Ann Romney (left) and her horse, sorry husband, Mitt. Photocredit: Maria Dryfhout at Shutterstock.com
The background
Mitt Romney may have made a terrible series of faux pas on his trip abroad, but his wife, Ann Romney, has done better – or at least, her horse Rafalca has. A 15 year old bay Oldenburg mare, Rafalca has been competing in the London 2012 Olympic Games dressage, ridden by Jan Ebeling. She was beaten by Britain, Germany and Denmark.
The horse is attracting some ire in America, where the left are tearing their hair out over Rafalca’s apparently luxurious lifestyle. And, naturally, there is an internet meme. Where would we be without internet memes?
“She was consistent and elegant. She did not disappoint. She thrilled me to death,” said Ann Romney, about her horse.
If only Mitt Romney had behaved as well
“Short of mocking Shetland ponies over their lack of stature,” said Sam Jones in The Guardian, Rafalca “was always going to struggle” to match Romney’s gaffes. But she was a “positive triumph.” Her hoofs never strayed “mouthwards”; she never “upset the host nation.” She’s the “most famous political horse since Caligula toyed with making a consul of Incitatus,” yet she managed to stay on track, bowing “her neatly plaited head on cue,” and doing everything else demanded. If only Ann’s husband had behaved as well.
Rafalca lives well; do you?
Rafalca certainly does live well, pointed out Business Week, which said that she inhabited “a vaulted, tile ceiling in a terrazzo-floored stable with brass fittings.” However, Jan Ebeling has pointed out that dresssage isn’t elitist and you can do it on a normal budget – although The Raw Story pointed out that it costs about $55,000 to keep a horse. Jezebel was having fun: “Ann Romney’s favorite fancy dressage horse, Rafalca, costs more to feed and shelter than your whole family. How wealthy does that make you feel?”
And here’s the meme:
