When Exposed to The Withering Sun

What can you as a horse owner, as in you, you directly, you the person who is reading this and who I am pointing at at this moment,  do to make this a better, safer nation? 

I just finished "MindHunter", John Douglas' memoir , written along with Mark Olshaker, of the development of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. For over twenty years I have been a prosecutor of crimes against children, child molestation, sexual assault and murder, along with a range of other criminal offenses. For nearly as long I have been teaching natural horsemanship to people who come from a range of backgrounds, including some who have suffered the most severe childhood trauma that one could imagine. 

I have watched immersion in equine relationships completely change lives.

One can search key words on this blog, such as "trauma", PTSD, "Prey Animal," and "healing" to get more information on this aspect of our program. A few years ago I learned of the significance of Adverse Childhood Experiences. If you are not aware of the ACE score importance please see https://vetoviolence.cdc.gov/apps/phl/resource_center_infographic.html 

The most important lesson that I have learned from the ACE research is that we can often  change future behavior , and reduce future suffering by intervening in a positive manner with young people regardless of how high their ACE score is. 

I am a believer in counselling. I am a believer in medication. I am a believer in science. But most of all I am a believer in love. One need not develop a program as large as ours to ease the suffering of young people. I have been told by numerous visitors over the years, in nearly the same terms-"I had a neighbor who had a horse. She knew some of what I was going through. If it had not been for her and that old horse I would not have survived."

If you have a horse be that neighbor. Be the intervenor that changes lives. Here's what John Douglas,a man who hunted serial killers, a professional crime fighter, a hard nosed lawman wrote, over 20 years ago in "Mindhunter":

"But twenty-five years of observation has also told me that criminals are more "made" than "born" which means that somewhere along the line, someone who provided a profound negative influence could have provided a profound positive one instead. So what I truly believe is that, along with more money and police and prisons, what we most need more of  is love. This is not being simplistic:

it's at the very heart of the issue."

And you and your horse can provide that love. And while your horse is standing there idly in the stable and while you are scrolling through your phone there is a kid in your community reaching over to find an old razor blade.