Totilas out of European Dressage Championships

Germany’s wonder horse Totilas has been withdrawn from the remainder of competition at the FEI European Dressage Championships.

Partnered by Matthias Rath, Totilas was part of the German bronze medal-winning team yesterday (Thursday, 13 August), alongside Kristina Bröring-Sprehe, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Isabell Werth. However, there was concern over the 15-year-old Gribaldi son’s soundness, and he will not contest the grand prix special class scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday, 15 August).

Indeed the famous stallion’s scores ranged wildly in the grand prix from 80.1% (fourth, from Andrew Gargner and the Dane Susanne Baarup) to 71.6% (21st, from the French judge Jean-Michel Roudier).

Matthias was very disappointed with his grand prix score of 75.9%.

“I had a good feeling in there and I’m happy with the horse,” he said. “But not with the points.

“For sure I have done worse tests for more than 80%, but today was good and we only got 76%.

“The trot work was good but could have been more active, the two-time changes were good, though we had some short one-times.

“In Hagen we made many more mistakes and got a better score. But people expect more from him every time.

“I’ll have to read the score sheets later — I don’t get it.”

Today (Friday, 14 August), Totilas’s co-owner Paul Schockemöhle confirmed to the German media outlet St.Georg that “the horse was not OK in the grand prix, I saw that.”

Totilas will now have an MRI and investigations to diagnose any possible injury.

Having already had a checkered and highly-publicised career — the horse’s competitive future hangs in the balance.

Since gaining world records in all three tests under Dutch rider Edward Gal, the sale to the German partnership of Paul Schockemöhle and Matthias’ step-mother, Ann-Katrin Linsenhof, for a reported €8m has been an unmitigated disaster dogged by both horse and rider injury and illness.

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