Moorlands Totilas sold!

[horse99]

The world's best dressage horse, Totilas, who won a unique set of three gold medals at the recent World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, US, was sold to the German horse dealer Paul Schockemöhle today. The fee has not been revealed by the former owner Cees Visser, but is rumoured to be between 10 and 15 million Euros.

Totilas and Edward Gal in their as it now appears last official moment at the Freestyle by floodlight in Kentucky
For the Dutch dressage rider Edward Gal who turned the black stallion into a living legend, this is the end of the road and his dreams of winning gold at the London Olympics' in two years time. The ultimate blend of talent and knowledge has sadly been disturbed.
According to the Dutch newspaper NRC, Totilas underwent an extensive vet check today, including clinical and x ray tests.

Over the last two year, the combination won all the contests they entered and shattered their own world records. In the US, horse lovers came to the WEG with one purpose only, watching Totilas and Adelinda Cornelissen's Jerich Parzival.
At every major dressage show, there were stories about a possible sale to which owner Cees Visser countered "is that 15 million Arab standing on your doorstep?"
So it looked like the stallion was staying in the Netherlands, particularly when he went into service last February. As he took covering mares in his stride, the limit of 50 services per annum could be increased to 250 out of a total of 800 requests worldwide, raising about 1.3 million for his owner.

"We have mixed feelings about this press release," Visser says, "The last two years have been a daze, enjoying watching Totilas all the time. However, after Kentucky we could no longer resist the interest in the horse and we agreed that it was the right time to let him go."
It is the second time that a devastated Edward Gal loses a top horse. Stallion Lingh, who failed to compete in the Athens Olympics, was sold to American Karin Reid Offield after the WEG in 2006. "It is confusing to see Totilas go, the horde go, because from the moment I started riding him I knew he was a once in life time horse. Of course I was aware of the general interest but had not expected things to go so quickly", Edward said.
Last week in Kentucky when the rumours about the sell floated all over the WEG, Schockemöhle denied his interest, while, at the same time, Gal cherished some hope that if sold he could continue riding Totilas under a new owner, because who would be able to equal the success...

Article courtesy of Dressage Direct.

[FEIJuniorBound]

I wonder how Edward Gal feels about the horse he trained and "made" going to another rider. I also wonder if he gets any of the 30,000 000 euros they paid for him. I hope so!