By Lynndee Kemmet – The role of wealth in the sport of dressage has gotten much media attention of late. In the U.S., the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife on their dressage horses and support for their trainer has provided fuel to those who argue Romney cannot relate to the average American. And now, the Australian dressage world is being hit with charges that wealth has skewed that nation’s selection process for its Olympic Dressage team.

Over the past few days the Australian media has been focused on the case of rider Hayley Beresford, who took her battle to be on the Olympic Dressage team to the Court of Arbitration in Sport. Beresford, who represented Australia in the 2008 Olympics, has charged foul play in the team selection. It was the selection of Kristy Oatley to the team, which also includes her cousing Lyndal Oatley, that has been questioned. For one, Kristy Oatley was not part of the “shadow” team selected by Australia. She was added after the shadow team had been finalized. According to Australian news reports, she hasn’t even been active in competition for the past two years.

As Australian grand prix judge Berni Saunders put it to reporters with The Sydney Morning Herald, that is like “Cathy Freeman having two years off running and then deciding a few months before the Olympics ‘I’d like to have a go’.”

Accusations are circulating in Australia that wealth swayed the selection process. Kristy Oatley, and her cousin Lyndal Oatley, are granddaughters of billionaire Bob Oatley, who is also one of the big sponsors of grand prix events in Australia. Hence, for many Australians, the selection of the country’s Olympic Dressage team seems less about picking the best of the country than about pleasing a wealthy sponsor of equestrian competitions. Even some of the country’s other top dressage riders are expressing that belief. Among them is the country’s top-ranked dressage rider, Heath Ryan. Ryan did not seek an Olympic spot this year but in the Sydney Morning Herald he is quoted as saying that it does seem as if the selection procedures were changed “by power and money to favour the wealthiest individuals.”

Equestrian Australia is denying the charges and says selectors just placed more emphasis on how horses performed between March and June. Beresford countered that by allowed Kristy Oatley’s to rest her horse Clive and miss one of the compulsory nominations gave her an edge during those months. Equestrian Australia also argued that Beresford never provided supporting documentation that her horse was ill this spring, which is why she was not given an exemption from competition as was given to Kristy Oatley.

Beresford, who has struggled to overcome breast cancer and the loss of her top horse Reli last year in a road accident, has stated that her effort to make the team should not be viewed as a personal attack against Kristy or Lyndal Oatley, both of whom she says are excellent riders. Nevertheless, her challenge to the selection process is clearly creating a division in Australia’s dressage world and raising questions in the country’s media regarding the power of wealth in the sport of dressage.