Herd dynamics Eblouissante vs Zenyatta...for real?

[Stefan]

"When Eblouissante bounces out of the gate, she is in the individual dynamic zone. She is immediately looking for another horse to match rhythm with. This is in contrast to Zenyatta, who would break out of the gate in the group dynamic zone and immediately start sizing up the entire herd of motion."

While I think that there's probably some truth to horses wanting to herd or not, this all smells a little like seeing what you want to see.

Still, an interesting read and something to think about...

http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/unlocking-winners-handicapping/archive/2013/01/18/looking-at-eblouissante-through-herd-dynamics-and-emotional-conformation.aspx

[Kermit]

An interesting discussion for sure. They seem to be leaving out a horse that has the intellegence to know that (she) doesn't know exactly what's going on and maybe just take input from the rider.

See Violence's races. Seems to me he's never showed green in any of his races, no matter distance, surface or number of competetors. When ALL the great ones are talked about, intellegence is always mentioned.

Also, re Eblouissante and Zenyatta, they didn't go into battle as 2YOs and they both seemed better for it.