding is falling short. I think the real test will be, does it get the federal funding it needs?
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I truly do think it has more to do with the constant rising costs to compete in the sport. Then a drug case comes along (like the Glefke case) where it is made abundantly clear that the testing lab has major issues and that, quite frankly, the results cannot be trusted. So we have spent all this money for drug tests that are proven to be invalid, AND we are paying for USEF attorneys to attempt to defend something that is indefensible. Who knows what payouts had to be made to Glefke after that mess. It highly frustrating to fund this trainwreck with our membership dollars. THAT is why the timing of defecting coincides with drug testing.
A few posts up someone mentioned how a friend did a 180 on BN. Well, so did I. At first I thought “She is really good at finding the loophole.” But then I realized it is more than that. She has found major issues, not small loopholes, and has exposed them. This isn’t a bad thing and I’m glad the situation allowed for some light to be shed on the process. I, for one, do not enjoy my membership dollars to go toward required elements, like drug testing, that are later found to be invalid. I think it’s unfair to keep accusing those who are tired of the same old/same old of being pro drugs and pro predator as @Denali6298 continues to do (not in those exact words and those are not quotes from her directly). But she has her own feelings and she is entitled to her opinion. The thing about opinions is that they are like a-holes and everyone has one.
For someone like me, I prefer my membership dollars to go toward proper drug testing. I prefer my membership dollars to go toward fair rules of play that are clear to all. I prefer my membership dollars to support ALL levels of the support and not just the top tier or Olympic level rider. I have concerns over the rising COSTS of the sport, and how all these debacles end up driving up the cost of the sport. There have been SEVERAL names put on the USEF temporary suspension list that have been removed. What is the cost of these? Were these people denied the ability to compete over a false allegation? Where are the metrics for that - what percent are found to be false? What is the cost of all these investigations? We are paying for it - we deserve some transparency. When we say transparency, we don’t mean “victims names” as so many suggest. We mean you can strip that out but tell us what happened, what was the charge? Help us understand what the person did that was so egregious that they were smacked with a lifetime ban. Help us understand what the cost is when we get a lawsuit for putting someone’s name on a list suspending them and it is later found they are innocent (maybe they have video or other evidence). They had a loss of business for that period - are we reimbursing them? If not, are they filing suit? And at what cost to us, the member? THAT is why the timing of the request to defect coincides with SafeSport.
If USHJA leaving USEF would allow them to use a better testing lab and be more honest with our drug testing and results, I am all for it. If defecting would allow us to make rules that are more clearly written so they are enforceable, then I am all for it. If defecting means we could wait to post a name until both sides have had a fair chance to present evidence, then I am all for it.
That’s all.
@Denali6298, you can continue to believe this is a black white issue and that we are all either with you or against you. I am very sad you are a victim. I hope you someday get the chance to heal and to see the world with a kinder eye that is less inflammatory, judgmental, and accusatory. I think that will come with time as you find solace in life. I am sure it is hard on you to keep seeing this topic. Just know that not all of oppose being a part of USEF because we want to drug our horses and molest kids - we want transparency, fair rules of play, and correctness and we want to be able to trust our parent organization to execute fairly, swiftly,and correctly. What many of us don’t believe in is the current execution and the costs associated with the recurring poor execution. That’s all.
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