He and Moorlands Totilas shatter the world record in the Grand Prix freestyle.

The fact that there was no competitive confrontation between Dutch riders Edward Gal and Anky Van Grunsven at the Hickstead Royal International Horse Show might initially have been a letdown to dressage fans.

But for those able to say, “I was there,” in reference to Gal’s world record-breaking freestyle performance with Moorlands Totilas on July 26 in Hickstead, England, any disappointment was short-lived.

Internet footage of Gal and “Toto’s” incredible freestyle victory—which came with a score of 89.40 percent—circulated like a global wildfire amongst equine enthusiasts in the days following the fifth and final leg of the Exquis World Dressage Masters CDI***** Series in Hickstead.

On the day before the freestyle, Gal and Toto, a 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion, also won the Grand Prix (79.74%). That victory came by a three-point margin over their Dutch compatriots, Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzival, who, while still on an enviable mark of 82.20 in the freestyle, found themselves languishing 7.20 percent behind the next day.

Gal drew the last slot of the freestyle class on Sunday, prompting British Olympic team member Jane Gregory to comment: “Thank goodness he didn’t go first. It would have been really mean to ask anyone else to follow that.”

“Wow, what a horse!” Gal said. “He gave me a wonderful feeling. Only in the one-tempi changes did a mistake occur. This happened to us in our first international contest at the Rotterdam CHIO [the Netherlands] as well, in which I tried to correct it. This time I thought, ‘Just leave it.’ So I did.”

The freestyle opens with regal, epic trot music, but also includes several classic songs from the 1960s and ’70s. The walk section is choreographed to strains of the theme from the British version of The Office, Rod Stewart’s “Handbags And Gladrags.” Trot and canter tours in the second half of the test utilize The Zombies’ “She’s Not There” and The Beatles’ “Hard Day’s Night.”

Totilas is natural yet disciplined. His huge action in front couldn’t possibly be matched by his hind legs without doing himself injury, but his whole picture is joined-up and tension-free.

That quality helped the pair score their huge totals in the freestyle, despite the error in their test. Gal was also unequivocal in his belief that there are higher marks still to come for the black stallion.

“He’s not even working like he does at home,” he said. “I could have done another line of one-times to make up the marks in the freestyle, but I thought I’d better not upset him!”

Unlike his sire, Gribaldi, Totilas will not stand at stud until his competitive career concludes. Gal competed Gribaldi while at stud, and he soon learned that the horse’s concentration was never fully on work.

It was a major coup for the British venue to host Toto’s first big-tour appearance outside the Netherlands a month before the European Championships, which Hickstead had hoped to stage until trumped by Windsor at domestic bid stage.

This major event attracted spectators not routinely seen at British dressage shows, including the former Beatle Ringo Starr and his wife, actress Barbara Bach, and equestrian icons such as six-time Badminton CCI**** winner Lucinda Green.

Stars And Stripes In The Special

U.S. dressage riders have been on the rise lately, and Leslie Morse and Tip Top 962 had the national anthem playing through European speakers yet again after their win in the Dressage Masters Grand Prix Special with 71.66 percent.

“It was an accumulation of a lot of really hard work that Tip Top and I have been doing,” Morse, Beverly Hills, Calif., said. “He was wonderful in the Grand Prix, and we both came out for the Special and had a really focused warm-up. He really knew it was his day. We rose up together to that point.”

Morse and Tip Top’s fluid performance was marred only by an uncharacteristic mistake in the beginning of their canter tour. But even with an error, their score was still enough to edge Dutch rider Hans Peter Minderhoud and Exquis Escapado (71.54%).

“Everything was going really well,” said Morse, who performed a line of two-tempis rather than half-passing. “He was so on my aids and so focused, and I could feel how good he was the whole ride. I got more and more into the zone and just forgot where I was going. But it was OK because Tip Top didn’t know I went off course, and I received 9s for the changes.”

Morse and Tip Top’s international tour started when they left California on June 6. They made a stop in New Jersey for the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions, where they won the Grand Prix National Championship, before landing in England to contest the Hartpurty Festival of Dressage, where they were second in the Grand Prix (67.14%) and third in the Special (67.20%). Morse has two more European shows left on the schedule, at Verden (Germany) and Hansbeke (Belgium).

While overseas, Morse has been training with Kyra Kyrklund and Richard White. She said each trainer focuses on different aspects of her partnership with Tip Top.

“Richard works with me on my position and what influences it has on your horse,” said Morse. “We’re constantly trying to improve my position and make corrections so I’m always in the right place to help Tip Top perform.

“With Kyra we work on the straightness through his body and the connection from his hind legs to his back, to his withers, to his poll, and to keep that always in a straight, elastic, supple way,” Morse continued. “At the horse shows we work on focus. It’s hard because we don’t see each other very often, but they’re fantastic at figuring out what I need to do to get through the seven minutes in the ring.”

Morse’s travels this year are in large part due to the partial grant she received from the USET Foundation.

“I really appreciate what they’ve offered,” said Morse. “If it weren’t for all the people who donated, I wouldn’t be here. We had one of those rides [in the Special at Hickstead] that you have to hold on to, because it’s one of those rides you’re always reaching for. There’s not many times where you’re fortunate to have it in the arena at the right time on the right day.”

Without Even Trying

Even though European-based U.S. rider Catherine Haddad has eight Grand Prix wins under her belt this year with Cadillac 35, their victories in the Grand Prix (70.51%) and Grand Prix Special (69.66%) at the Hickstead CDI*** were their best performances yet.

“It was very smooth, and I had incredible elevation in the piaffe and passage without even trying,” Haddad said of the 12-year-old Danish Warmblood’s performance in the Grand Prix. “It was the easiest piaffe-passage tour I’ve ever ridden. He was really at my fingertips and seemed really settled into the routine and went through the test without a lot of help from me.”

Haddad, Vechta, Germany, had originally planned to ride Cadillac in the CDI***** at Hickstead, but a bad start at the Aachen CHIO (Germany) in early July changed her mind. Instead, she rearranged a few things to give the horse a different ride and take the pressure off, and that strategy’s proven beneficial so far.

“Cadillac always shines in the piaffe-passage, and he really showed it in the Special,” said Haddad. “He really has started growing up in the tour. He’s becoming very mature and very stable, and he’s starting to get more and more expression.”

Cadillac now has a well-deserved vacation in store, and Haddad plans to bring him back out in the fall.

“It’s been a long way getting there, but I’m really happy with the level the horse is at now,” finished Haddad. “He keeps getting better all the time. I have him at a level where I can really depend on him to put in a really good Grand Prix.”