The Art of Dressage » Edward Gal http://www.theartofdressage.com A Casual Conversation About the Sport We Love Sun, 03 Jul 2011 16:37:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Totilas is sold!!!! http://www.theartofdressage.com/2010/10/15/totilas-is-sold/ http://www.theartofdressage.com/2010/10/15/totilas-is-sold/#comments Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:33:30 +0000 The Art of Dressage http://www.theartofdressage.com/?p=867 Wow, the big news hitting the dressage community is that Moorlands Totilas has been sold to top European breeder Paul Schockemohle for a rumored 21 million dollars! The big controversy is not only about the selling of what could be argued as the greatest dressage horse the world has seen, but also the fact that this horse was sold to Germany. The very country that has spearheaded the campaign against the Dutch training methods. What an interesting turn of events and how heartbreaking for Edward Gal who molded Totilas into the horse he is today. So now what will happen to Totilas? It looks as though he will be used as a breeding animal and placed at stud on Schockemohle’s farm (I dare you to try to say that name five times fast). The money just got to be too much for Cees and Tosca Visser of Moorland’s stables to pass up. Edward Gal and Totilas just completed winning all gold mat the 2010 World Equestrian Games. Below I have copied and pasted a freestyle ride and some links the articles discussing the sale. 

Articles on the sale of Moorlands Totilas 

http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/totilas-coveted-his-neighbor 

http://eventingnation.com/home/2010/10/sold-moorlands-totilas.html 

http://www.dressagedaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5518:dressage-sensation-totilas-sold-to-paul-schockemohle&catid=150:breeding-news&Itemid=61 

Now that the World Equestrian Games have come to a close. I would love to hear your opinions.  Was anyone able to attend?  If so, what was it like?  Did you have an enjoyable experience or were the large crowds and pricey tickets not worth shelping all the way to KY.  I’ve stayed glued to my TV and computer to catch what I could.  I was torn up like most… that Adelinde Cornelissen wasn’t able to compete due to a cut on her horse’s tongue.  I can relate to her story and would love to see a once school teacher at the World Equestrian Games. What a tough break! Anyone that didn’t catch that I copied and pasted the article below.  I have to say… after watching all of the rides my favorite was Steffen Peters on Ravel.   I know…I know…of course I am going to like the U.S. competitor the best, but I feel like his ride was the most technically difficult and entertaining to watch.  What did you think? Would you sell Totilas if you were offered 21 mil for him?   Of course I have to copy and paste Steffan and Ravel below :) . 

Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival eliminated 

http://www.alltechfeigames.com/news/detail.aspx?id=5502 

Steffen Peters, Ravel 2010 WEG Freestyle

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]]> http://www.theartofdressage.com/2010/10/15/totilas-is-sold/feed/ 0 The Perfect Dressage Test? Edward Gal and Moorlands Totilas Have Come the Closest Yet. http://www.theartofdressage.com/2010/01/04/the-perfect-dressage-test-edward-gal-and-moorlands-totilas-have-come-the-closest-yet/ http://www.theartofdressage.com/2010/01/04/the-perfect-dressage-test-edward-gal-and-moorlands-totilas-have-come-the-closest-yet/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:59:20 +0000 The Art of Dressage http://www.theartofdressage.com/?p=23 Many of us dream of the perfect test. A ride where 10s easily fall from the judges lips and then under the scribe’s pencil to fill our test with greatness. You may have had the perfect ride, but it was probably when you were at home in your own ring. You floated around the ring effortlessly in perfect harmony with your equine partner. Nobody was there to watch, but you still know it happened. In competitive dressage, no one has had the perfect test…yet. No one has scored a 100% on a test. It seems strange that in school it wasn’t to hard to get a 100 on a test, but in dressage it is nearly impossible. There are some professional riders that have come close. The rider that has come the closest to date is Dutch rider Edward Gal on one of his Grand Prix mounts, Moorlands Totilas. Edward’s mount Moorlands Totilas nicknamed “Toto” has turned out to be what we would call a super-horse. One thing is for sure… he isn’t in Kansas any more. Totilas is a handsome young nine year old black stallion currently listed in the KWPN studbook. If you would like to see some photos of him, check him out on the Edward Gal website http://www.edwardgal.nl/?l=EN

Edward and Totilas broke the Grand Prix World Record with an amazing score of 90.75%. This team just keeps getting better and smashed that record with a score of 92.30% to win the FEI World Cup Grand Prix Freestyle Qualifier at Olympia, the London International Horse Show. Below is a video of the pair with their second World Record breaking ride.

Edward and Totilas have created quite a buzz in the dressage world. Along with the praise, the pair is also receiving critism. Some critical remarks state that Totilas’s exaggerated natural paces are “artifically inflating the marks and corrupting the fundamentals of the sport.” I guess when you make it big someone always has something to say about it. Maybe the horse’s extravagant movements do bring in big scores. I don’t know. What do you think? I do know that Totilas is a young stallion and I will look forward to seeing what the future brings for him. In my opinion, the pair is amazing. I will leave it to the judges to decide the scores.

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