Back In The Saddle

Brian Rutzou is back in the paddock caring for a new filly just months after her mother left him close to death.

The 77-year-old Monbulk man was airlifted to The Alfred on 5 May after his daughter's pregnant horse Lizzie fell knees-first onto his chest, leaving him with crushed ribs, a broken ankle and collapsed lung. “She's got to present me with a very good filly foal after this,” Mr Rutzou told the Mail in June. On 14 December Lizzie gave birth to Angelina – just hours before Mr Rutzou celebrated his birthday the following day. “I was very pleased. She looks great,” he said. “I got what I wanted, but I had to pay for it.” Each morning Mr Rutzou moved Lizzie from her paddock to administer medication, keeping her companions occupied with hay. “But this day one of the other mares decided she wanted what was in the white bowl so she followed up right to the gate,” he said. “I went to shut her back and she bit Lizzie on the rump, and in doing that she made her jump forward.” “She knocked me over and then knee-crawled over the top of me. “I could feel the crunch, crunch, crunch as the bones went. That was pretty lousy.” Mr Rutzou was on a respirator in intensive care for two weeks. His first words when he awoke were “it wasn't her fault. I couldn't get out of the way”. Mr Rutzou said the 22-year-old, 16-hand (1.63 metre) Lizzie was “on her best behaviour now”. But her foal seems to have inherited her temperament. “She's a bit hard to handle, a bit cheeky,” Mr Rutzou said. He'll help train her to perform in dressage or three-day events. “You've got to see which way they lean,” he said. Mr Rutzou said he was back on deck for the most part and only a little pain lingered from his ordeal. “I'm coming along pretty well,” he said. “I'm pretty lucky really.” The doctors are happy with his progress. {sidebar id=3}“But I've been told to be sensible,” he said. “They (his family) try to keep me out of the paddocks but I don't reckon the horses are dangerous. “That was just a freak accident.”