Totilas ruined - this is hearbreaking to watch :-(

Do you know him personally - or his Grandmother ? What a spiteful thing for you to say.

Sometimes these top horses never transition to a new rider. I remember reading that Edward Gal said hir sire - Gribaldi was never the same once he started to cover. Rath only has the sporting rights - this horse goes back off to Schumacher for his covering duties, maybe that is what is making him so unsettled now.

I think it is a shame for everyone concerned.
 
Everything I dislike about non classical dressage. Uptight tense horse, tense nervous rider, too much tension on the reins, overbent a lot. Sad to see whatever the circumstances and whatever the horse and rider combination.
 
Oh dear, looks like he has a few too many buttons for that rider and not even a pretty picture. Quite sad :/
 
What an unhappy looking horse. Looked like he was desperate to go forwards and do his thing. Poor Totilas, I hoped for a minute that it was just a look-alike.

Someone's certainly taken his magic away, wonder if he'll ever get it back :(
 
BigRed said:
Do you know him personally - or his Grandmother ? What a spiteful thing for you to say.

Sometimes these top horses never transition to a new rider. I remember reading that Edward Gal said hir sire - Gribaldi was never the same once he started to cover. Rath only has the sporting rights - this horse goes back off to Schumacher for his covering duties, maybe that is what is making him so unsettled now.

I think it is a shame for everyone concerned.
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well said
 
ISHmad said:
Everything I dislike about non classical dressage. Uptight tense horse, tense nervous rider, too much tension on the reins, overbent a lot. Sad to see whatever the circumstances and whatever the horse and rider combination.
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This exactly!!
 
Puzzles said:
Would anyone mind giving a summary of what's happened to him, please and why he is moving/behaving like that? :o
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Here's what he USED to be like.

http://youtu.be/vEvGcIVoHW4

He and Edward Gal broke Anky's world record in July 2009 with a score of 89.5% in Hickstead, then they broke their own record with a score of 90.750% and in December 2009 they set a new record at 92.300% (the above clip).

I know the clip is quite long, but if you watch them walk out of the arena, look at how calm, relaxed, and happy he is. It's clear that he had a great connection with Gal and they were a fantastic partnership. Totilas was sold in October 2010 and Matthias Rath was chosen as his new rider. It's sad to see such an unhappy transformation! If you want to read up a bit more on him, here's the wiki page (I know it's not the best source).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorlands_Totilas
 
Just watched that vid, just shows what an unbelievble talent EG is. You dont quite realise how bad the MR vid is untill you watch what he was like previously.
 
I am totally shocked at the change in him,he seems like he is almost confused at times or maybe that's just him being unsettled? He is dying to go forwards,t*at is holding him back sooo much,his gob is wide open half the time a very clear sign of discomfort and unhappiness,he is soooo tense,head nodding,tail swishing. This is so sad,i really hope he doesn't keep the ride on him.
 
Wow I've watched the two videos and there is a huge difference. What a shame, he is definetely being held tighter and is much more overbent with this new rider. I don't know that much about dressage technically although I compete unaffiliated dressage myself but even i can see the difference. He doesn't look like he's sending him forward enough, just holding him in an unrelenting contact.
 
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This is what happens when greed rears its ugly head. So many brilliant horse/rider partnerships have been broken-up when the owners have had a big cheque wafted under their noses. Totilas and Edward were the most successful partnership in the sport's history, so they only did the sport a tremendous disservice by breaking them up. Totilas has gone from being a 'wonder horse' to a regular grand prix horse. Sickening!

It's the same with show jumping and is fast becoming more prevalent in eventing. When you have a wonderful horse and rider combination, then you do NOT split them up! It also puts a lot of people off the equestrian disciplines as they can hardly keep track of who is riding whom.
 
To be honest I wouldn't have recognized that as Totilas. Also is he wearing sausage boots as well as over reach boots. Not the biggest fan of dressage, but I like watching it done well, and here it isn't! I've seen horses just making the transition to PSG go better than that!
 
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