Romney family’s dressage horse-related tax deductions last year exceeded median USA household income

[riderinthestorm]

85. Oh its a dressage saddle. Ann's a dressage queen of the highest order

Jan Ebeling is a dressage king operating at the top of his game. There are no other types of saddles in their tack room (I'd bet BIG money on that) and virtually every single one of them is a $10k custom made. Look, they're riding horses worth anywhere from $500k - $1 mill, they're not even going to sneeze at paying top dollar for the most integral piece of equipment required for maximum success.

The (very few) FEI level dressage horses we've sold all had custom saddles that went with the horse upon sale. Of course the new rider had her own saddle made up to suit her but to start, there would be very little changes made to the tack to ensure the smoothest transition in the beginning. Besides it takes some time for the new saddle to be made - gotta ride in something! Might as well be the "old" saddle....

As far as expenses, Jan Ebeling isn't paying a penny of the horse's expenses. None. Zip. Zilch. He's riding and training the horse - that's his portion of the contribution. Think of it this way - his training fees are probably in the range of $1500 - $2000/month. Plus extra $$$ for competitions. He's been training Rafalca for how many years? I don't know but its been years - probably a decade or more since she's 15. Plus him and his staff personally attend to her - big bucks there for that service He's been personally responsible for getting her to the fame and glory spot. Honestly, without him putting in a single cent, he's earned his third for sure imho but bottom line he's not paying any money out for that saddle. Ann and her other female partner are putting in the actual cash. Jan's putting in time and training and skills.