The Romneys know what it means to struggle
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You've answered my bottom line question beautifully. With some very interesting historical background to boot, which I truly appreciate.
Now that I have a bit more understanding of the sport, (even checked out a YouTube video of it) I actually look forward to watching in the next Olympics. But do we have horse(s) and rider(s) other then Rafalca and Eberling to root for that may have a smidgen of a chance? Not that I have anything against poor Rafalca- (it's not his fault that he has the misfortune of being spoiled Ann Romney's horse)- It's just that I tend to like "the underdog" in sporting events, and it sounds to me, based on what you've said that the odds are against us Americans.
I can see why the whole thing irritates you though. One of the reasons I asked you about dressage is because I had read somewhere else on DU about how you were more or less priced-out of it by wealthy people suddenly taking an interest dressage as a 'hobby'... Even though you had grown up training the horses and working very hard with them; much like how you describe the Germans doing. I can see now how that bond would be very important, since the sport as you describe it involves really knowing, even sort of 'being one' with the animal. If I am understanding correctly.
Iow's horse and rider really need to be 'in sync' with each other, and really the only good way to achieve that would need to be trainer as the horse's 'one and only'. These wealthy people interfering with everything trainers like you have taught them (especially when they have no idea what they are doing) would, I imagine be confusing to the animal, possibly even causing them to pick up bad habits in order to adapt to some untrained and spoiled 'afternoon' rider doing it for show-off purposes, or whatever. The "look at me" types.
If I've gotten all of this right, I'd be pretty PO'd too.
Sorry that I didn't get around to replying to your well written and thought out post. Got too busy last night to get around to acknowledging it properly. Thanks again. Interesting stuff! 
I simply ceased to care, for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is, I have my own little 2 acres and back yard arabian filly that I am bringing along for the pure joy of it. I hope to sit on her for the first time soon; if not this week, then next. We'll probably never even show at the local level, but if we can get out and go trail riding, that will be enough.
I'm sure there are some team members who will have a better chance than others, but I doubt anything has changed much. Germany and the Netherlands will own the top 3 spots, and pretty much own the next 3 or so. Somebody may sneak in to a 4th or 5th, but mostly everybody else comes in someplace below the top 6.
As long as our selection process is so totally political and tilted toward a certain class, we will lag. I would have liked to have seen Kathleen Raine sent the first time she qualified as an alternate, with a horse she trained herself from the ground up, instead of getting bumped so that the 1%er darling (and 5-time loser) Robert Dover could have yet another chance to come in last or 2nd to last on a million dollar fully trained pony purchase by a 1%er just so he could try, try again. Then she would have gotten the needed international experience that is their age-old excuse for breaking their own rules.
On the other hand, to hang onto a ray of hope, I think it was the last Olympics (maybe the one before; I'm losing track of time) that a working class trainer and his horse were on the German Olympic gold team. Forget their names, but his horse was a working mounted police horse, he was in the mounted police, and they trained to upper level dressage in their off duty time 
also "western reining" might qualify as style. Top reining horses get fundamental training virtually identical to dressage (or at least they used to, can't speak for the present day). That is, the first year or two is the same, and then they branch off into their specialty. So a canter pirouette in dressage has the same foundation as the spin (rollback? forget what they call it) in reining. Like dressage, in reining competition they demonstrate a sequence of reining movements and are scored on the quality of those movements. It's just that their movements are geared toward working cattle.
A few decades ago, Sydley Payne and her quarter horse, Scarteen, won the national reining horse championships. She got interested in dressage, re-schooled Scarteen to grand prix dressage and nearly qualified for the Olympic team. 
English style riding is based on fox hunting, point-to-point, steeplechase and racing. And speed (possibly over obstacles) is the main goal (also staying alive). The Brits do pretty well in combined training (Princess Anne was on their Olympic team). You don't have to "look pretty" but if you don't ride really well, you may not survive. Certainly you will end up eating dirt or worse. But "hunt seat" competition is extremely stylized and about "looking pretty" to the point that if those horses and riders were actually out on a hunt course, they wouldn't last long. Personally, I think it was another matter of money taking over. They currently have stylized it to the point that the riders are taught to practically lie down on the horse's neck over jumps. I suspect they did it because it reduces the need for talent if you balance yourself by leaning on the horse's neck, as opposed to holding your balance back over the horse's center of gravity. Those horses are absolute saints to tolerate all that weight shoved so far forward. It's a miracle they stay on their feet on landing. I expect that's why the jumps are so much smaller than they used 40-50 years ago, and why the classes are pretty much restricted to groomed, level arenas with perfect footing. Ride like that on an actual hunt, and the horse would go down or stop dead in self-preservation.
In dressage competition, the point is to demonstrate the training of the horse and the harmony between horse and rider. Quality, not speed. Similar to western reining competition, but with a different sequence of movements that had a different ultimate purpose.
Am I understanding this correctly? The Romneys get a tax deduction for a freaking ballet horse?! 
