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 won'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 doesn'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 don'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 wouldn'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 don'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. 

 In 2018, MoveOn members helped power spectacular victories at the ballot box, fought back against attacks on our democracy, and provided critical aid to those facing humanitarian crises at home and abroad. 
 
 Here’s some of what we all contributed to in 2018. 

 Straight from the horse’s mouth. 
 
 [youtube width=”480″ height=”274″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7_EJLBU400[/youtube] 
 
 A MoveOn original. 
 
 “In our ad, voters hear the truth about Mitt Romney straight from the horse’s mouth: Romney seems to think many Americans deserve to be treated worse than a horse. There’s nothing wrong with taking good care of a horse, but there’s something messed up about a millionaire who spends twice what most Americans make in a year caring for a horse, but wants to take away people’s health care and offshore their jobs. We’re rooting for Rafalca and all of our Olympians to bring home the gold, but we’re sure not rooting for Mitt Romney to send jobs overseas. Voters had best steer clear of Romney unless they’re looking for a ride on a one-trick trickle down pony.” 
 
 -Justin Ruben, Executive Director of MoveOn.org Political Action.
– Ann Romney is ecstatic that her horse Rafalca and co-owner/rider Jan Eberling are in 13th place as the mare heads into today's dressage competition, but her husband isn't crowing about it. CNN takes another look at horse, noting it "could be [a] political liability." The horse "fits into the narrative the Democrats are trying to put forward that Romney is wealthy and out of touch with the typical [American]," said University of Kentucky political science professor Donald Gross. MoveOn.org is running a new attack ad stirring up the horse waters. It points out that the Romneys spend an estimated $77,000 a year for Rafalca's upkeep. The spot, delivered in a snooty accent by a video horse posing as Rafalca, concludes: "After Mitt Romney repeals health care and ships your jobs overseas, I daresay your life won't be nearly as pampered as mine. After all, you're not one of his horses." Even conservatives are embarrassed by the horse, notes CNN. "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." One observer quipped to CNN: "If I were the Romney campaign I'd be hoping the Romney horse finishes fourth."