remember, wind surfing and bike riding are effete, but dressage is THERAPY.

and a 77K tax deduction.

Romney's going to need to find some brush to cut to fix his image. Or he could shoot something.

You arrogant, snotty, self-absorbed piece of shit. "This guy has a hobby I don't enjoy or know a fucking thing about, so he must not be a real American."

Fuck you and your useless snobbery.

Way to miss the total fucking point, just_another_matt @3!

Dressage is a hobby only open to people who can afford the hideously expensive horses and equipment - or those who know people who can afford the hideously expensive horses and equipment. I don't have trouble making my mortgage payments every month, which puts me in a better financial situation than 90% of my neighbors, and hey, I live in one of the wealthier communities in Pennsylvania - we even have a local dressage show every year. Yet despite my finacial security, I can only dream about being able to afford to compete.

I actually think that my HOUSE is worth less than Ann Romney's dressage horse, especially after the real estate slump.

Dressage is a snobby sport which is perfectly suited for a snobby family. Mitt needs to come across as someone who understands the average American - and the average American has never heard of dressage. Hell, even Colbert doesn't even know how to pronounce it! Being know for his wife's great skill at dressage isn't the way to get the average American to like Mitt - or to want to vote for him.

@4 - That is ridiculous. There are plenty of us regular folks who not only ride, but compete, in dressage. Guess what? We are pretty damn good at finding ways to do it affordably (Hello used tack and working off lessons!)... And we're actually not all that snotty either. Are some of us? Sure, every sport and hobby has got them, but most of us are downright nice people.

I totally disagree with Romney's politics but this is a free country and they have every right to spend their money as they choose whether or not you agree with how they came into that money. And NEWSFLASH, to be internationally competitive in ANY sport takes a shit ton of money. If money spent to get to the top is so hideous you better avoid every Olympic sport this summer, along with football, basketball, baseball, soccer, etc.

The Colbert segments are super funny and every horse person I know thinks they're great (hence our play along at Gladstone!). But damn, some people are so nasty about it. Don't you have anything better to get outraged about than some people spending their own money enjoying their horses? There are bigger fish to fry in this lovely world of ours.

The Romney Family's dressage hobby would be utterly irrelevant if that same kind of 'he's out of touch, he drinks the wrong beer' wasn't a integral part of republican attack ads. This is only to highlight the idea that the 'out of touch' argument is stupid and mean. Oh, and incredibly disingenuous. If it applies to the president, then it applies to Mitt Romeny.

If you think he's out of touch that's one thing (I don't disagree). It's an entirely different thing to discredit an entire sport with a rich and interesting history, and a HUGE range of people who are involved just because of the Romney's involvement. Perhaps I take it too personally. In particular I am offended by the jabs that discredit the affect that riding has for Ann's MS. I have many friends who's lives have been changed in amazing ways by riding and dressage, from a friend who can now walk thanks in large part to equine therapy, to the amazing 16 year old visually impaired girl who rides and competes on my own horse. As much as I disagree with their politics, I completely understand and respect Ann's devotion to the sport and I know how much it can do for someone suffering from a debilitating disease. I hate seeing that discounted and mocked.

Make that effect. My spelling nazi self shouldn't post from my phone...

But it's really not about the sport. It's about the idea that having a hobby that isn't very common is somehow bad. Like the whole 'liberals drink latte's, and are thus not-american', it's about trying to paint somebody as weird and not-normal for cheap political gain. Dressage isn't a bad thing here; it's that it isn't common and is seen as a 'rich' sport by people who have never heard of it. Honestly, I hadn't before this got brought up. And there's nothing wrong with it as a sport, but as a counter to the idea that the president is out of touch but Mitt Romney is a normal, everyday common person it serves the purpose of making that argument seem stupid on its face.

I live across from a big county-run park with a large horse ring, and we see a big diverse cross-section of people come to horse events all summer. I don't think Colbert's treatment of dressage was mean-spirited at all. Just as with his speed-skating adventures in Vancouver 2010, he likes to poke fun at a lesser-known sport, preferably one that looks inherently silly on some level. If anything, I think this might humanize the Romneys; it's unlikely to be the thing that BRINGS HIM DOWN, as if that were even the idea.

I get that for sure. This is probably why I lost my passion for politics quite a few years ago... It's SUPER lame to me that the left feels the need to counter stupid ideas/arguments from the right with their own equally stupid arguments. I would like to think that we (both the left and just humanity in general) are smarter than that, though much of the time I doubt that we are. Lobbing the same stupidity back and forth is crazymaking.

Thanks for completely illustrating my point perfectly, Schweighsr @4!

- You don't know anything about the sport

- You don't know anything about the people who participate in it

But damnit, you know you don't like 'em, 'cause they must be snobby rich snobby-pants people!

Hint - look up the definition of "snob". And join Paul in the fucking useless liberal making the rest of us look bad club. Which needs a snappier name. How about you get on that and stop fucking things up for the rest of us?

@ Queen
Are the horses free? Stable fees? Trucks & trailers? Can you do it on $200 a month?

I can accept that it may not take millions to participate, but I'm not buying the "dressage on the cheap" line. It's still a country club sport, several notches above golf & tennis in terms of ongoing costs. Costs that the majority of Americans can only dream of affording, which is why it is so tone deaf of Romney to even talk about dressage during a campaign.

@11,

And that's why liberals lose.

In 2004, Republicans painted a decorated war hero as a crybaby coward when *their* candidate was an AWOL draft dodger. The only way to beat Republicans is to hit them back harder.

Number 14 is correct. Liberals want everyone to like them and won't accept that they have an enemy that seeks to eradicate them by hook or by crook. That they wont get their hands dirty is a weakness, not a virtue.

Agreed @ 14 & @15.

@13 - Nope, not saying it's super cheap. If I had kids I could still afford to ride but I probably couldn't afford as many lessons or as many shows. Luckily I have no desire to breed baby humans. I don't have a ton of extra money at the moment to go out to dinner or buy clothes or go on vacation - it mostly goes to the horses. But I can allocate my somewhat limited funds and afford it without much pain. Many of my old city dwelling punk rock friends spend as much or more on drinking and going out than I do on the horses and most make quite a bit less money than I do. Spending my middle of the road salary on dressage related endeavors does not make me any more elite than they are.

I compete in dressage on a horse I paid less for than what most people I know paid for their bicycle. Yes, it's an expensive hobby, but I make sacrifices in other areas of my life in order to pay for it (I'll never own my own home or a new car, for instance). I think it's quite funny to watch the backlash against the elitism of the sport because the rest of us who do it on the cheap for fun are sitting back and laughing at the wealthy housewives who ride as some kind of status symbol. Those types are certainly out there, but they are by far outnumbered by down to earth fun people who love the challenge and athleticism required to do it well. It's a fun sport.

I have no problem with the Romney’s or anyone else, spending $100,000 on a horse + the whatever large bundle of money they spend to get from event to event and pay their trainer, rider, etc ...its a free country. What I do have a problem with is Republicans labeling Democrats as elitist and citing cheese eating, wine sipping, latte drinking and higher education attaining as examples of this “elite” behavior, while their candidate spends six figures annually to participate in dressage and probably sips a lot of wine, drinks a lot of lattes and most certainly has a very elite education.

@16 - So the answer to that is what? Sling the same ridiculous crap back? IMO that makes you as stupid as them, if not more so for letting them drag you into such idiotic dialogue.

Lol make that @19!

You folks do realize that the GOP trolls label Michelle Obama as some kind of elitist for talking about gardening and healthy eating? After that shit, all gloves have to come off!

Ann Romney never worked a day in her life. Characterizing her as "a stay-at-home mom" was a complete travesty. The woman has always had a domestic staff and a god-damned social secretary. And now, not only does she compete in dressage, but we find they compete at an Olympic level.

When we start competing for the average member of the electorate, we not only have to target the Republican meme that Dems are elitists, we have a rich field of targets with which to counterpunch. With apologies to those few thousand average Americans who are fans of dressage, this is Romney's windsurfing and tank-riding moment. Sorry, but dressage is going to be a political bludgeon, one of many in this election. Please don't take it personally. It has to be done.

It must suck to love a sport that can produce hysterical laughter from an audience just by showing video of it being performed.

As long as Rmoney doesn't become a Democrat and mention the word arugula, he'll be fine. Unfortunately.