In Fritz Lang’s 1953 film noir The Big Heat, gangster’s moll Gloria Grahame tells widow-of-crooked-cop Jeannette Nolan, “we’re sisters under the mink.”
I think that’s kind of what Ann Romney is telling us. We’re sisters in the saddle.
It doesn’t matter that she doesn’t think of herself as wealthy, despite a net worth north of $250 million. As she says, “it could be gone tomorrow.”
As Gloria Grahame also says in The Big Heat, “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. Believe me, rich is better!”
Whether you think of Ms. Romney as out of touch or on a higher spiritual plane, one thing is clear: she loves to ride and she understands that when it comes to healing, there’s nothing better than a horse to cure what ails you. As a breast cancer survivor diagnosed with MS more than a decade ago, she made a wise decision to return to horses after many years out of the saddle.
Over the weekend, the Washington Post wrote an interesting profile that explores Ann Romney’s horse habit. It illuminates part of Ann Romney’s world that gives her the strength to take on the challenges that life has presented and continues to present to her.
The profile was written by a non-horseman, so there are several points at which it strikes an odd note (“…riders must master leg squeezes…” and “…fees paid for horse tending…”). But perhaps the oddest thing in the interview is Jan Ebeling being quoted as saying during a training session, “Against him! Against him! Lean!” Those are instructions? Against him? Lean? Really?
I must be missing something. Just like Mrs. Romney, who gave this answer in a deposition regarding the sale of one of her horses, “…it’s not like there was a chance it would go lame.” Right! All horse people know that. Lame? No chance! NO CHANCE. Really. Reading that helped me put the “I don’t consider myself to be wealthy” comment into context.
But hey, so what? We’re a country of dreamers. Camelot and all that. Caroline Kennedy’s pony Macaroni was welcome on the White House Lawn and, as we can see from the photo below, even closer to the Oval Office.
Photo by Cecil Stoughton, from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Maybe Ann’s warmbloods will carry on the tradition. As she told Parade magazine last November, “You are going to see horses at the White House.” Of course, she was laughing at the time, so perhaps she’s not serious.
Or perhaps she won’t bother because as she told the Washington Post, she has “horses in every port” (an unfortunate analogy if there ever was one). But lucky for her, she has enough money to get to those ports any time she wants. At least for today.
Reflections on Riding 
” I don’t consider myself wealthy” ….with 250 million in the bank? Out of touch? On a higher spritual plane? ….how about just ludicrous. Earth to Ann: you aren’t just rich, you are very rich. Excess money makes people wackadoodle. And the love of it IS the root of all evil.
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Ive seen her often and met her briefly, since i live in San Diego and volunteer at and watch all the shows. Mitt also. She is very, very nice, very down to earth, very normal, and a good horse girl. She is unfailingly kind to the lowly volunteers which is more than I can say for some others I dont envy her, I admire and like her and give her credit. Having money doesnt make her less of a horse girl. Our sport needs wealthy riders and patrons, just ask Akiko, or Jane Brown, Georgina Bloomberg, or Jessica Springsteen, or Clea Newman, or Hannah Selleck…and I certainly know some less wealthy shitty horse girls >;-> In my long experience in the show world as a groom and braider and lurker, I have found that money or the lack thereof has nothing to do with how people view their horses. YMMV!
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Certainly, having money or not having money doesn’t make you a horseman. Just liking and riding horses doesn’t make you a horseman either although I suppose it’s enough to define you as “a horse girl” (I can’t say for sure, since I don’t use that phrase).
Money or the lack thereof doesn’t correlate with character, but having money provides options that people without money don’t have. Unfortunately, simply being rich doesn’t ensure that you will choose to treat your animals properly, provide for their retirement or make responsible choices for their care.
F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “The rich are different from you and me.” And Hemingway said, “Yes, they have more money.” For the record, I’m in Fitzgerald’s camp.
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I should have capitalized it..A Horse Girl is someone who has dedicated much if not most of her life to working with and studying horses. You are a Horse Girl. I am a Horse Girl. Sometimes I like it as Horse Grrl, something my younger students called themselves through the years. I liked it and it stuck. And of course, having money doesnt mean you will do right for your horses (think Jane Smiley) or George Lindemann Jr..! The rest we can save for another day. I will only add that I have seen Ann Romney behave in a way toward her horses, and winning, and losing, and messing up, in a way that I liked. Not ego driven, down to earth, no temper, not flighty, and very normal. Its likely that her comment re wealth could have been something more self effacing than it might have sounded.
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