A Battle for the Children

Cheering on their favorite knights, the children from Canyon Acres Children’s Services visited a make-believe world Saturday when they were treated to sword fights and jousting demonstrations.

About 15 performers from Medieval Times treated the youngsters, many of them abused or developmentally disabled, to a 45-minute performance that featured knights fighting with real swords and jousting horses dressed in colorful costumes.

The 30 children from the home cheered for their favorite colorfully garbed knights, with yells of “Go, red!” “Go, red and yellow!” and “Go, black.”

The Buena Park-based Medieval Times also donated a 15-year-old gelding to Canyon Acres’ horse ranch, which already had four riding horses for the children.

Nestled in a canyon, the 4.6-acre residential treatment center and ranch cares for 30 children ranging in age from 5 to 12.

“Our kids have severe emotional problems and need intensive treatment,” executive director Daniel J. McQuaid said. “Our goal here is to transition them back to their birth family or a foster family.”

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Individual and group therapy is provided to the children. If a child successfully completes therapy at Canyon Acres, he or she is then placed in a group home. Counseling for both children and parents is also offered at the facility.

McQuaid cautioned the performers before the show that some of the children may react strangely to them and the horses. He also told them not to feel slighted if some children appeared disinterested in the performance.

However, once the show began, the children sat on the grass across from the corral where the jousting and sword fights were held, completely absorbed in the fantasy world of knights, kings, queens and squires.

The sparks produced by the clashing metal swords brought yelps of approval and looks of astonishment from the children. The jousting poles, made of balsa wood that breaks easily and minimizes the impact on the knights’ metal shields, shattered with sharp cracks.

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After the show, the children peppered the performers with questions about their horses, the swords used in the demonstration and other areas that interested them.

“Why did you give us the horse?” one child asked. Another asked if the horse was used to being around children. A small boy wanted to know what kind of metal was used to manufacture the swords and why the weapons could bend but did not break.

The performers patiently answered each question.

The Canyon Acres staff’s approval of the children’s curiosity was obvious. A smiling McQuaid walked among the children, listening to their questions.

“This is so great. Some of these kids spend much of their time in their own little world, but this has brought them out of their shell for a while,” McQuaid said.

Then he pointed to a girl who appeared to be 8 or 9 years old and had just asked a question. “She suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. She’s been severely traumatized and doesn’t interact well,” he said. “But look at her today.”