Rafalca Jokes Aside?

Ann Romney and her horse “Super Hit”. Image courtesy of Washington Post

In an article in the Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire, it was released that a recent ad featuring Rafalca was pulled from the air. The ad, which featured criticising remarks about Romney’s tax return statements also showed footage of Rafalca competing in dressage events. It’s no secret that horseback riding is an impressively expensive sport, but in a statement by President Barack Obama, it was mentioned that he considered the ad was in bad taste and said he was against personal attacks on family members. In an interview with Good Morning America, Mrs. Romney’s hurt reaction caused concern that the ad hit too close to home: Mrs. Romney uses dressage to combat her multiple sclerosis and has spoken about its benefits in public before. Have we had the last laugh about the Romneys?

Ann Romney and Rafalca, who will be competing in the London 2012 Olympics. Image courtesy of The New Yorker.

Taking On ‘The Week’

As an avid equestrian that reads The Week, I was insulted by an article written recently in the July 6-13 2012 issue on the ridicule of the Romney’s horse Rafalca. Admittedly, the buzz around the horse has been a bit much, but that wasn’t what pissed me off. The tab that caught my eye on the top of the page, depicted Rafalca performing with Jan Eberling with the caption, “Making fun of dancing horses”. Intrigued, I turned to page 16 to read what was the most irritating posts I’ve read slandering equestrianism in a while.

Just in case you missed this especially offensive article, feel free to ask me for a copy, I’m happy to scan it with my phone and send you a copy.

Romney’s Rafalca Headed to Olympics?

Ann Romney has long been a rider to combat her Multiple Sclerosis, but it seems the Romneys may soon have a chance at Olympic stardom. Rafalca, a horse owned by the Romneys has recently made the short list for the 2012 London Olympics in dressage.

Pictured: Jan Eberling aboard Rafalca. Image courtesy of Dressage News.

Should the horse succeed, Rafalca will join the political must-see list of competitors alongside Zara Phillips (who has secured a spot in eventing on the British team). As Stephen Colbert vivaciously declared, Dressage will be the ‘official Sport of the Summer’, and it will be interesting to see how veteran dressage rider and Jan Eberling are effected by being such high-profile horses at the event.

On a less professional note, I would like to advise the New York Times that not all horse events are called “races“. In the article’s title ‘For Ann Romney, a Different Sort of Horse Race”, it is implied that Rafalca is a racing horse. This is highly inaccurate. More succinctly, what Rafalca does is compete at a “horse show“. A tennis game is a “match“, similarly a track competition is a “meet“. You wouldn’t refer to a soccer game as a soccer “meet“, so please do your homework before carelessly mis-labelling an equestrian event.

What do you think? Will we have a star-studded summer olympics?