The feisty Gail Ruffu has had a lifelong fascination with horses. Given the chance as a licensed trainer to put her expertise to use and partially own a race horse that shared her spirited approach to life, she took it. But when the horse, Urgent Envoy, began having progressively worse leg issues during trainings, Gail butted heads with her partners regarding how to treat the injuries in order to get Urgent Envoy race-ready. What followed, as told in “Grand Theft Horse,” was Gail’s willingness to lose everything and do anything necessary to protect the vulnerable horse in her care.
Written by G. NeriCover by Corban Wilkin
Illustrated, colored, and lettered by Corban WilkinNeri and Wilkin take a fascinating real life figure and explore how Gail Ruffu’s childhood passion for horses blossomed into a way of life. The creators manage to weave her various life experiences into a captivating and at times emotional tale of humanity versus greed that is at once both intimate and larger than life.
In this seven part narrative nonfiction tale based on Gail’s account of a seven year battle over a horse, Neri employs a nonlinear approach to sharing her story. Although the narrative jumps between key or transformative moments of Gail’s childhood, her adulthood prior to taking sole custody of Urgent Envoy, and her adulthood after taking him, caption boxes are effectively used to clearly provide a signal to readers that the timeframe has shifted. In addition to the caption boxes, Neri, who first heard about Gail’s tale through their familial connection (they’re cousins), should be credited for his masterful arrangement of events, perfectly setting up scenes to come with requisite background information in order to keep the entertaining story moving forward with exuberance.
And the story does move at a measured yet brisk pace. The timeline jumping does nothing to hinder the ease with which the story unfolds, and instead steadily and purposefully builds a case for readers concerning Gail’s passion for horse welfare, much in the same manner as the grand theft horse trial depicts her lawyer Eleanor building a case on Gail’s behalf.
Further speaking to Gail’s character and her dedication to horses beyond Urgent Envoy’s case are two events which surprisingly elicit only minor mentions – the deterioration of her marriage due to her calling to address harmful racing practices and the late 90s legal case that first brought Bud Clayton and Gail together, with Bud representing Gail as her lawyer. Both are referenced but neither are expanded upon, due perhaps to seeming inconsequential in light of where the story is ultimately headed. Even so, the reference to the former successfully communicates the extent to which Gail could not lead a quiet life away from protecting the vulnerable. The latter, brought up during the grand theft horse trial, is a missed opportunity to put Gail’s relationship with the man who would go to such lengths to destroy her into context. Though this revelation falls flat from lack of attention, it is clear that Bud seeks to win at all costs as a display of power and is proof of how deep the corruption goes in the industry.
Gail herself, who is of Creole lineage, is depicted in a manner that leaves little question that she exists outside the power structures of not only the California Horse Racing Board, but also society at large and that this social positioning has given her great strength of character and conviction. It is briefly mentioned that she and members of her family were often mistaken for being of Mexican descent, which caused them to be treated in a similar manner as those who actually are. As the story unfolds, readers also see Gail treated as being lesser for being a woman and for her lack of wealth and the influence that money would buy. Despite these significant barriers and roadblocks, and in large part because of all that Gail lost in the process, readers are granted the ultimate satisfaction in seeing her begin to best her partners in court, with regaining her license, and by maintaining physical custody of Urgent Envoy.
Besides having a wildly likeable protagonist, the story succeeds in large part due to the writing. While the writing can be informative, and not purely narrative, it never falls into the trap of becoming overly complicated. Instead, it maintains its accessibility by avoiding jargon and using everyday language that is easily followed by those who don’t follow horse racing, those who don’t practice animal management, or practice law. However, while the writing itself is accessible, the pages are occasionally overburdened with text, with blocks taking up significant portions of page space (page 40 and 80, as two examples). As more text is added to the pages, the font size is reduced, which may result in accessibility issues for those with visual impairments.
Continued belowThe art can suffer from a similar issue of overcrowding (page 79), or can appear to be busy due to a combination of sizable color blocks and the text, but it is a thankfully minor issue. Wilkin is largely able to deploy the monochromatic color scheme – which features a dark, roasted coffee bean base color that straddles the line between brown and black – with great success. The often minimal yet expressive stylings of the panels wonderfully reflect Gail’s simple yet meaningful lifestyle. The color scheme appropriately evokes a rustic earth feel found in folklore and pushes the idea of Gail as both an everyday woman and a preternatural force to be reckoned with, while largely paying homage to her no nonsense, down to earth existence. She loses so much that could provide her some material comfort and a livelihood – her license, her job, her living arrangements – and could easily get it all back but chooses not to, all to keep Urgent Envoy out of destructive hands.
An introduction written by Neri is included in the front matter while the back matter includes photos of Gail, her family, and Urgent Envoy, as well as an afterward written by Gail which details – with citations – the maltreatment of horses and the regressive practices being pushed in the horse racing industry. Gail also provides ideas on how those moved by her story might begin to help make lasting changes on the industry’s practices.
Despite the minor issues associated with busy page layouts, Neri and Wilkin are able to give a platform to a fascinating woman and help share her captivating David and Goliath story of the perseverance and humanity of the small but mighty overcoming the destructiveness of the powerful.
