Ann Romney's horse and trainer qualify for U.S. Olympic team

[Tumbulu]

65. Riding a horse is somewhat expensive, no matter what style one rides

but mainly the expenses are highest in urban areas.

I have lived in areas where retired people and those working at minimum wage have been able to keep a horse at a stable. Dressage is favored by many older people (mainly women) because it is perhaps the safest of the disciplines, and it is really interesting. A good many of the therapeutic riding programs for the children with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders are at dressage barns. It really is not an elitist thing. It is more of a middle aged woman thing. Most children find dressage not so interesting, they want to jump or do barrel racing or rope calves.

Dressage is perhaps the most boring of all the disciplines in that it is very precise and methodical and it is really done for the health of the horse. If one trains and rides their horse properly, it can be sound and happy and healthy into it's 30's. Other types of riding see horses all used up and lame by the time they are in their early teens (horse racing even earlier).

Lots of kids have horses and it really depends on what part of the country one lives in. In rural areas it tends to be quite inexpensive to keep a horse, in urban areas it is usually very expensive.

Spending time with a horse is a wonderful thing and I am sorry that it is such an out of the question expense in urban areas. In rural areas, not so much.