When Mitt Romney participated in a discussion of horses with Sean Hannity in early April, he was asked about his wife’s horses, and the fact that she takes breaks from the campaign for the benefits that riding horses gives her.
Mitt and Ann Romney on campaign trail
The Romneys' choice of horses makes sense given their purpose.
According to people who know horses, he was not being elitist at all when he said: “She has Austrian Warmbloods, which are – yeah, it’s a dressage horse, it’s a kind of horse for the sport that she’s in. Me, I have a Missouri Fox Trotter. So mine is like a quarter horse, but just a much better gait. It moves very fast, and doesn’t tire, and it’s easy to ride, meaning it’s not boom-boom-boom, it’s just smooth, very smooth.”
According to Joyce Graening, President of the Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breeder’s Association, when Mitt Romney chose a Fox trotter, he chose "a working man's horse," known for its reliability, versatility and smooth ride.
Comments made on Fox Trotter chat groups indicated that the Romneys originally purchased Fox Trotters as a good fit for Ann, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis. “You often see people with health issues select the breed because the horse is known for a calm personality and doesn’t jostle the rider. We just had to set the record straight,” Graening explains.