Yesterday I watched a documentary on Buck Brannigan, the horse whisperer who goes around giving clinics for people and their problem horses. Now Buck came from an extremely abusive childhood and could have been that way himself but he deliberately and consciously made the choice not to be.
One thing Buck kept saying is that the horse is a mirror of its owner. One of the most heartbreaking sequences in that film was about a yellow colt that was beyond control. Even Buck could do nothing with him. The animal was so dangerous that the owner said that she was going to have it put down.
The next day the other owners asked Buck if he could talk about the yellow colt. Buck explained in his gentle voice that when this particular colt was born something went wrong and it went without oxygen for a time before the vet was able to get there. As a result this horse had in human terms a learning disability. But, Buck said, he still could have made a nice horse. Maybe not a very bright horse, but a nice horse. The thing was, just as with learning disabled kids, you have to work with them a little extra. You have to be consistent, tough but fair.
This unfortunately did not happen with the yellow colt. The owner spoiled him, did not consistently discipline him, and let him to run with a herd of older stallions (I believe she said she had 18). Buck did not mince words. Lady, he said, you are nuts! No one needs that many studs! So this horse did not get a balanced picture of life with other horses. (By the way, stallions can run together and often do in the wild--though not in groups that large--as long as no mares are present--but Buck is right. Despite the romanticism of horse movies, a stallion is a potentially dangerous animal and should be handled with extreme care.)
Not only was this youngster on his own without appropriate role models, but apparently he was the target of neighborhood children who used to tease him in his pasture. And by teasing I don't mean they paused on their bikes and called out names. The owner had to come out on at least one occasion and break things up before her horse hurt or killed someone and in the process was attacked by the horse herself. This is what brought her to Buck's clinic. This colt, by the way, had not been gelded and was going through the process of adolescence and we all know what that means hormone-wise. In short, he was one unhappy and confused animal.
"He doesn't want to be that way," Buck told her. "But he doesn't know any better. And what he is going through is a reflection of what you've got going on back home." And in the end, it was the horse that paid the price. After attacking someone (on camera--this was no Hollywood stunt!) the owner decided that the best thing to do was to end it now before he killed someone, maybe a little kid.
While watching this I was thinking of Adam Lanza and other troubled youths like him. No, we can't euthanize them like that young stallion who was judged to be too dangerous to live, but what can we do with them? It seems like many of the same factors were present in Lanza's life. And there's a lot we probably aren't being told. "Kids were teasing him," the owner said of her doomed colt. "Kids can be cruel," we are told over and over. But we dare not, in the face of the parents' grief, raise the suggestion that maybe one or two of these victims might have done something to trigger Lanza's rage, maybe not that day but on other days? No one wants to think these things at this time. There's already too much grief.
In many ways, just as that out-of-control colt mirrored the life of his owner, Adam Lanza mirrored the life of his mother and the life of the community around him. He did not get the help he needed just as that horse did not get the help he needed. He was left to deal with his problems alone without good guidance. You might say that Adam Lanza was not an animal, that he had free will. Well, free will is a debatable concept, but he did have choices. Just as Buck Brannigan could choose to be a violent, abusive man like his father or go another way. Buck and his brother were rescued by a caring couple at a critical time in their lives. Someone cared enough to intervene and confront the father. No one apparently cared enough to confront Adam Lanza's parents and say, hey, you need to start spending more time with your son instead of going off and doing your own thing so much.
Happy endings don't just happen by people sitting back and doing nothing. Happy endings take work. In this case neither story had a happy ending.
One thing Buck kept saying is that the horse is a mirror of its owner. One of the most heartbreaking sequences in that film was about a yellow colt that was beyond control. Even Buck could do nothing with him. The animal was so dangerous that the owner said that she was going to have it put down.
The next day the other owners asked Buck if he could talk about the yellow colt. Buck explained in his gentle voice that when this particular colt was born something went wrong and it went without oxygen for a time before the vet was able to get there. As a result this horse had in human terms a learning disability. But, Buck said, he still could have made a nice horse. Maybe not a very bright horse, but a nice horse. The thing was, just as with learning disabled kids, you have to work with them a little extra. You have to be consistent, tough but fair.
This unfortunately did not happen with the yellow colt. The owner spoiled him, did not consistently discipline him, and let him to run with a herd of older stallions (I believe she said she had 18). Buck did not mince words. Lady, he said, you are nuts! No one needs that many studs! So this horse did not get a balanced picture of life with other horses. (By the way, stallions can run together and often do in the wild--though not in groups that large--as long as no mares are present--but Buck is right. Despite the romanticism of horse movies, a stallion is a potentially dangerous animal and should be handled with extreme care.)
Not only was this youngster on his own without appropriate role models, but apparently he was the target of neighborhood children who used to tease him in his pasture. And by teasing I don't mean they paused on their bikes and called out names. The owner had to come out on at least one occasion and break things up before her horse hurt or killed someone and in the process was attacked by the horse herself. This is what brought her to Buck's clinic. This colt, by the way, had not been gelded and was going through the process of adolescence and we all know what that means hormone-wise. In short, he was one unhappy and confused animal.
"He doesn't want to be that way," Buck told her. "But he doesn't know any better. And what he is going through is a reflection of what you've got going on back home." And in the end, it was the horse that paid the price. After attacking someone (on camera--this was no Hollywood stunt!) the owner decided that the best thing to do was to end it now before he killed someone, maybe a little kid.
While watching this I was thinking of Adam Lanza and other troubled youths like him. No, we can't euthanize them like that young stallion who was judged to be too dangerous to live, but what can we do with them? It seems like many of the same factors were present in Lanza's life. And there's a lot we probably aren't being told. "Kids were teasing him," the owner said of her doomed colt. "Kids can be cruel," we are told over and over. But we dare not, in the face of the parents' grief, raise the suggestion that maybe one or two of these victims might have done something to trigger Lanza's rage, maybe not that day but on other days? No one wants to think these things at this time. There's already too much grief.
In many ways, just as that out-of-control colt mirrored the life of his owner, Adam Lanza mirrored the life of his mother and the life of the community around him. He did not get the help he needed just as that horse did not get the help he needed. He was left to deal with his problems alone without good guidance. You might say that Adam Lanza was not an animal, that he had free will. Well, free will is a debatable concept, but he did have choices. Just as Buck Brannigan could choose to be a violent, abusive man like his father or go another way. Buck and his brother were rescued by a caring couple at a critical time in their lives. Someone cared enough to intervene and confront the father. No one apparently cared enough to confront Adam Lanza's parents and say, hey, you need to start spending more time with your son instead of going off and doing your own thing so much.
Happy endings don't just happen by people sitting back and doing nothing. Happy endings take work. In this case neither story had a happy ending.
