By Daniel Rigney

I’m doing my homework in preparation for the eagerly awaited Olympic dressage events in August. “Dressage,” a French word for “training,” is also known as "horse ballet." Aficionados agree that dressage is among the most difficult of all horse-training events  --  second only, perhaps, to horse jazz dance.

Thoroughbred horseracing has been called the “sport of kings,” and polo the “sport of playboys.”  Dressage is known affectionately among devotees as the “sport of sorts.” It requires riders to sit in one place and do as little as possible while the creatures below them do most of the work. In that respect, it resembles the life of a Wall Street investor.

The Democratic National Committee recently released two television ads alluding to Romney's involvement in the sport, but later agreed to make no more dressage jokes, conceding between stifled snorts that there is nothing funny about the Olympic spectacle of a fastidious rider astride a prancing pony.

See the original DNC ad “Mitt Dancing Around the Issues” here.

And for a few frightfully amusing inside-dressage jokes, go here.  Sample:

Q: How do you make a small fortune with dressage horses?

A: Start with a large fortune.

I think we've all been there. Haven't we?