Friday, August 07, 2009

Zenyatta in Hind Hoof Drive


Embrace the Power of Zenyatta, originally uploaded by alydar_1978.

For people who just can't seem to understand why horses need different shoes on their hind feet than on their front feet, here's your answer.

Charles Pravata shot this most amazing anatomical study of the hind quarters and limbs of the great race mare Zenyatta springing from the starting gate at Del Mar last month in the Vanity. She was carrying a whopping 129 pounds. (Needless to say, she still won.)

The track surface at Del Mar is Polytrack; Zenyatta is a real California girl and prefers Designer Dirt over Real Dirt.

Thanks to Charles Pravata for probably risking his life to take this photo and to Raceday360 for bringing it to my attention and to Zenyatta for being Zenyatta. She has nice feet, too.