The first horse to become a pop star. He was the most famous and most expensive dressage horse in the world. Born to win. He won three world titles and owners paid 10 million euros for him. The owner Paul Schockemöhle said about the purchase in 2019: “I wanted to secure his blood.” Because Totilas was last used as a stallion and sired over 1000 foals. It was worth it: breeders paid around 2500 euros for the Totilas seed.
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“The horse has tied everyone up”
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Tortilas brought people to dressage who could not do anything with it before. When the horse came to Germany in 2010, it was marveled at and admired like no other dressage horse before. Dennis Peiler, head of sport at the German Equestrian Federation FN, said: “The horse has tied everyone.”
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Just a few months before the sale, at the 2010 World Cup, Totilas and his rider Edward Gal won gold three times in Lexington (USA). Gal was able to make the stallion dance. They received world record ratings several times in their joint career. In 2009 Totilas probably had his most legendary appearance. He was the first horse to receive over 90 percent for a Grand Prix Freestyle. The record lasted four years. A horse as a pop star!
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Then the sale for this huge amount of millions. After that, it was no longer possible to build on the old successes. There was no gold at the European Championship, World Cup and Olympics. The pressure on the back of the millionaire horse was too great. In addition, there were always health problems at Totilas and several comeback attempts, but the attempts remained.
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Unfortunately, the sporting end of the wonder horse came too early. During a dressage test in Aachen in 2015, Totilas was paralyzed – it was the end of his career.
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