Dressage: Ann Romney’s Pricey Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is a terrible, debilitating disease, and Ann Romney, who has suffered from MS since being diagnosed in 1998, has bravely soldiered on throughout her husband’s campaign for the presidency. The Romneys have been very private with matters concerning Ann Romney’s treatment for Multiple Sclerosis, but a recent lawsuit over a horse has provided a small peek into some of what Romneys are paying to treat the MS.

For more than ten years, Ann Romney has been training and riding in dressage, a fancy version of horseback riding that is often called “horse ballet.” Dressage takes incredible muscle control on the part of the rider, and Ann Romney credits the dressage with helping her stay relatively well.

However, as you can imagine all those horses don’t come cheap. Though Ann Romney has been dropped from a recent lawsuit over one of her former dressage horses, the case has still provided a glimpse into what the Romneys have been paying out for her horse therapy:

Dressage is not for the faint of wallet; it requires healthy outlays of cash for upkeep, training, transportation and veterinary care. It attracts some of the world’s richest people — the daughter of billionaire New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg competes. Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and his wife own dressage horses.

A spokeswoman for the Romney campaign would not discuss the costs associated with Ann Romney’s horses. “We are not required to disclose this information,” said Amanda Henneberg in an emailed statement.

The woman who bought Super Hit, Catherine Norris, testified that it cost $2,400 a month to board him at the Acres.

Insurance documents in the court file indicate that from November 2006 to November 2007, Ann Romney paid $7,800 to insure five horses against mortality and theft for amounts ranging from $50,000 to $135,000 per horse, which she said was far less than their value. “I self-insure for the rest,” she testified. “Just expensive to have insurance.”

Ann Romney and dressage: A pricey private world

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