Oh yeah, almost forgot - RomneyCARE RomneyCARE RomneyCARE
It is just sad that Ann and her horse as Olympic athletes would have worked so hard to represent the USA just to be sabotaged for political gain.
I can’t help myself. There’s gotta be a “... and the horse you rode in on” joke here somewhere.
Obama’s dog won’t win a medal either .... not since Obama ate him.
Ann Romney was NOT competing on the horse. Anoth rider was, who has much more experience.
Does everything have to be a political conspiracy?
Could it be that other horses performed a little better than Rafalca?
Horses have bad days too. Several horses/riders who were favored to win the jumping events did really crappy (knocked over the rails)and didn't even place.
Horses tampered with by Obama agents......facepalm.jpg.
They’ll just have to strap her to the top of the wagon and take her back to the ranch.
Oh yeah, almost forgot - RomneyCARE RomneyCARE RomneyCARE
No, the horse was not sabotaged for political purposes or unfairly judged. The gold-medal-winning Brits, including Charlotte DeJardin on Valegro, were superb. Truly breathtaking. They deserved the victory. Rafalca was good but not in that class. Her canter pirouettes are not wonderful and the passage and piaffe, eh. She is a good girl, a fine horse, just not quite of that caliber.
But to be quite fair, the US is a relative newcomer to dressage. They’ve been pursuing it in England and Europe for 500+ years, one way or another, and the depth of talent there is incredible. It’s BIG business there. Until forty years ago, however, very few Americans had even heard of it. We’ve come up to speed fast, partly through importing European horses and breeding them here, partly from bringing European trainers over. We aren’t quite there yet, though we get closer all the time.
Another consideration is that some of our top talent does not pursue dressage as a competitive sport but as an art form, so they’re out of the mix. And the European nations’ government support for horse-breeding has created an industry we can’t approach here.
Disclaimer: I hate the FEI and its hypocrisy. Politics is involved, but NOT in ways that prejudice the judges against American horses and riders. The judges here are doing pretty well; it’s the commentators on the rides who are, um, nuts.
Are you serious? Give me a break. Being paranoid 24/7 is no way to go through life.
Oh yes another conspiracy theory. Maybe the horse just sucks like Romney the liberal.
This is just such a blessing. I have laid awake for the last three nights wondering how the Romney’s would be able to pay the taxes on the Gold Medal if they won it. Now I can relax.
Everyone can’t win. Each competition stands on its own, and some performers just do better than others, on any particular day.
My daughter used to ride dressage. It’s fun to watch.
Its them horse haters and their ilk...