I remember when I was in school for animal science they told us that when horses are being woken up from surgery they are submerged in water. This started because of Ruffian. After they attempted to repair her leg so woke up thrashing like she thought she was still running. She undid everything the vets did during surgery and damaged her leg even more so they had no choice but to put her down.
@@markles1588 fuck that. even if she wasn’t put down she deserves a better than life being a brood mare. the industry is disgusting, and no horse should race in it even with “legendary lineage”
@@markles1588 I believe that this was to bad of an injury even to be a broodmare. (I have a irl brood mare who broke her back leg when she was 3 she’s 13 now and is our broodmare still) but I think this was way to bad, it looked like her whole lower part of her leg and her hoof was completely broken and no repairs was ever gonna make it to where it wasn’t excruciating pain. And it was the best decision to end her suffering
@@markles1588a horse needs 4 good legs and in this case it was the merciful thing to do. It would've been too dangerous for her to be under anesthesia again the damage was to severe
the pain that filly must have gone through was probaby something a good chunk of us will probably never experince in a thousand life times but she still stood and refused to colapse she was truly amazing
She went through even more pain than you think. Horses actually feel more pain than humans due since their skin is proportionally thinner than humans and horses have many more nerve endings in that skin as opposed to humans.
@@Kwiaty.w.wazoniee Ruffian shattered her cannon bone in her foreleg during this race. They attempted to preform surgery to save her. They succeeded, But once Ruffian woke up from the anesthesia, she began to freak out and just messed her leg up all over again. And in the end, they decided to euthanize her.
When she broke her leg, my heart broke💔 Also when her leg sugery ends, she want to run again and she broke another leg...💔😪 I CRY SOO BAD AT THIS MOMENT😭😭😭
@@ranch3773 I wrote A Public comment on Public video, because I wanted to everyone see that, and I didn't wanted The other peops starting A rude comments. I'm A calm person, but that's not nice if someone is just rude using sarcazm
@@Olivia-ov6jg Hickstead, Go For Wand,... There are so many race horses with that same fate. And all because some stupid ass heads love to see them running for their lives...
Destina 983 no, ruffian had a condition that made her bones softer and her leg was likely to break no matter what. Ruffian loves to run, and when she was on stall rest after he broken leg she got worse because she wanted to be free to run and not be stuck in a stall
@@Olivia-ov6jg Ruffian reacted badly to coming out of anesthesia. She was still in shock thrashed around and reinjured herself. Nothing to do with not wanting to live in a stall Where are you getting information on this “bone condition”? There was no such thing
I was at the track that day, heart wrenching to see. This beautiful horse should never be characterized as falling or breaking down, she was called home, there was just nothing left to prove.😪
Pf course she did not stop. She was trained to run, probably really stressed from the pain, and had another horse triggering her instinct to race. I feel bad for this poor horse. She did not deserv racing.
I was 10 when this race happened. My heart was shattered then and it still is today, 45 years later. Of course we all know this is from the movie and no horse was killed making it, but still reminds us of the real tragedy
Yep, and all could of been prevented if they were not greedy and pumped her full of drugs after a recent injury to appease the masses. Human greed is what killed her in the end, and that is what happened to a lot of great race horses.
I hate how people almost make a myth out of this poor mare. She did not keep running because she had to win. She was in pain, she got scared, and she ran at too high speed to just stop. And after the surgery, she was again scared and confused. She did not wanna run, she wanted to flee. Horses run away from any sort of danger, and that includes pain. I wish this mare, like so many other horses, could have had a normal life at a nice quiet farm with long walks in the woods and fun training in the padock. What happened to her is so unfair.
I feel so sad now I just can’t bear it she broke her leg and everyone is sad she is going to die because if horses brake their leg they are dead the saddest
Many horses break their legs and recover. However this was 1975, and even though she had an experienced surgeon, they put her in a stall lying down. When horses wake up from anesthesia, their initial reaction is to move. Ruffian even more so because she was born to run, and she wanted to finish her race. She had no idea what was going on. Again this was 1975 and they didn’t have the tools and knowledge we do today. This is the best they could do 45 years ago. So, many horses do break legs but now more often than not they heal with little to no ramifications
Leg fractures in horses run the gamut from minor injuries that can heal with stall rest to castastrophic ones with no hope of recovery. As Heather Knox says, numerous horses survive fractures, including severe ones. Ruffian's 1975 injury was very much at the bad end of the scale. Not only were the two sesamoid (ankle) bones shattered, she had a severely contaminated open wound and had lost a lot of blood. Horses have raced successfully after leg fractures. Ruffian herself had raced successfully after recovering from a hairline fracture in a hind leg that was found in the autumn of her 2-yr-old year. Undefeated filly Personal Ensign (13:-0-0) won a national championship in 1988 with screws in a hind leg, surgical treatment for a pastern fracture she had incurred at the age of 2. Ruffian's own sire, Reviewer, broke bones three times during his racing career. He lived to go to stud. In my ideal world, such a fragile horse would have been gelded and would never have set foot in a breeding shed. But of course that is easy for me to say, I don't have expensive stud fees on the line.
_holly_ breyers_ wrong the owner does. The trainer has full responsibility of his/her horse while in the paddock (edit) which is where you get the horse ready for the race meaning it’s the trainers responsibility
@@alexthegoat4207 The trainer does have say on any horse under their care. They can tell the owner whether or not a race is a good idea. But they don't have the final say. At any point, note: A trainer can quit from an owner and refuse to train their horses if needed. No owner in their right mind would push a good trainer so hard that the trainer quits because it leaves a mark on their reputation and the horses.
Its even more awful knowing that this is a true story and actually happened to Ruffian. Makes me cry. Ruffian will always be remembered as the greatest filly of all time❤️
yes she always will be and she will be one of my favorite if not my favorite fillys that have ever raced on a race track she will always live on and be remembered I love her so much 😢❤💋
Film Producer my two favorite horses for racing is 8 belles and ruffin and they both died but still how come everytime I like someone they die will a horse
This is painful to watch, I agree. I am the proud owner of an ex-racehorse and we compete at international dressage, GP level and I can tell you that trying to rehabilitate this horse was not easy but I persevered and he came through for me. If you take emotion out of the equation and look at the facts, you will arrive at the conclusion that even if Ruffian had survived surgery (veterinary surgeons are more knowledgeable now on post-operative equine procedures) her fight for life would have only just begun, laminitis being the biggest threat plus the instant her bones broke, her racing career was over. Had the surgery been successful, she may have become a successful broodmare but we will never know; ultimately her desire to succeed became her undoing. R.I.P.
They were successful in the surgical repair, but when she came out of anaethesia, she was running, broke the cast and broke her leg again. i guess they didn't or couldn't keep her sedated or slowly wake her up, I don't know. They tried. That's when they had no choice left. I watched her race as a child. She was my favorite. Still to this day it makes me cry what happened to her. Though they know now through her bloodline the horses were genetically prone to soft bones. Rest in peace Ruffian.. you are running free in the heavens.
Siru, Kht Antalya She has had so many issues with her legs previously and for the leg that has broken before and barely had it healed before this race I think when she came out of the gate hitting her shoulder on the other side may have caused her to put more pressure on that leg as if she was limping in some way and because she was trying to stay ahead she put even more pressure on that freshly healed leg caused it to explode. Also with the birds flying in front of her could have thrown her off and caused her to had that bad step along with putting that pressure. These race horses are still very young their bones are still fragile at that age since their bones aren’t fully developed till age of 4. That’s why most horse people don’t push their horses in saddle and don’t do a ton of riding that age. This is only my theory.
@@lydiaravenfall9217 you are right. They raced the poor filly around 2, when horses are best for riding around 6. They can be trained then, and riding freestyle is okay, but this extremity? It's abuse, it's cruel.
@@lydiaravenfall9217 That previous minor fracture had been given plenty of time to fully heal, and had nothing directly to do with the fatal injury, although it probably was early indication she had inherited her sire's fragile bones. The minor (hairline) fracture, which had occurred somewhere between late August and October 1974, had in any case been in a different leg. Ruffian's final start as a 2-yr-old had been the Spinaway on August 23, 1974. She may have incurred the hairline fracture at that time, although it was not recognized until weeks later, after she kept throwing fevers. *Her first start as a 3-yr-old was in mid-April 1975, nearly 8 months after the Spinaway; as I said, plenty of time for a hairline fracture to heal. The breakdown occurred in early July 1975,* in her sixth start as a 3-year-old.
The saddest part is that Vasquez couldn't stop her first. She leaned against Foolish Pleasure for support and still tried to outrun him. Even though she must've been in terrible pain, she wanted to win.
I thought that new mile and a quarter chute might have caused her to take a bad step. The opening quarter was fast but nothing Ruffian couldn't handle easily. She never whinnied as this vid would have you believe. You realize this is from the movie and not actual footage.
R.I.P.RUFFIAN WE LOVE YOU. SHE WAS ONLY 2 OR 3 AND HAD ALREADY WON 10 RACES. SHE HAS HEART.SHE IS ONE AMAZING FILLY I CAN TELL YOU THAT LOVE YOU RUFFIAN 😢
I wonder what would have happened if she never got hurt. If her leg never messed up. She would have won and became the best among the horses and she is still considered a great race horse like Secretariat. She was right there with him. Rest in peace Ruffian. Song for Ruffian - Country Strong from the movie Country Strong.
The pain the filly experienced… she was only 3. But she was amazing. She was so strong, even though her leg had broke I believe she was still trying to run because she refused to collapse. She should have not been raced that young. Also here are some reasons I think she may have broken down 1: If you look closely in the beginning when she came out of the chute, she hit her side maybe causing her to put more pressure on one side than the other. 2: I am not sure if this is normal or not. I am not a horse racing expert.. I believe she was galloping quite hard and she may have put her hooves down to hard.. But this filly I believe was a absolute angel. Rest In Peace baby girl ❤😢
I dont want to ruin it for u, but usually when horse broke its leg in the race they cant just stop (because it hurts) so they need to run and ease the speed bit by bit and then eventually stop. So basically she was just running to ease the pain as the jockey pulled her bit and people thought that "she wants to run!!" :D She just wanted to stop, but when their leg is in that condition they cant do a "sliding stop" or anything :D
im not really against horse races. in fact, most horses love to race and run, and so do the jockeys. but I am against the fact that they sometimes, actually, most of the time run the horses to hard at really young ages, even when the filly or colt's bones haven't fully grown. i see the point in why they wouldn't wait that long, but im still against that. but im not against the fact that these horses loved to run. Ruffian loved her job. Seabiscuit loved his job. Secretariat loves his job. Man O' War loved his job. Zenyatta loved her job! I don't agree with that these people should put down racing. I have never been to a race before, but I bet its amazing. I just think they should stop running these horses at such a young age.
+ғ ɪ ʀ ᴇ ғ ʟ ʏ when my daughter was a child she was an absolute horse lover. At 10, she went to a holiday camp in a horse club, and the main activity at the end of the week was to go to horse races. She and the other children were just at the fence, only a few meters froms the racing horses. And one of them had exactly the same than in the video, it broke its legs 3 meters from the children, and was terminated in front of them. Be sure she NEVER accepts even now (she's 30) to hear that horse races are ok. I personally, as a mother and horse lover too, would never havec accepted that she would go to horse races if I would have been aware it was scheduled. This was in Normandy, France, and I was the only one who called the poney club back to tell them to stop bringing the children to the races, and they answered "things like this happen, it's the game". I doubt horses find that game fun.
I understand what your trying to say. I completely agree that horse races are unbelievably dangerous, and I respect your opinion. I never meant to come off on a way to keep saying that horses should continue to race at such a young age, but what I am trying to say is these horses love to race. maybe if we were to wait when the horses are at least 5/6 when their bones are much stronger than a 3/4 year old would make a bit of a difference, but its going to be dangerous either way. I truly believe these horses love to run, and I believe its their passion. I have ups and downs for races, but Secretariat, Seabicuit, Zenyatta, Man O' War, and all of the famous race horses, and even the ones to day enjoy their spot. but with in life, there are consequences to these dangerous sports, and that we can not change.
there are only 2 moives that made me cry marley and me and ruffian she was the queen of the track then now and forever rest easy queen and sleep tight you earned it
Can you imagine a race between Big Red, Biscuit and Ruffian??! That would’ve been a sight to see. All horses who never gave up. Ruffian HAD to finish her race against Foolish Pleasure, Biscuit never gave up even with the severe injury (to him and Red), and Big Red…the horse with the huge heart.
Poor ruffian. And to anyone who thinks this isn't a sport, they are wrong. Horse Racing is a sport, and is the most dangerous for horses and jockeys in the U.S. And lots of famous horses didn't die on the track, like Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Black Caviar, etc. I like horse racing, just wish it was a little safer. Just give jockeys a break, ppl. They are risking they're lives every time they get on one of those horses, and those horses were bred to run, and do it fast
Memorable esta carrera la mas triste nunca nadie imagino que Ruffian perdiara la vida en esta carrera, sin duda algunas que si no se lexiona ese dia fohslie pleasure ni se le acerca.
@Johanna Suncraft Das ist natürlich schön, dass nichts passiert ist, als du mit deinem Pferd galoppiert bist, aber das heißt nicht, dass Unfälle nicht passieren können. Ich hatte noch nie einen Autounfall, aber das heißt ja auch nicht, dass es Autounfälle nicht gibt, und so ist es auch beim Reiten. Es passiert natürlich nicht immer was, aber es kann eben immer passieren und das manchmal sogar schneller als man glaubt. Oder willst du mir sagen, dass du glaubst, dass jeder, der schon einmal einen Reitunfall hatte, sich das eigentlich nur ausgedacht hat, weil dir ja auch nie was passiert ist?
@Johanna Suncraft Das ist egal. Allerdings hast du selbst gesagt, dass du mit deinem Pferd galoppiert bist. Und wenn du damit meinst, dass Ruffian nicht dir gehört hat: das ist natürlich klar.
poor ruffian .....i cant watch this no more .... poor girl...she was a queen of racing !! young horses like this ....legs are not fully hard to race! .....R.I.P ruffian! :C
Jockeys do not stop to help others' injured horses -. or fellow injured jockeys. That is the job of the outriders & the horse/human ambulances. A pumped up, excited horse around, smelling blood & fear was last thing Ruffian needed. The outriders probably got to her far more quickly than Baeza could have eased the colt. Baeza was upset, aware his victory would be hollow, but his job remained, to get his mount across the finish line & not forfeit 1st place money, as Ruffian had forfeited 2nd.
I hate when people say horse racing is abusive in this day in age race horses are treated like royalty and have round the clock care. Majority of race horses retire sound and have life long careers afterwards in events such as dressage,jumping, cross country and 3 day eventing to name a few! I own an OTTB and he was a good race horse. Majority of trainers and owners care about these horses their are a few bad apples ! If you don't know much about racing I suggest looking into it because their are things a lot worse then horse racing out in the equine community.
+Nothern Lights actually, that is false. Horses are scanned and put through tests before they are allowed to race making sure there are no drugs are in their systems.
Actually, they tried... "Ruffian was immediately attended to by a team of four veterinarians and an orthopedic surgeon, and underwent an emergency operation lasting three hours" (Wikipedia). But when she woke up, she started struggling and broke another leg - vets said that there was no way she could survive another operation. :(
Finta Mária Anna Even if they had done surgery with her again, there's no way she would have healed. Hanging a horse in ropes inside their box like in the movie Dreamer might be all well and good in theory but in reality it'd never work out. These are thoroughbreds. They don't have the temper to stand still forever.
AnniMausi think of a horse that comes out of the gates and hurts something and a 200 pound horse going about 35 miles per hour on that one leg each time would cause damage
Not just big animals. My bunny Roger broke his own spine because he stomped too hard. I let him run free while I'd go to school. He'd always come back when I called him, but while he was out he was around hares. Much bigger and stronger than himself. I think he tried to adapt to their behaviors and started stomping too hard. RIP my Roger.
the gate when ruffian when out it didn't open on one side it stayed closed thats why she baged her leg on it poor ruffian we will remember u for every.
Those who think she would not have ran with a broken foot are a bit wrong. Iv seen first hand a cannon bone exploding in a 4 year filly and it sounds like a gun shot. The horse is bent on nothing but fear and if the knee can still bend they will keep running intol they are forced to stop. What's worse with Ruffian is they could have saved her but failed to realize that when coming out of the anistisua horses will try to get up immediately and need to eather be in a sling or perferably a medical pool. All in all though raceing is even more crule now and i can't stand it. There is a reason why we have not had such great champions since this time. We race them far to young now and we give them drugs that damages them far to much.
Cheyenne DeVaney Illegal drugging isn’t allowed in horse racing. If a trainer is caught using drugs they will be suspended. Also, horse racing has not become even more cruel. In fact it has gotten safer for the horses. New rules have come in place. Many tracks have replaced their dirt surface with another type of dirt surface that is safer for the horses to run on. Moreover, there had been many great champions in the past 18 years. American Pharoah, Shared Belief, Zenyatta, Arrogate, and Gun Runner just to name a few.
Ruffian was racing in the 80’s, they didn’t have surgeries to fix a broken leg. And in many cases the horses re-break the legs during recovery and have to be put down, just like Barbaro.
@@notrecyborg5492 I have a soft spot for horse racing, but, there is some truth to the drug usage. You would think some people wouldn't stoop so low, but some trainers still have their horses get injected with needles and have acidic rubs applied onto their fetlocks. It's been a heavy topic for quite some time in recent years. www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/sport/2016/apr/28/horse-racing-corticosteroid-joint-injections-drug-debate-issue
oh bre Ruffian raced in 1974-75 not in the 80’s They most certainly did have surgeries to operate on broken legs at this time. In 1971 Hoist the Flag broke his hind leg in the same manner as Ruffian but he was saved.
Whether they can race again depends entirely on how badly they break their leg. Leg fractures run the gamut from minor injuries that can heal with stall rest to castastrophic injuries that are automatic destruction cases. A number of prominent horses have raced at a high level after incurring a leg fracture, among them 2006 U.S. Horse of the Year Invasor; 1988 U.S. champion older mare Personal Ensign, who retired undefeated in 13 starts, racing most of her career with surgical pins in the leg she fractured at 2; 2000 Horse of the Year Tiznow; and Ruffian's sire, Reviewer. And ironically, Ruffian herself. In the autumn of her 2-year-old year, Ruffian had had a leg fracture, a minor injury (hairline fracture) which had healed. Coming back to the races at 3, she had won five races before her breakdown. The first fracture was in a different leg, a hind leg, and did not contribute to her fatal injury, although it proved a warning that she had inherited the fragile bones of her sire, Reviewer. Reviewer broke bones 3 times while racing. He was a very successful racehorse (13:9-3-1, with 6 stakes wins). He was retired only after his third fracture.
the colt did not even stop, did he even care about her? or did he just want to win, but no one cared about him winning, but she was a good horse what a sham.
Why would the other horse stop? I agree his jockey should have stopped him but the horse wouldn't just stop by himself because the other horse broke down. When Foolish Pleasure first went to stud, people were still sore about his jockey not pulling him up in this race and refused to breed mares to him lol
jacksepticwolf AJ because no one cares about the horse. that person didn't stop because he wanted to win. Wich makes me think he is weak because he won against an injured Ruffian. most riders don't care about the horse, just the money
I wish the person riding foolish pleasure would have stopped or they stopped the match. It's unfair win your openly competition falls, why keep going;(Very sad. Hat how few show respect
They successfully completed surgery on her leg, but when she was coming out of the anesthesia she freaked out and thought she was galloping, and ended up breaking her other leg, so they decided to euthanize her.
***** I never said it wasn't cruel to try and save her. She was a brilliant filly and could have gone on to do great things. It's accidents like this that make me hate horse racing. They are run way too young when their bones are still developing. But that's just my opinion.
Lady Youngblood she did but not quite in that fashion, I think she broke the band muscles / tendons, I don't think any horse could break its leg quite in that fashion and if it did it'd go down like a ton of bricks, it wouldn't be able to keep running like this.
Actually I just looked it up and she did break her sesamoid bones but I think in the bones above the fetlock, above the hoof area I think, not the bones between her knee and fetlock. Maybe she did but I think if she had broken it that way, like in the film, she'd have fallen fast...but maybe I'm wrong. :S
+Alicja Kosno not allowing these beautiful creatures to do what they are bred to do would be just like breaking up a fight between to male lions who are battling for control of the lion pride...they are animals born and bred to act a certain way and do certain things...we can't change them, for to do so would be a greater sin against nature than to allow them to die doing the things they were put on Earth to do
you can still gallop on them but am just against horse racing coz its cruel and as an owner of a thouroghbred you do indeed need to make sure that they get what they need they do not need to race
+Alicja Kosno you don't think they don't die out in the wild ? stallions fight one another, mares die in giving birth.....its not only the running they love but the sheer competition, why do you think, that when one passes another in the stretch sometimes the one who was passed comes back and beats the horse who passes him/her....they are competitive in nature and in horse racing....treating them as play ponies would be exactly like putting a bear in a cage and only bringing him out to do tricks at the circus...they have a much better life right now....3 meals a day, grazing hay anytime they want it, and water when they are thirsty....humans give horses a great life
tell that to the ppl that give them steroids and abuse and only keep them for money so listen up i do not know what kind of world you are living in but not everything is so beautiful like u think it is coz in reallity they dont give a shit about the horses needs to run the care about the big money they get thats why they feed them good and no they dont get it when ever they want they get right proportion of food and how much hours each day they can graze so they do not give a shit if the horse feels lved they want the horse to bring them money and if they dont they abandon it or sell to slaughter
