Putting Pain to Sleep

I am a prosecutor when I am not in the horse lot. I was asked yesterday how I can find time to be with the horses and my riders with a job as demanding as being a prosecutor.

I find myself spending so much time with my horses, not in spite of my job, but because of my job. The week began with several molestation cases, violent car jacking, robbery and assault cases and a new case involving the death of a most innocent victim. Being a prosecutor is an easy job if one wants to simply join in the chorus of the howls of the ignorant and seek to "give them the maximum sentence" in every case. I am primarily a prosecutor in juvenile court. It is my duty to seek more than mere punishment. Any fool can do that. My major task is to prevent crime by dealing with the defendant's problems that are often at the root of the criminal behavior.

I was not raised like other people. Over the years my parents had over 150 foster children and I have a dozen younger adopted siblings. We are all products of our experiences. All too often, being raised in a loving, supportive home does not afford one with sufficient experiences to have any understanding of those raised in torture chambers of abuse and neglect.

Dealing with that lack of understanding is sometimes more frustrating than dealing with the crime itself. I must admit that I have, on occasion, wanted to give such people a glimpse into the Hell that serves as childhood for many kids in every community in this nation.

When such parents complain indignantly about the child who stole their child's newest expensive electronic toy, I find it difficult to contain myself as they haughtily declare that their child would never do anything as depraved as stealing an Ipod. I want so badly to point out that their child had not been molested for ten of its twelve years on this earth and that if the tables were turned their child might not be doing so well.

In any event, the week began as set out above and it is ending with the following:

1. A Troop of 13 Boy Scouts is camping out at the Little Horse and earning their equine merit badges plus everything else that I can stuff into their heads. Corolla preservation, natural horse care, natural hoof care, and natural horsemanship have been the focus of their weekend. Late yesterday, they watched as Stands With a Fist was given a solid round pen and despooking session which concluded with a calm young mare softly walking around the round pen with Lydia firmly in the saddle.

2. Hannah and Caleb returning from a ride with their faces as animated as cartoon characters. They experienced something that I do not see in court--joy.

3. Little Hannah standing before the Scouts, who towered above her, as she presented a succinct explanation of some of the training techniques that we use.

4. Christian demonstrating perfect cantering form on his horse One Bull, a horse that Christian trained himself.

5. Lea demonstrating round pen work on Stands With a Fist and giving the Scouts a chance to see a horse make a real connection with a person in the round pen.

6. Rylee, Lydia, and Emily assisting with the riding instruction portion of the program.

7. Bill, recently returned from a lengthy saddle making program demonstrating the saddle that he made and explaining the parts of the saddle to the Scouts.

8. Emily F. and Andrew proudly showing off their new horse.

9. Parents of riders working on repair projects and keeping us supplied with cold water in the 95 degree Fall weather.

10. Watching as the entire group of Scouts took turns riding Croatoan, Samson, and Porter, three wild Corollas, one a stallion, all gentle enough for complete novices to ride.

No bad dreams last night. No thoughts of court. Only sleep. Deep, painless sleep. Ironic indeed that being a juvenile prosecutor helps me spend more time with my horses by forcing me to do so --to put pain to sleep.