[nhwr]

Velvet,

I think that might be like having an ex be the counselor for your current relationship.

He could probably offer a fair amount of insight (maybe not all of it welcome) but he'd bring a lot of baggage to the party as well

Probably complicated enough to be dangerous or at least worth trying to avoid. just sayin' ....

Not that the situation with Sjef will be simple. Toto was the vessel whereby the student, Gal, surpassed the master. That might chafe a bit.

In any case if you watch the more recent videos of Rath's competition rides on Toto, I think it is clear he is already trying to work on Dutch riding/training methods.

[candico]

From the info I came up with, Salinero was the oldest at the Olympics by three years. Painted Black and Parzival were in the next oldest group of a few fifteen year olds. Such short tragic careers...

The non message board horse people who I've run into in the past few days loved Anky's freestyle the most and were extremely impressed how the horse and rider looked so harmonious. Thought they deserved the bronze.

[fiona]

Read somewhere or other that Sjef said in an interview he had nothing to change about Totilas but thought he may be able to help Mattias ride his Ferrari of a horse.
Hats off to the man for asking for help, must have taken some courage to go to holland and get it.
I hope the horse gets what it needs to shine again.

[suzy]

Candico, I didn't get to see any of the equestrian Olympics. Is Anky's freestyle available on line? Searches I've done haven't turned up anything.

[fiona]

Public forum topdressage.tv of course!

[candico]

I downloaded the NBC olympic's app. Was useless during, but now either due to much less traffic or ? I have been able to watch the rides. Super HQ so well worth the app. Must have your cable, satellite password though....

[2tempe]

I wonder if they will collect him in the Netherlands or if there will be a pause in his breeding career?

[Bugs-n-Frodo]

Training method and phylosphy aside, Gal's connection with Toto wad nothing short of amazing. THAT is the big deal as far as I am concerned.

[DownYonder]

I wonder if they will collect him in the Netherlands or if there will be a pause in his breeding career?

The article says he goes to Holland in "about three months". That would put it around November. My guess is that he will be collected for frozen - and lots of it - before he goes. The article doesn't say how long they plan to keep him there - could be just over the winter, and then bring him back to Germany for breeding season. Or they may have made arrangements to have him collected while in Holland, although Sjef and Anky (like most top riders and trainers) are not noted for liking the prospect of working around breeding schedules for stallions in their barn.

[dudleyc]

From the info I came up with, Salinero was the oldest at the Olympics by three years. Painted Black and Parzival were in the next oldest group of a few fifteen year olds. Such short tragic careers...

The non message board horse people who I've run into in the past few days loved Anky's freestyle the most and were extremely impressed how the horse and rider looked so harmonious. Thought they deserved the bronze.

Mistral Hojris, Laura Betchtolsheimer's gelding is 17

[rcloisonne]

It's just that perhaps the beauty of a place should be left out of the equation when talking about great training barns...one doesn't necessarily reflect the other.

I couldn't agree more. And, anyone who thinks EG didn't train Toto using rollkur is blind as a bat.

[Mouse&Bay]

I wish them best of luck!

[Spectrum]

Oh, I see, so an opinion that doesn't agree with yours is "ugly". Look at the video from the Olympics. Look at the winning horse, and look at Salinero. I'm sure you won't be able to see the difference, but most people can. And to answer your other incorrect assumption, yes, a dressage rider, and no, not the 'crank the head to the knees' variety. The kind who was taught that the horse needs to carry himself. It's pretty shocking how little people actually know about what dressage is supposed to be.

It seems to be a little presumptuous of AirFairy to deem her own judgement of Totilas's past performances superior to that of numerous international judges. It seems she feels that her judgement of Totilas is more correct than theirs. She states that there is false collection, etc. in Totilas, but if this is true and it is so obvious, why do the judges score him so well?

Yet at the Olympics, the judges have suddenly regained their adequacy by placing Salinero below the Brits.

You can't have it both ways. Either the judges know what they are doing, or they don't. So which is it, AirFairy?

Personally, I thought Totilas looked much better under Gal than he ever did under MR. I hope MR develops a good relationship with Toto and will excel on him in the future, but so far I don't see the horse doing better under MR than he did under EG.

[mbm]

what i find interesting is that he is going to Sjef, not Gal. Gal & Co are the ones that did the majority of the training on Totilas - i don't think Sjef had anything to do with it.

Personally i think it is a very bad idea to go to him... but what do i know......