Before you question the title of this article, She’s a Maneater is actually the name of the lady in question. Only this lady isn’t your typical female. She’s a horse. 

Horse Racing is one of the few sports where males and females race against each other. This is also one of the sports where sometimes, females completely dominate the males.

There may not be many fans of the sport, but growing up around horses, I’ve felt the rush for myself. The sound of the hooves as they pound against the ground, the vibrations that resonate from the floor to your quivering skin is sensational. The noise pierces the stands as the frenzied fans hail the equine heroes, AND heroines. The loudest cheers of them all are for a very special lady: She’s a Maneater.

Beyond the thrill of winning bets and equine ecstasy, there is something so much more special about She’s a Maneater, and horse racing in general. In horse racing, female horses tend to carry less weight on their backs than males in an effort to keep it fair. Sure there are races for males and females only, but for the most part, they are allowed to race against each other. This model, therefore, allows fair participation on both sides, instead of gender segregation. She’s a Maneater is one horse who is a champion despite her gender. She isn’t the greatest female horse right now; the argument is she could possibly be the greatest horse period.

She lives up to her name. She is definitely a maneater! This year she won yet another Horse of the Year title. For those of you who don’t know, she has won the Triple Crown (The three most prestigious horse races, often referred to as the classics), two Superstakes victories (another huge racing event in Jamaica), and two Diamond Miles – one of the highest-paying races. These races are races people dream of winning, races that earn people millions. These are races that both genders can enter, and oftentimes the males are expected to dominate… but she won’t have it. The maneater eats away at the competition, leaving her opponents to eat her dust.

Here’s another amazing aspect. She’s so good that sometimes they don’t even lower her weight. She is so dominant that the privileges normally given to female horses sometimes go into the question. Here we find in nature a female who males definitely can’t mess with. 

Now it might seem weird to think of horses as similar to humans, but this model that horse racing presents, while still having its challenges, maybe one to look into. She’s a Maneater is just one of many female stars that keep pushing the way forward for gender equality, and whether you agree with this model or not (I have my qualms about it), we gotta admit that She’s a Maneater is definitely someone girls can look up to.

–Fabrizio Darby