Ruffian

Below is the September 2, 1974 issue of The Blood Horse. On the cover, the great filly Ruffian. She died July 7, 1975, after breaking down in a match race against Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure.

I remember feeling a chill when I saw this cover. I immediately showed it to my husband and said, "Doesn't this look like a sesamoid fracture waiting to happen?" The photo troubled me so much, I kept this magazine, the only one I saved from my one year subscription. I kept looking at those incredibly long pasterns, those delicate legs, delicate even by race horse standards.

Ruffian came by her bones honestly if not fortunately. Her sire, the infamously fragile Reviewer broke down three times during his racing days. Even retirement didn't save him. Only 11, he broke his left hind leg while in his paddock and had to be put down. Ruffian's dam Shenanigans was a daughter of Native Dancer, a wildly superior race horse, but also a horse associated with unsoundness.

Given all this, I was quite worried when the gates flew open for the match race. The details of the attempts to save her still trouble me almost as much as watching this short, non-graphic clip of her breakdown.

About the best thing I can say about the Monday she died was that no one I worked with was surprised. I'd told my co-workers about the difficulty of repairing broken bones in equines before this race.

I'm not against racing. A few accidents will happen, but American race horse breeding is equicidal. We breed horses too delicate to exist with other horses too delicate to exist in order to get even faster horses too delicate to exist. Ruffian was one example. Eight Belles was another. That sweet filly broke both ankles while pulling up after a second place finish in the 2008 Kentucky Derby. Unsurprisingly, Eight Belles pedigree was festooned with the name Raise a Native, he by Native Dancer.

Yes, American race horses fly--but too often they fly apart.

The Answer to Abuse: Censorship

In the United States right now, there's a move in many states to stop people from going undercover to attempt to find animal abuse in factory farms or in gaited horse training and so on. It's an odd twist at best. Instead of stopping animal abuse, just stop people from showing the world animal abuse.

Unfortunately, the United States is not alone. In Europe, those who have been documenting the use of rollkur, a severe dressage training method that overbends a horse, in warm-up rings have been met with the same sort of reaction.

Here's an example of rollkur:

This is NOT how horses hold their heads. This is not what will be required in the show ring. This is--oh, just read Tug of War by German veterinarian and certified trainer Dr. Gerd Heuschmann. He damns the technique quite effectively.

But the people who train this way turn out utterly submissive horses that WIN, and that means it's not abuse, right? Winning is everything after all, so, as with the soring of Tennessee walking horses, the answer is not to ban the winning technique, the answer is to attempt to stop people from revealing the dirty little secrets behind the winning.

Here's an article discussing the situation: "If the Shoe Fits"

Here's another photo of non-existent warm-up ring horse abuse:

But you won't be seeing many more of these photos if the trend continues of allowing the abuse to continue while banning attempts to expose it. In the current twisted world of dressage, abuse wins--on many levels.
 

Sheik Mohammed Reacts to the Steroid Scandal

UAE to Criminalize Steroid Use in Horses

Having the ability to issue decrees makes change easier.

Horses As Teachers

When I started teaching college composition, I realized that my pointed wit and abrupt comments, all too well known to my friends and spouse, would spook most college students. The answer came to me as I worked to calm a particularly insecure, over-reactive horse: treat my students as if they were horses--steady and encourage the insecure ones, use vigorous energy to get the sluggish ones going, and so forth.

Using the same body language and energy level I'd use in the arena or round pen worked even better than I'd hoped. The first few years, I used it consciously, but now it's automatic. Too few of us realize how knowing horses can be of help to those who must work with people.

Given that, I was delighted to see this article: "Open Up, Say 'Neigh': Horses Help Teach Med Students."

Xavier Perez's Wild Ride

I've read lots of articles offering opinions and statistics on which professional sport has the best conditioned athletes. Several of these didn't even consider jockeys. Those that did usually put them at or near the top. Race riders need stamina, balance, strength, coordination, and they need all those packed into a spare body.

Good jockeys need more than physical condition though. Guts. Persistence. Timing. Much more. In the video of the last race at Pimlico on April 13, 2013, Xavier Perez quite possibly shows them all.

I never thought I'd see a 21st Century jockey recover from two bolts and then nearly win a race sitting like a 19th Century rider.

(The video appears at the bottom of the article, but here's a direct link to the race on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FbH3N5VJzBE )

UPDATE: On April 16, Britain's Guardian newspaper posted a minute long clip of this race: "Spicer Cub: Unluckiest Horse Racing Loser Ever? – video." The title suggests someone didn't know much about horses. Luck had little to do with this.


And here's another head-on view of the stretch: "Horse Runs Wrong Way on Homestretch, Almost Wins Race."

Spanish Horses Sent to Slaughter

"In Crisis, Last Roundup for Horses in Spain Is the Slaughterhouse"

As the owner of a pure Spanish horse, a horse whose intelligence and generosity startles me almost every day, I find this article extremely depressing.

And, of course, the story only gets worse. Here's an outdated video from 2008:

"Spain to Italy: Horses Driven for 36 Hours before Slaughter"

For me, transport is the worst part of the slaughter process.

A Question on the Trot

Here are two images of quite well known horses. I own the rights to neither photo and, for ease of comparison, have flipped image B so the horses are headed in the same direction. I've not posted the source URLs yet since I would like to ask a question of anyone who stumbles upon this site:

What specific type of trot is each horse performing? 

If you have time, I'd like to know how you decided. That is, what are the characteristics of whatever type of trot you assign to each horse. I will appreciate even the briefest of comments though, for example,  "both horses - jog trot," which I'm guessing anyone who hit this site will know is wildly incorrect.

HORSE A

HORSE B

This is a rarely visited blog, but when (if?) I collect at least ten answers, I'll post the source URLs with their description of the type of trot.  

By the way, I'm just curious. I do not show. I have no vested interests. I'm just CURIOUS.