Does anyone know how ruffian(the racehorse) or barbaro or go for wand actually break their legs?

Question

I know basically how barbaro broke his leg, but i can't find WHY or HOW ruffian actually broke hers, or go for wand for that matter .

right i know how barbaro basically broke his leg, but to be exact, i just want to know if it was a mistep, or were there conformation problems such as toed in i dont know, fraglie bones, just if it was something other than a mistep

Answer 1

It is (sort of) like a person twisting their ankle, except a horse has so much more weight, power, and speed, yet their bones are not really much thicker or stronger than ours...

So it would be like explaining why people fall and twist their ankles, it's just an accident.

The thoroughbred has been bred for speed, not durability.

The lower leg structures cannot withstand the forces that occur when a particularly bad misstep causes excessive lateral forces on the bones. As we saw with Barbaro, sometimes the bones just shatter.

Answer 2

There is a reason why these horses break down. It's called racing them while they are still babies and physically immature. A three year old horse is the equivalent of a 9 year old human- his/her bones are still quite soft and growing, and in many cases, those bones just simply can't take the tremendous pressures involved in racing. This is the part of racing that I hate the most at times, and the part that desperately needs to be changed if we are EVER going to see an end to the terrible tragedies like the ones with Ruffian, Barbaro, Go for Wand, Pine Island, Union City, and all the other horses that have lost their lives as a result of these injuries and the aftermath that follows. Economics are a big factor in the decision to start and race these horses as babies- no breeder and very few owners want to take the time to wait until a horse grows up and is physically mature before racing them because of the money involved in breeding them and raising them. The owners and breeders want a return on their investments, and they want to show a profit- hence, the complaints by many that racing is always about the bottom line. Those complaints have merit- racing IS about money to most people who participate in it. So the pressure to get these horses running, regardless of their growth or maturity level, is tremendous. Horses can make missteps, and can have other accidents, yes- but the main cause of most of these catastrophic fractures and breakdowns is severe physical stress. This is the sad side of racing- one might even call it the ugly side.

Answer 3

There's really no reason why... they just took a bad step and went down. One thing about both Ruffian and Go For Wand... they were racing at full speed, running close to the rail. I don't know if that might have anything to do with it or not... ya know how there's sorta a mound of dirt at the rail and it evens out... but they broke their right leg whereas their left leg would have been on the rail.

Really there can't be a reason for them breaking down... that's why we can't predict it or prevent it. We've begun installing synthetic tracks like polytrack to cut down on these tragedies. But pretty much, it's just that a horse hits a bad spot in the dirt and lands on his leg wrong. It's just like when people break or sprain their ankles... there's no real reason why it happens... you might step in a hole or an uneven patch, or you might be running and land wrong, or you could just trip and fall down. Fortuntately we heal better than horses do... and can use things like crutches to take the weight off of our injuries.

Answer 4

Well for really all of them it's just that little miss-step they take that just shatters that leg.
It's really sad what some race horse go though just to get money the owner don't care if the horse is almost dead they will try anything to make them a stud or a mare.
BUT thats not what ever owner is like... look at Barbaro's owners, they loved him so much!!!! Just like all his fans did to.


♥melissa♥

Answer 5

It is usually probably a misstep, but sometimes horses just have weak bones, it's part of their structures. They carry all that weight on those legs.

Also (being from Aus), I think dirt is tougher on a horses' legs, than turf.
Although, our 2005-2006 (August 1st>July 31st), I think resulted in 5-10 broken legs (put down), and one english horse ran through a rail during it's final workout fot the Melb. Cup.
(that particular horse "Carte Diamond" is now fine'n'dandy, I thinking he's prepping for another shot at our Cup)

Answer 6

right on the back of the fetlock from stress to the tendons in the leg for secretariat

laminitis for ruffian

Answer 7

BASICALLY A HORSE CAN TAKE A BAD STEP OR COME DOWN ON THE LEG AWKWARD.HUMAN DO THAT,SO CAN HORSES OR MANY HORSEMAN WILL TELL YOU JUST BAD RACING LUCK IT'S UNFORTUNATE.BUT YOU HAVE TO REALIZE YOUR AVERAGE HORSE WEIGHS 1200 POUNDS.AND THAT'S AL OT OF WEIGHT TO COME DOWN ON THERE SMALL TINY LEGS.

Answer 8

STRESS FRACTURES