I wrote about this earlier, but if you haven’t yet, take a look at the video of Romney talking about how his wife’s not happy unless she’s on her Austrian Warmblood — a dressage horse — and about how he rides a “quarter horse” because it has such a nice gait. The Thurston B. Howell stuff has to start hurting him eventually. I don’t know why this video isn’t getting more play.
I know that Bobo and Chunky Bobo will tell us that Real Murkins love to talk about Austria Warmbloods over lunch at the Applebee’s salad bar, but I’m skeptical.
The Bobs
I’m waiting for a comment by Ann Romney on what the preferred gait is for her pleasure.
BGinCHI
I can’t wait till Romney fucks up a Van Halen reference.
Cole will really have a shit fit then.
BGinCHI
@The Bobs: My guess it probably involves making sure the batteries are fresh.
lamh35
OT, But AP tweeting that Zimmerman is in custody and will be charged with 2nd degree murder:
https://twitter.com/#!/BreakingNews/status/190191142011277313
Hmm wondering if KKKlanity is sweating and getting advice from Greta!
dmsilev
Just so we’re clear, “Austrian Warmblood” is an imported boytoy, right?
The Bobs
@BGinCHI: Oh please, vibrators are for the proles.
Narcissus
In that tax bracket you have a guy who stands there and shakes the dildo
shortstop
I wish people would quit comparing him to Thurston Howell III, who had a winsome charm, after all. Maybe Montgomery Burns. No, Burns is too exuberantly evil. Does popular culture provide us with no references to pathologically boring billionaires?!
Mark S.
I don’t know, I don’t think it tops “I’m not a fan of NASCAR, but some of my good friends own NASCARS.”
redshirt
@shortstop: The monopoly guy?
shortstop
@The Bobs: I wouldn’t say that, but I don’t see why we taxpayers should be forced to pay for everyone’s dildoes and Pocket Rockets. It’s against my religion for other people to have more orgasms than I do.
shortstop
@redshirt: Aha, maybe so, maybe so. Except wasn’t he always winking like he meant it? I doona think there is anyone ennui-inducing enough to be a model for Mitt.
Mark S.
@redshirt:
Nah, he’s got a lot more charisma than Mitt. And Mitt would never win second prize in a beauty contest.
dmsilev
@shortstop: That sounds like a wonderful possibility for a future James Bond villain.
Lev
Oh, I’m guessing OFA is dutifully depositing this clip into their digitized version of the Raiders warehouse, all full of Mitt Romney out-of-touch moments.
It is pretty interesting to watch them try to push this silly “Obama’s waging the REAL war on women” line. Talk about out-of-touch. I don’t even get it. The bad economy (which is not even Obama’s fault) is some sort of systematic attempt to hurt women? How pathetic. And he looks desperate.
schrodinger's cat
@shortstop: Is he our David Cameron. Rich, spoilt upperclass twit?
General Stuck
I don’t agree with those who may think Romney can become a viable candidate against Barack Obama right now. There is just too much of what people are pissed about currently, to be found in the lives of the Romney’s. And I doubt Mark Halperin or a dump truck full of Mark Halperin’s can polish the turd enough to win. And that doesn’t even get into all the wishy washy flip flopping on an industrial scale. But of course, the usual caveats about stupid American voters, apply, and too the tribalism. fifty fifty country, yada yada.
shortstop
@dmsilev: Ah, good call! “Do you expect me to talk?” “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to yawn.”
pragmatism
john edwards is the butt of these assclowns’ jokes. is that a fate worse than jail?
jl
If the Romneys are caught feeding their horses fancy lettuces, then it’s a whole new ballgame.
Mnemosyne
Who’s going to be the first one to Photoshop a horse onto the roof of the Romney family car?
Egg Berry
Really?
The Other Chuck
@Lev:
And he *sounds* desperate. Every time Mitt is in an interview and gets asked an uncomfortable question, he explodes in a paroxysm of hems and haws and chuckling and grinning and talking a mile a minute, like he’s desperate to get the answer over with before anyone figures out what the truth is. The guy’s good looking for his age, but he seems to have confused that with charisma.
butler
Talking in an informed way about a subject he actually seems to care about instead of shamelessly pandering to the proles? This might be the most human Mitt has ever looked.
Still don’t want him anywhere near the Oval Office, but he actually seems less repulsive.
David Koch
It already is.
Mitten’s favorability rating is underwater, 25 – 62 among Indies in North Carolina.
In yesterday’s ABC poll, Mitten’s likability was at 26%, while the President’s likability was at 64%.
PIGL
I can’t bring myself to watch the video, but lots of non-rich people are into horses, and some know the difference between a quarter horse and a tenessee walker and such. Hell, I hate horses and the maladjusted females who love them, but even I know what dressage is.
There are many reasons to dislike R’obots, but this really isn’t one of them.
Jay in Oregon
@shortstop:
Gordon Gekko?
Mortimer Duke?
Randolph Duke?
MikeJ
@General Stuck:
You know how we joke about what the Republicans like is what ever Democrats hate? It’s like the GOP got together and said, “oh, Dems hate smarmy rich investment bankers? Let’s run one for president!”
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
I don’t see much outrage, maybe just a bit of being so rich you can talk about different kinds of horses. We don’t grudge people for being rich, and I know a number of people that own horses. Does it play into his image? Yes. Did he talk about how you aren’t a real American if you can’t tell the difference between the horses? Not in this case.
Nicole
Missouri Fox Trotters are for wimps.
Egg Berry
@PIGL: He’s probably got the Kentucky horse owning vote sewn up, at least.
beltane
Aren’t all horses warmblooded? Or have the filthy rich also bred a special breed of coldblooded horse to suit the purposes of their lizard-brained owners?
shortstop
@butler: It makes me dislike him more. If he could get half as animated about any one of the issues that affect more than a privileged handful of Americans, then I’d be interested.
Maude
@Mnemosyne:
Someone has to be doing that.
David Koch
@lamh35:
Damn it, ACORN won again.
The Other Chuck
@David Koch:
It was that or have Hillary bump him off.
shortstop
@PIGL: @Belafon (formerly anonevent): On its own it’s fairly harmless. Piled on top of the now myriad other examples of his highly moneyed and insular life, it hurts.
dmsilev
@Lev: His campaign operation also isn’t very good. Sure, he won the primary, but look at the opposition.
By comparison, today, within an hour of Mitt’s team swinging and missing at the Ledbetter Act question, the Obama campaign had out a statement from Ledbetter herself demanding that the Rombot answer the question. Which he eventually did, but in a mealy-mouthed way that both pissed off his base and wouldn’t win any points with actual swing voters. Welcome to the big leagues, Mitt Romney.
KCinDC
No, this horse stuff, multiple houses, multiple luxury cars—those are all typical salt-of-the-earth American things, not indications of out-of-touch ultrarichness. For that you need something like windsurfing or arugula or green tea, which are all things real Americans have never experienced because they are far beyond their means.
butler
@shortstop: Agree. More human doesn’t mean more likeable.
wrb
Sure they do.
They are decent riding horses, calm and kind of slow. There are a number of kids around here who compete in 4-H events on warmbloods.
Not the sort of horse you want for barrel racing, but relatively safe as horses go.
Lots of Americans choose to make less money or live in a trailer so they can live where they and/or their kids can have horses.
Egg Berry
@David Koch: you mean the New Black Panthers.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Really, when you step out side partisan politics and look at Romney as a politician the man is utterly ludicrous. If wasn’t for an accident of birth this guy would be an accountant or product manager at some company. He’s clearly a wonk with no interest in other people, his only pleasure in life is with his close family and yet he trying to get the most public job in America.
Even the horse he chooses to 1% on; according to wikepedia the Missouri Foxtrotter the equine version of training wheels. The man wants his pets to pre-love him and he thinks he can be president of the United States?
matt
@PIGL: this.
Lots of relatively poor people in rural states own quarter horses. They’d wonder why their horses are in scare quotes.
Elizabelle
Prosecutor’s presser on. Introductions all around.
butler
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I agree with everything you said except the word “wonk”. Doesn’t seem to fit him, qt least not when it comes to policy (or maybe he’s just really good at hiding it to try to appeal to GOP primary voters).
TOP123
@butler: Agreed. I actually had the same reaction, thinking, wow, Mitt seems like a real person for the first time in any video I’ve ever seen of him. A very, very wealthy and privileged person, certainly, but…
Observerinvancouver
Ann Romney has multiple sclerosis. Horse riding helps her with that. Think of them as assistance horses or therapy horses or something. But for God’s sake stay completely away from criticizing her for the horses. I can’t imagine how much FAIL that could bring on. Lots of people have horses and they’re no where near being rich.
If you want to go after her, try the Cadillacs instead. But maybe just leave her completely alone.
General Stuck
@MikeJ:
In a weird kind of backass denial way, I suspect this could actually be true. Republicans are in complete denial of any and all culpability for the economic disaster their governance has wrought. The lizard brane, instead of telling them they were wrong, ABOUT ANY OF IT, it tells them they were right, just not right enough. So we get bankster plutocrat Romney and his buds at the Wall Street Journal telling us what we need is a better grade of bankster, for the party to continue like nothing happened. Good luck with that. It probably keeps Obama at nights with a big grin and wondering were to start the clubbing, these baby seals.
protected static
So, yeah – lots of ordinary Americans own horses. But Austrian warmbloods? The arugula of horses.
James Hare
@lamh35:
Just announced by the prosecutor. Good.
shortstop
No, not a lot of Americans own horses. Not a lot at all.
Egg Berry
How many Americans own horses, just out of curiosity? They require a lot of space and money to keep up.
JCT
@lamh35: 2nd degree — just watch, it will turn out that Zimmerman shot him in the back or something.
ornery_curmudgeon
Yeah, horses are real un-American.
More great analysis, DougJ.
Comrade Mary
Romney rides a Missouri Fox Trotter, which he compares to a Quarter Horse, which is pretty far off, I think.
Hotblooded horses are Arabs and Thoroughbreds, coldblooded horses are draft breeds like Clydesdales and Belgians, and warmbloods are dressage/hunting/jumping horses typically developed from breeding programs that used Thoroughbred and draft stock. There are many other sporting and saddle breeds which may have some draft ancestry, too, but they typically aren’t called warmbloods.
RIDING horses is moderately expensive but doable if you’re middle class and motivated or working class and willing to make a living at it; OWNING and RIDING horses is ridiculously expensive when you count the cost of the horse, feed, vet care, boarding, training, tack, and transportation; OWNING and RIDING and COMPETING with horses is for the truly rich or the truly talented with willing sponsors who can foot the substantial bills.
So yeah, I’m a horse mad kid (still) and don’t bear any grudge against lucky horsey people, but if you’re going to make snide comments about blah people playing golf while you spend much, MUCH more money on horses, you’re a git.
Allan
My goodness, there certainly are a large number of people coming out here in the comments to warn us all against making an issue of Romney’s stable, for Pete’s sake.
We must be on to something.
Keep pushing it.
Jilli
Every time I hear romneys voice I involuntarily start vomiting. He’s even less likable when he’s talking one on one. I didn’t think that was possible, but it is.
In my 53 years I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more blatantly cynical, pathetically spineless and glaringly dishonest politician as Willard Romney.
Roger Moore
@dmsilev:
This is clearly unfair, since his opponent belongs in the Negro Leagues and shouldn’t be allowed to play against the real big leaguers./wingnut
beltane
@Observerinvancouver: Oh please. I’ve known people with MS who can’t even afford their meds let alone a stable full of expensive horses and staff needed to maintain them. Ann Romney’s husband want to ensure that all non-rich people with MS either suffer without adequate health care and/or SS Disability.
Just because the Romney family’s philosophy towards chronic illness is “Dressage ponies for me, medical bankruptcy and no health car for thee” does’t mean we shouldn’t mock them.
ornery_curmudgeon
@Egg Berry:
There are 9.2 million horses in the United States … the industry directly produces goods and services of $38.8 billion and has a total impact of $101.5 billion on U.S. GDP.
http://www.horsecouncil.org/national-economic-impact-us-horse-industry
wrb
@Comrade Mary:
No it isn’t if you are in a rural place where land is cheap and you know how to deal with routine medical problems.
I can think of 2 different single moms who raised kids while working waiting tables
and kept horses throughout AND the kids competed in 4-H.
You can get a used trailer for $1000. There are always rescue horses available,
many extremely fine.
Just about any breed can be had cheap because a mare can have 10 or more foals, people love baby horses, and horse ownership isn’t expanding at anything close to the rate at which horses are being born.
The expensive horse is the one that someone believes may be the bestest in the world.
It will have cheap second cousins. The horse market, like that for registered dogs is pretty artificial.
There is always the pound.
samara morgan
@Observerinvancouver: FFS Ann Romney is an OWNER, not a rider.
She pays professional rider Jan Ebling to ride her Oldenberg stallion for dressage tests.
elmo
@wrb:
I don’t make less money or live in a trailer, but I do drive an hour each way to work and live in a comparatively smaller house so I can afford to have enough land to keep horses. Not that I have any at the moment, for other reasons, but I do like to have the option.
beltane
@Egg Berry: I live in a rural area and very few people either own or ride horses. In fact, ever since the economic crisis started there has been a problem with abandoned horses as non-rich people found themselves unable afford to feed them. They are VERY expensive to feed and maintain properly.
Egg Berry
@ornery_curmudgeon: Thanks for the info, but that only partially addresses the question, which is how many people own them?
Montysano
Romney is so uncomfortable, to the point of seeming miserable, that I almost feel badly for him. Why would such a person want to be POTUS? Daddy issues? What will it do to him when he loses?
Clinton, Reagan, Obama.. those guys are cut out for the job. They eat if up. If you don’t have that thing they have, you need not apply.
pseudonymous in nc
America was built on the back of horses. Though probably not on the back of purebred.
Though I’d suggest a visit to the Fugly Horse of the Day blog to get a sense of the rich tapestry of American equine life, which includes lots of badly-treated nags kept by clueless fuckers.
Allan
This approach was definitely a winning strategy for Verizon CFO Doreen Toben when she shared the joys and frustrations of horse ownership in Fortune Magazine while her company was eliminating retiree health benefits:
That went over really well. Nice to know Doreen is making sure her daughter stays so well grounded.
ornery_curmudgeon
@Allan: “My goodness, there certainly are a large number of people coming out here in the comments to warn us all against making an issue of Romney’s stable, for Pete’s sake.
We must be on to something.
Keep pushing it.”
No Allan, people love horses. With passion. It is pissing ME off this asinine attack on horses, I’m a regular here, and we will NOT be portraying horse ownership as some foreign elitist activity.
Maybe that a large amount of people are objecting to this baseless ignorant attack is perhaps, maybe, a CLUE?
beltane
@samara morgan: I guess watching the hired help ride her equine investments is therapeutic for Ann Romney, just as firing the hired help is therapeutic for her husband.
shortstop
@wrb: Hey, and me and the gang can put on a show–my uncle’s got a barn we can use! Most theatrical productions, however, are quite expensive.
Fewer than 1 percent of Americans own horses, your anecdotes notwithstanding.
@Egg Berry: 2 million.
Martin
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): I disagree. 96% of Americans know them only as horses. If you drop their breed in casual conversation with the expectation that the listener knows the breed, then you’re broadcasting that you are only interested in speaking to a certain class of individual. Now, that class may be horse owners, which is fine, but he’s not speaking to horse owners, or a horse magazine, or anything like that – he’s speaking to general purpose news reporters.
We all understand context in this way – except for Mitt. Candidates have spoken to Spanish language reporters for ages, and spoken with some proficiency of Spanish to those reporters. But they do NOT drop Spanish to Wolf Blitzer because they know that doing so would alienate the majority of Wolf Blitzers audience. Dropping ‘Austrian Warmblood’ instead of ‘horse’ is just a lesser offense of the same social rule.
samara morgan
@wrb: yup, you can get a horse for free if you have acreage. And USPC and 4-H will teach the kids horsemanship and horse-management.
Horses are an industry in Colorado.
You don’t have to be rich to own a horse. You can get a horse from the Horse Rescue (just like a dog!) or from Arapahoe racetrack at the end of the season when thy cull the losers.
There are Wounded Warrior programs and therapeutic riding programs here in droves.
This is a raw attempt to humanize the Romneys. Ann Romney doesn’t talk about paying a professional dressage rider to ride her 800,000 $ oldenberg stallion.
she fakes like she and mitt go on trail rides together– like roy and dale.
happy trails to you.
;)
Comrade Mary
@wrb: Thanks, wrb. I started writing a digression about the costs being more manageable for those in rural areas (I’ve ridden my share of farming friends’ horses), but edited it out. But I know from years of research (oh, GOD, I know) how much costs accumulate for urban horse owners.
So I would restate ownership as very expensive for urban people and somewhat less expensive for rural people in the right circumstances. But the average horse is way more expensive to care for than the average dog, I think.
Johnny Gentle (famous crooner)
Because people EXPECT republicans to be rich assholes. It’s walking the walk of the free-market party. After all, people should aspire to fabulous wealth.
On the other hand, if a DEMOCRAT is wealthy, it just shows that the person is an out-of-touch phony. The Democratic party represents the “common man,” so wealthy Democrats clearly can’t identify with that.
So extremely wealthy Mitt Romney = Capitalism works!
Extremely wealthy John Kerry = What a weirdo!
ornery_curmudgeon
@Egg Berry: Hey Egg Berry, I got that info in 4 seconds of googling … how about you answer your own question?
wrb
@samara morgan:
She’s a rider too.
She even competes in minor events. She has several horses including Oldenbergs and Austrian warmbloods.
A couple of her horses are possibly World Cup or Olympic caliber and she has professional riders ride them in competitions.
see http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/for-ann-romney-horses-are-a-lifeline/2012/03/09/gIQA3MF25R_story_1.html
shortstop
@ornery_curmudgeon: If you think it’s the horses that are being attacked here, you’re missing the point by 400 meters.
samara morgan
@Comrade Mary:
but just as cheap to get from a rescue.
Taylormattd
Come on Doug.
Really?
Of course you do. It’s because Romney is not a democrat. The media generates the effite, French pansy narratives (that are eaten up by wingnuts, pundits, and progressive bloggers alike) about democrats.
shortstop
@wrb:
And those 4-H moms can really relate to that. Yep, there’s a real danger to Democrats of bringing this up.
samara morgan
@wrb:
WTF is an Austrian warmblood?
you can look up her stallion at the oldenberg site.
and those are not the horses she rides.
sry, she’s an owner first.
that is what the argument here is.
equestrian sport is not just for the richies….ownership is.
Ann Romney is trying to fake she’s everywoman like her husband tries to fake he’s everyman.
She is an OWNER….owners are one-percenters.
ornery_curmudgeon
@shortstop: Oh come on. The idea is that owning horses is somehow proof of elitism. That’s the point being made, sophistry aside.
In my view are quite disconnected from our history and nature as it is, we don’t need to demonize horse ownership in any fashion.
Right now is a very tough time for horses in this economy, and this is very wrong-headed argument. There are enough actual bad things (outsourcing) the Romney’s are part of, this is not one.
bobbo
You just gotta love that horrible fake grin, so fake it instantly collapses into near catatonia after a maximum 1.5 seconds
ornery_curmudgeon
@shortstop: And those 4-H moms can really relate to that. Yep, there’s a real danger to Democrats of bringing this up.
There is a top level to the sport that people follow, and yes, some 4-H moms do care. It’s like saying the soccer mom isn’t interested in world cup soccer. It doesn’t tie.
wrb
@shortstop:
Yep they can. It is where they want to be and where they hope their kids end up.
To someone who knows horses and is fond of the love of horses a very effective humanizing attribute.
Horses are a test of character. They judge you. I think people lost a lot when they
went to automobiles that can be commanded, from the horse with which each time you want to go somewhere you had to negotiate the cooperation of a hyper-sensitive sentient being that weighs 1000 lbs.
Egg Berry
@ornery_curmudgeon: Hey, I’m asking a question. I really don’t think this is going to be anything in the grand scheme of Romney’s “common man” problem. So get off your fucking high horse.
By the way, there are over 300 million people in the U.S. 9.2 million horses. You do the math.
Egg Berry
@wrb:
Can we not turn this discussion into a fucking “horse whisperer” episode. Oh, wait.
Comrade Mary
@samara morgan:
But more expensive to maintain than a dog. When it comes to total cost of ownership, maintenance costs can swamp the original purchase price. Just ask Peter MacKay.
shortstop
@ornery_curmudgeon: I think you’ll be more effective in your goals if you guys stop pretending that a) horse ownership is common–2 million American owners is, of course, not “a lot of people,” and b) all horse ownership is identical, i.e., waitresses adopting elderly equines from pounds are exactly the same as people who collect animals that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and require exceptionally expensive upkeep and training.
Once again, nobody has anything against horses, as far as I know. But the Romneys’ particular connection with same is most definitely further illustration of how separated they are from average Americans. Single moms giving up basic necessities to help their kids ride are not going to miss that point, even if you seem to be doing so.
wrb
@samara morgan:
There is an Austrian Warmblood registry. It is an open stud book– ie they don’t try to maintain purity, you can mix in other breeds trying to make a better horse.
The base is Austrian old cavalry breeds.
They’ve never appealed to me but they are calm, steady horses.
eemom
I love this thread: the perfect blend of Romsnark and equine concern trollery. Vintage BJ. Well done, y’all.
Roger Moore
@Comrade Mary:
Sure, but that doesn’t tell you that much. Owning a dog is not a major expense for a typical American family, so for most families deciding on having a dog is more about who’s going to walk it and whether anyone in the family has allergies than it is about whether they can afford one.
Owning a horse is within reach of many families, but it’s a big enough deal that it constitutes a major lifestyle choice. You might have to skimp on other expenses or move out of the city so you can have a large enough property to support a horse properly. It’s still not a 1% activity the same way having a private jet, a cigarette boat, or a car elevator is.
shortstop
@Egg Berry: I answered you above; it’s only 2 million people, give or take a few. Most American horse owners have several.
@Roger Moore: I have always wondered why they’re called “cigarette boats.”
Martin
@Comrade Mary: The cost to own a horse depends a great deal on the visibility of the horse. If you are putting the horse forward as a reflection of who you are (as Mitt is doing in the interview) then the cost of the horse and boarding it is going to be in line with what you spend on other things in your life. If you spend 20x over median for a house in your area, as a reflection of who you are, then you’re probably going to spend 20x over median for owning a horse in your area, to make sure that the horse properly reflects you and your priorities. While folks in the SD area can certainly own and board a horse for probably $400/mo if they’re thrifty, Mitt would not be seen doing that because he doesn’t live a median existence. He’s going to spend $5K per month to board his horse at an exclusive stable with all the amenities. Because that reflects his status.
That’s how these communities work, and Mitt is definitely in that community.
Weaselone
So let me get this straight. Criticizing liberals as elitist for eating a particular type of field greens which cost a couple of dollars a package didn’t backfire on Republicans, but if Democrats make an issue of the Romneys owning a stable full of expensive horses it will. Talk about an interesting double standard. Fields greens = elitist. Stable of expensive horses = average joe.
YoohooCthulhu
All of you who say there are areas where you can own horses cheaply are missing the point.
The horse mania is a RURAL affectation that rich people adopt, versus the typical opera/cuisine/lifestyle (URBAN) affectations. Sure, less wealthy people in cities also go to the opera, drink imported teas, and so on.
shortstop
@YoohooCthulhu: Good point. I still laugh, though, when I remember how pissed off an Iowa arugula growers’ association got over that whole flap.
Roger Moore
@shortstop:
They were originally used to smuggle contraband cigarettes. They were designed to smuggle high value cargo by speed rather than stealth, much like the whiskey smuggling cars that eventually evolved into today’s NASCAR stock cars.
Martin
And just for the sake of comparison, I have a purebred show dog. His grandsire won best of breed at Westminster. He’s not Westminster caliber, but he’s not far off. Let’s say for the sake of argument that he was of that caliber. Cost to acquire him would have been at most a few grand. The cost to show him would have been notable, but the cost to care/feed/etc. would have been little different from any other dog – grooming being the standout. We decided we just wanted a dog, so just a dog he is.
My point being that the spectrum of costs for a dog, from a mutt from the pound to a show dog, is not very large in dollar terms. From a few hundred per year to a few thousand, with the main limitation being pet policies in apartments, etc. For horses, the spectrum of costs is from a few hundred per month if you have land and care for the horse yourself to tens of thousands per month in the case of exceptional animals (factoring in the cost to acquire the horse).
They don’t really compare. Pretty much any middle-class person can own and show a world class dog. To achieve that with a horse will make you the subject of a saccharine Disney summer feel-good movie – it’s is exceptional to the point that we can’t help but exploit it when it happens.
ornery_curmudgeon
@shortstop:
What you seem to be missing is that top horses are expensive because Dressage is a professional international spectator sport, not some rare exclusive hobby.
Ann Romney is dallying, yes. However, though I get the distinction, it will be missed. This is exactly what we don’t need, an issue that further divides rural folk from progressives. The Right will make hay with it.
Don’t make this election between horses and cowboys against Obama PLEASE.
See I said please.
Allan
@ornery_curmudgeon: It’s cute how you think that the comments thread of BJ is the place where memes can be strangled in their cribs, if only you type hard enough.
Mnemosyne
@ornery_curmudgeon:
No, the idea is that owning purebred horses that cost $100,000 each and paying professional equestrians to ride them for you is proof of elitism.
You do realize that you seem to be looking at the Romney’s $100K horses and elite equestrian events and saying, “But they’re ordinary Americans just like me!”
Allan
@ornery_curmudgeon: Because up until today, Obama has had the cowboy vote all locked up?
Cain
I remember back in 2008, they were making fun of us liberals about eating arugula. There was someone here who commented on going on a family picnic and getting teased about fancy stuff or something like that. Now, we can talk about horse breedings.. hah!
BTW – I hope Romney will take his vacation amongst the little people in east coast, remember Obama getting criticized going to vacation in Hawaii instead of pebble beach? It wasn’t like his dying grandmother wasn’t there or anything? Son of a bitch..
El Cid
BUT JOHN KERRY LOOKS FRENCH!
ornery_curmudgeon
I’ve lost a lot of respect for ‘my side’ today. Not just stupid, but determined to remain so.
This is what you’re attacking: WEG2006 Freestyle Dressage
Go for it. I’m out.
Mnemosyne
@ornery_curmudgeon:
Wait, seriously? Dressage is not a rare, exclusive hobby? You know lots of single mothers living in trailers whose kids are competing on the international level in dressage?
Dude, dial it back a little. You’re overdoing it.
beltane
The most popular breed of horse in America today is called a Four-Wheeler, and in the winter a Snow Machine. This is something even Sarah Palin knows.
beltane
@Mnemosyne: Exactly. Just because most Americans drive cars doesn’t mean there’s nothing hoity-toity about owning a fleet of Bentleys.
Comrade Mary
@Roger Moore: Yeah, simply owning a horse isn’t a 1% thing. I haven’t been making that argument, though.
@Martin: $400 each and every month is still a hell of an expense in my eyes, and when you add in vet calls (routine and emergency — colic, anyone?), tack, farriers, and the like, it really does add up. Most middle class people and almost all working class people would have to be ready to live in certain ways in certain parts of their states or provinces to make it work.
I still want a horse, damn it, but even paying the mortgage is looking a little iffy this year.
Mnemosyne
@Cain:
Talking to farmers about lettuce that you can get at any McDonald’s is proof of Democratic elitism, but talking about your $100K purebred horses is being jus’ plain folks. No double standard there, no sirree.
ETA: Random thought — apparently it was okay to mock Obama for being enthusiastic when he talked to farmers about agricultural policy and current markets, but it’s MEAN to mock Romney for talking enthusiastically about his hobby. Hmm.
eemom
betterer and betterer!
If this gets to a full out 200+ flame war I shall decline all presents for my 50th birthday.
C’mon horse folk….
Roger Moore
@beltane:
FTFY.
Randy P
@dmsilev:
And this is why we’ll win. The machine is up and running. That guy (or his team) capital-O organizes! Nice to have these skills on our side.
(Aside: I can hardly ever say the word “organized” without hearing “them chickens is organized” in a Yorkshire accent a la Chicken Run).
The main thing that depresses me about polls is hearing that there is a large pro-Romney male gender gap. It embarrasses me on behalf of my gender. How is it possible for a majority of ANYBODY to favor Romney? Are so many of us really idiots?
Ken
@Observerinvancouver: If you want to go after [Ann Romney], try the Cadillacs instead. But maybe just leave her completely alone.
Or at least wait until she’s in the White House and picks her First Lady cause. Then it’ll be OK to claim that encouraging kids to eat vegetables is a socialist plot and shows how un-American she is.
Though I doubt she’ll pick children’s health. Hmm, what cause do you think she’ll take up? Is Ann currently active with, say, any of the MS foundations, and could build that into a more general campaign for the chronically-ill?
shortstop
@ornery_curmudgeon: It’s okay, hon. If, after your performance in this thread, you can say “my side” with a straight face without getting echoes of “I’m a former liberal,” your loss is probably illusory at best.
That you can look at that video and think that everyone else sees what you see is even funnier.
JC
Actually, this is SO much worse than Kerry’s snowboarding, Bush or Obama’s golfing. My God, this is EVERYTHING that the supposed ‘real Americans’ hate, right?
Hmm, I wonder when we’ll get the various rightwingers – for consistency’s sake – ridiculing Romney for this?
Oh, that’s right – consistency means having some sort of self-awareness, or conscience.
Interrobang
If Ann Romney gets in the WH and picks hippotherapy for disabled kids/people as her pet cause, as she could very well do (theoretically, anyway), I’d support her in that. Hippotherapy for the disabled was how I got into riding. And yeah, I wound up doing competitive dressage. Won the Canadian bronze medal in disabled dressage for my ability class, too.
And lo and behold, my parents are not anything like super filthy rich. Well-off, sure, but not super filthy rich. I didn’t have a special horse someone had imported from Europe just for me, but I did ride a warmblood for most of that. (Warmbloods are just a type of cross-bred horse.)
In short, knock off the dressage. Just because you think it’s snooty doesn’t mean it actually is, when you get right down to it. Hell, most people who work with horses can’t afford to be snooty, because they’re always thisclose to having to wipe horse goober off their shirt, or shave bots off their horse’s legs, or deal with a rat in the tack room, or some or other damn gross thing that burns all the pretension out of you really fast.
ericblair
@JC:
To be fair to the RomBot, it’s not like he was caught drinking orange juice. Regular man o’ the people, salt of the earth, that one.
@Interrobang:
Oh hell, I used to fence. Fencing isn’t even expensive. But I’d have a hoot if Mr. Moneybot went on and on about epee technique. Normal person has interesting historically upper-class hobby: kinda cool. Completely stereotypical upper-class out-of-touch moron has yet another upper-class hobby: good luck with the man o’ the people shtick.
Considering he’s been running for president since the Taft administration, if Rmoney had any brains he’d have started deer hunting or bowling years ago.
Mnemosyne
@Interrobang:
So, like Ann Romney, you were able to afford a $100,000 dressage horse and pay someone to ride it in competitions for you, so therefore the two of you are exactly alike?
Seriously, this is like saying that, because you park your car in a garage, we shouldn’t make fun of the Romneys for having a car elevator because it’s all the same thing, really.
Mnemosyne
@ericblair:
This.
PeterD
The prince in darkness stole some tart
And it’s in the papers, it’s in the charts
It’s in the stop press before it all starts.
chopper
@shortstop:
somebody’s gotta be concerned.
David in NY
Didn’t we have this thread before? I think he’s uber-creepy in the smarmy way he’s chatting with whomever. And as one of the commenters of the female persuasion earlier said, how are the women going to like the bit about how the wives just have to get back to their riding, or tennis, or they just get cranky.
David in NY
And, God, did you ever think that BJ commenters would know so much about horses or dressage or the like? Bunch of traitors to their class here.
SiubhanDuinne
@eemom:
Yup. I feel as though I’ve wandered into the early chapters of a Dick Francis novel.
Comrade Mary
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m sorry, but we’ll have to tie you up and beat you in some very creative way now.
(Seriously, EVERY Dick Francis novel featured the protagonist getting tortured in some way. He was born rural middle class and certainly didn’t develop that mindset at some public school, but maybe taking extreme physical risks for a living does something to you.)
Rafer Janders
Look, what’s the big deal with a little dressage? It’s not like they’re fucking WINDSURFING, for god’s sakes.
Omnes Omnibus
@Comrade Mary:
So it’s that kind of party? Hmm.
Tehanu
@shortstop:
How about Chatsworth Osborne Jr.? Too weaselly? The Duke Brothers? Too slick? Henry F. Potter? Too mean?
Tehanu
@Mnemosyne:
I’m with Interrobang on this, I think. Make fun of Ann Romney all you want; don’t make fun of the dressage. Things that rich people have kept to themselves historically ought to be available to everybody — not criticized or banned because the rich have selfishly monopolized them.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
I could digress at some length about whether dressage is for sissies, but instead I’ll say it’s quite precise. Or, as Mr. Q, noted “OCD involving a horse.”
Many of us in other disciplines apply the principles of dressage in training for those disciplines, and it ain’t for sissies. Though those of us who ride hunters and jumpers mock dressage riders as if it were, and they mock us for lacking the attention span for dressage (among other things). All in good fun.
As to the whole “which gait is her favorite” trope, stop. Among the more amusing riding photos I’ve seen is that of a top dressage pro shown rather visibly favoring an extended trot. Yet few people every ask that question of men. I wonder why?
@Tehanu: As someone with MS who can’t afford all the high end treatment (like world class mounts) that Ann Romney enjoys, I still say don’t make fun of her. she may be an entitled cow, but no one should have to have MS.
Omnes Omnibus
So, based on this thread, does the fact that at various points in my life I have skied, played tennis, ridden, played rugby, and fenced – all of which have been considered snobbish/posh sports – does this make me a bad person?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Omnes Omnibus: Given your profession as well, the obvious answer would be “duh.”
::whistles innocently::
BTW, how did the recent interview go?
Omnes Omnibus
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): well, I know the lawyer makes me a bad person; I just wondered about the rest.
The agency I am with is weird. It takes months for anything to happen. OTOH, I have been accomplishing quite a bit in my current gig, so I feel good about the effect I am having on the state.
ETA: It is cool to be able to point to specific things that have changed for the better as a result of one’s actions.
shortstop
@Omnes Omnibus: No, but your asking that question makes us sure that you don’t understand what you just read.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@wrb: All the warmblood books are “open registry” as compared to the Jockey club or AQHA. But the sires and dams from othere registries have to be approved for the foals to be added to that registry. I’m sure Samara knows that (assuming, actually) though Austrian is one of the smaller and lesser imported (here) books. Without research, I’d expect there to be lots of Holsteiner and Hanoverian sires in the lines, maybe Oldenburg and/or Westphalian as well.
Omnes Omnibus
@shortstop: Yeah, I am sure that’s what it is.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Omnes Omnibus: Yup, I can remember that from my government work. Rare (for me) but rewarding.
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus:
What really makes you a bad person is having been a redleg once.
schrodinger's cat
@Omnes Omnibus: Well at least you don’t have esq in your handle and lecture us sanctimoniously like we were children. So there is that.
-fellow elitist (but not a lawyer)
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: Guilty as charged.
@schrodinger’s cat:
I could start, yes?
gogol's wife
@shortstop:
This.
schrodinger's cat
@Omnes Omnibus: Sure, but then we would have to call you grandpa.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodinger’s cat: I am not sure I would be comfortable with that, so let’s not.
schrodinger's cat
@Omnes Omnibus: Good! I think one of those among the commenters is more than enough.
Good night fellow jackals, I am going to turn in, now. Have to leave early tomorrow.
samara morgan
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): oldenbergs are the universal recipient and hanoverians are the universal donors.
i’ve been to Oldenberg and Hanoverian inspections beaucoup times and i’ve never seen an “austrian warmblood”.
ann romney’s show stallion is in the oldenberg book– you can look up his stallion test….the Hanoverian Werband only accepts hanoverians. the oldenbergs are much more relaxed….open registry i guess.
samara morgan
@Interrobang: bravo. that is a great story.
;)
But the juicitariat is confused, as usual.
Dressage is not a 1% sport.
OWNING imported FEI stallions is.
OWNERS are one-percenters, not riders.
i volunteer for Colorado Horse Rescue and for Wounded Warriors. Therapeutic riding can do wonders for PSTD and disabilities.
bjacques
I’ve got a friend who’s crazy about horses and works part-time in a stable, and boy howdy did she give me an earful one day about corruption and cruelty in show jumping here (in the Netherlands). She is definitely not a fan of Anky van Grunsven. I’ve also got a cow-orker in the next cubicle who rides and I think his wife does show riding.
It’s probably easier here than in the States to be in the 99% and into show riding, since this is a small, fairly prosperous country with easy access to rural areas.
Watching the video of Mitt, I kind of warmed to the guy, even knowing he’s chatting with Hannity and that his chosen profession is firing people for money. He’s definitely someone you could have a Pimm’s with (unleaded for him, of course). But he shouldn’t be president. Or be allowed to own a dog, of course.
chaucer
i think this whole horse thing is ridiculous. millions of people ride horses in the US and everyone that knows horses, knows that dressage is the most difficult type of event to compete in and it takes a hell of a talented horse to make the grade.
i’ve owned several horses and rode strictly western although i gave my daughter english riding lessons. i was the secretary of a county rodeo assn in texas and would love to have had a dressage horse. people in western riding spend thousands of dollars for a well trained horse and think nothing of it. i went to a cutting horse auction in the ’80s where my friend sold her cutting horse mare for $35,000. it would probably sell for $100,000 today. she worked at the telephone company and her husband worked for the power company.
dougj, you need to get out more!
samara morgan
@chaucer: more and more i think dougj is a moron.
how low the master troll has fallen.
this is actually just another example of Romney being clueless on message.
Romney’s gaffe in trying to paint his wife as just a stay-at-home mom with horses is that she isn’t.
Ann Romney is a 1%-er. She is an OWNER that PAYS professionals to ride her EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE imported horses.
That she might get on one of them and go on a hack with hubby doesn’t make either one of them into joe and jill six-pack.
But apparently dressage, like fox hunting, mashes a class envy button for a lot of juicers.
Dressage means training. Many horse sports use dressage work for training. It makes your horse BETTER.
fidelio
@wrb: This. Here in Tennessee lots of people who live in the country have horses. They also know how expensive Mrs. Romney’s version of horse-owning is. It’s the difference between working on old cars yourself, restoring one at a time, as you can track down parts or afford specialty work and Jay Leno’s car collection.
When the economy tanked in 2008 you could buy a thoroughbred with a great pedigree for $25 to $50 here and up in Kentucky.
samara morgan
@bjacques: show jumping in the netherlands has nothing on the gaited horse industry in the US…like Romney’s missouri foxtrotter.
Those horses get their tails broken, get their feet sored by burning the frog, train in chains and leg weights, and never go out of their stalls except to show.
the cruelest thing you can do to a horse is show it– keep it locked up away from other horses and never out in pasture or on a hack.
samara morgan
@fidelio: you can get a free-or-cheap thoroughbred at any track in the country at end of the race season. The ones that didn’t run fast enough get sold to the killers or surrendered to horse rescues.
samara morgan
@ericblair: except Ann Romney’s hobby isn’t riding…its owning. Riding is a 99% hobby, even dressage riding and fox hunting in the US, accessible by the middle class. Owning expensive imports and paying professionals to ride them is a 1% hobby.
this thread boils down to the balloon juice proles (the reason why i often say juicitariat for proletariat) expressing class envy at anyone who rides.
pseudonymous in nc
@Omnes Omnibus:
Skiing? Fine. $5.25m 9,500-square-foot “ski cabin” in Park City, UT? Somewhat hoity-toity.
Omnes Omnibus
@pseudonymous in nc: Of course, there is skiing and there is flying into Gstaad for the weekend. Same with most of the activities discussed in this thread. I think peole are smart enough to know the difference between keeping a horse or two and top level dressage competition. There is nothing necessarily wrong with either, but it is hard to polish your regular guy/gal cred if you are heavily involved in the latter.
samara morgan
@Omnes Omnibus: yup.
what mitt said- my wife is happiest on her Austrian Warmblood.
what mitt SHOULD have said- my wife is happiest on her horse.
see? he just had to brag….clueless.