Washington ( CNN ) -- A horse is a horse , of course , of course . That is , of course , unless that dancing horse belongs to the famous Romney family . Sports Illustrated Explainer : What 's dressage ? Rafalca , the dressage horse co-owned by Ann Romney , the wife of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney , competed Thursday and will continue competition on Friday at the London Olympics ; the horse is in 13th place after Thursday 's competition . Ann Romney began riding horses when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998 and has said the sport has helped lessen the symptoms of the inflammatory disease . Horserace turns ( almost ) literal in London . Still , the Romneys ' participation in the pricey prancing pony sport is causing conservatives consternation and liberals laughing fits . Both say the fussy filly is yet more proof that Romney , whose net worth is nearly $ 250 million , is out of touch with average voters . `` It fits into the narrative the Democrats are trying to put forward that he is wealthy and out of touch with the typical America , '' said Donald Gross , a political science professor at the University of Kentucky . The liberal group MoveOn.org pokes fun at the elegant equine in a 30-second television spot set to air in the battleground states of Nevada , Ohio and Pennsylvania and supported by a total ad buy of five figures . Looking a dressage horse in the mouth . The ad is told from the perspective of the horse . `` My name 's Rafalca , the Romneys ' dressage horse , '' the ad begins . MoveOn.org uses a poorly executed English accent as the voice of the Romneys ' horse . `` You might have seen me execute 'leg yields ' and 'flying changes , ' '' the ad continues , using terms from the sport of dressage . `` How do I pull off such grace and athleticism while looking so good ? Maybe it 's because the Romneys spend $ 77,000 per year on my upkeep . '' The ad comes to a grim conclusion , stating : `` After Mitt Romney repeals health care and ships your jobs overseas , I daresay your life wo n't be nearly as pampered as mine . After all , you 're not one of his horses . '' What Romney could learn from dressage . In mid-July , the Democratic National Committee briefly used video of the Romneys ' Olympic-bound horse to portray the candidate as `` dancing around the issues , '' but later discontinued using Rafalca because it could be seen as offensive to the GOP candidate 's wife . DNC to stop using Romney horse in attack videos . Such cheap shots reflect ignorance about the sport , said Stephan Hienzsch , executive director of the United States Dressage Federation . `` It 's a bit misleading that the sport is as expensive or as elitist as people have made it out to be , '' Hienzsch said . `` It does n't necessarily reflect on the entire sport . '' Still , conservatives are mortified at what they see as the poor political strategy of having a horse participate in something that , according to the United States Dressage Federation , can cost upwards of $ 50,000 to compete at such a high level . `` I 'm not sure why the horse has to be in the most upper-class hoity-toity Olympic event ever invented , '' conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer said on Fox News recently . `` It 's unnecessary . '' During the campaign , Romney has struggled to shake the image of a disconnected multimillionaire . Comments about NASCAR-owning friends and asides on owning more than one Cadillac certainly do n't help matters , political experts say . Romney calls billionaire football team owners friends . In a Quinnipiac University/ CBS News/New York Times swing state poll released this week , more than 50 % of voters in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Ohio said they do not feel Romney `` cares about the needs and problems of people '' like themselves . More than 50 % of voters polled in those two states said President Barack Obama cares about their needs and problems . While the candidate and his team are rooting for Team USA , it would n't be a bad thing politically if Rafalca fails to medal , said Larry Sabato , director of the University of Virginia 's Center for Politics . `` This is one of these things where the candidate defers to his spouse even though the entire staff knows it 's a bad idea . You do n't have to be a political strategist to know this was not a good idea , '' Sabato said of the horse 's Olympic debut this week . `` This is no Mr . Ed . '' Winning a medal will ensure Romney is the butt of horse jokes for weeks to come . With Friday 's dressage competition looming , there 's still time to make political hay out of the matter . `` If I were the Romney campaign I 'd be hoping the Romney horse finishes fourth , '' said Norman Ornstein , a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute . `` The audience for dressage is not huge , but if Romney 's horse wins the gold medal that 's a lot of attention . '' CNN 's Kevin Liptak and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report .
Ann Romney 's dressage horse made its Olympic debut Thursday . The horse, named Miss America, was the first of three horses to compete in dressage, a sport that combines riding and jumping. A new ad by liberal group MoveOn.org pokes fun at the horse . Conservative commentator has suggested Olympic horse was a questionable political move .