MUNICH, Germany, May 14–Providing a full display of his goose-bump creating gaits, Moorlands Totilas was ridden by Edward Gal to victory in the Exquis World Dressage Masters Grand Prix Friday before a crowd that held its collective breath in the black stallion’s first outdoor competition since last August’s European Championships.
This WDM competition was also the first for Edward and Totilas since claiming their first World Cup title two months ago and only the third show in Germany since starting Grand Prix last year.

Despite a couple of mistakes that Edward said were a combination of rain that caused mud to be thrown up into the horse’s belly and crowds drawn to watch every step Totilas takes, they recorded a score of 81.958 per cent, Fellow Dutch rider Adelinde Cornelissen on Jerich Parzival was again the bridesmaid but not far behind on 79.404 per cent, and Isabell Werth on her 2007 World Cup champion mount, Warum Nicht FRH, in third place with 75.76.255 per cent.

The CDI5* carries €100,000 (US$126,000) in prize money plus a €25,000 (US$31,500) Nurger WDM Rider Award, which Edward is now in an almost unbeatable position to collect. The rider award was launched after the inaugural Exquis WDM in Munich in 2009, and includes scores from the other venues, Cannes, France; Hickstead, England, and Palm Beach, Florida.

The unseasonably cold and wet weather did not dampen fan ardor for Totilas, that, Edward explained later, made the horse more tense than usual.

Totilas has become such a superstar not unlike a movie celebrity that organizers of Pferd International at Munich competition in the 1972 Olympic equestrian stadium had to hire extra guards around the clock when the stallion arrived from his home in The Netherlands and residents around the show grounds came by to look at their new world famous neighbor for a week.

So adoring are the fans in Germany–the two previous Grand Prix shows were Stuttgart and Neumunster, but he also competed small tour in Aachen–  that barely a conversation or speech can be gotten through without a reference to the Gribaldi offspring who created new world record scores in both the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle as a nine-year-old in 2009.

The fans turned out in force Thursday for light work and then Friday for the Grand Prix and its €10,000 (US$12,600) prize money. The €30,000 (US$37,000) Grand Prix Special is scheduled for Saturday and the €60,000 (€74,000) Grand Prix Freestyle for Sunday.Clipmyhorse.de will provide live coverage over the Internet of all competitions while Sport 1 will broadcast a highlight program 11:45-12:45 on Saturday, May 22.

During the warm up, Edward said, Totilas became “quite excited” as crowds packed around the arena. Then, the horse had to walk from the warm up to the competition arena–not much more than 30 yards (meters)–but a throng that was more like an Academy Awards red carpet appearance minus the presidential-level security than a horse show.

“There was so much going on around the arena,” Edward said later, “working with the crowds standing next to the ring and then having to walk through the crowds to the competition arena excited him. But it’s OK. He’ll get used to it.”

Because he has not shown outdoors since last August, the horse startled himself when his extravagant gaits kicked up rain-soaked footing into his belly.

That came out in mistakes going into the first piaffe and then a transition to passage where he broke into a canter.

Even so, they still garnered a rare score of 10, but not in the frequency of the competitions in England in 2009, first at Hickstead and then at Windsor in the European Championships.

“Maybe we need to show more outside in the rain,” he said. “We work outside at home, but it’s not the same as being at a show.”

Edward made no excuses, saying he loved riding Totilas in front of crowds that appreciated the horse’s brilliance and applauded his success.

The crowd in the dressage area of the sprawling show grounds that this weekend includes international jumping, reining and vaulting as well as a huge shopping area did just that. The combination received a resounding ovation when they rode around the arena before the start of their ride. For most of the ride, there was almost complete silence, only the errors causing intakes of breath and “oh, no” in hushed tones. Then, loud applause from the crowd that refused to leave for more than 20 minutes until after the awards to celebrate Totilas.

A special feature of the Munich show Friday was a dressage horse breeding symposium, called “Servant or King,” and organized by Jacob Schmid for WDM. It brought together some of the world’s top specialists to discuss the marriage of sport and breeding. The symposium, aimed at promoting knowledge exchange, was sponsored by ViaGen of the United States, a leader in commercial animal gene banking and cloning services.

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WDM Rider Rankings
(Prior to Final at Munich)

Rank Rider Nation No. Events Points

1. Anky van Grunsven NED 2 1530
2. Ashley Holzer CAN 2 1380
3. Edward Gal NED 1 1020
4. Leslie Morse USA 2 990
5. Marc Boblet FRA 2 945
6. Anja Plönzke GER 2 932
7. Adelinde Cornelissen NED 1 870
8. Catherine Haddad USA 2 855
9. Daniel Pinto POR 2 855
10. Laura Bechtolsheimer GBR 1 855
11. Imke Schellekens-Bartels NED 1 780
12. Steffen Peters USA 1 765
13. Isabell Werth GER 1 660
14. Hans Peter Minderhoud NED 1 615
15. Kyra Kyrklund FIN 1 615
16. Nathalie zu Sayn Wittgenstein DEN 1 585
17. Fiona Bigwood GBR 1 570
18. Jordi Domingo ESP 1 558
19. Jeroen Devroe BEL 1 540
20. Anders Dahl DEN 1 510
21. Maria Eilberg GBR 1 495
Rank Rider Nation Events Points
22. Christa Laarakkers NED 1 495
23. Michal Rapcewicz POL 1 470
24. Mikala Murster Gundersen NED 1 465
25. Stefan van Ingelgern BEL 1 450
26. Judy Harvey (Qualifier) GBR 1 435
27. Tina Konyot USA 1 435
28. Pierre Saint Jacques USA 1 420
29. Belinda Trussel CAN 1 420
30. Anne van Uylert NED 1 420
31. Evi Strasser CAN 1 405
32. Elisabeth Austin USA 1 405
33. Sarah Jane Elmslie (Qualifier) GBR 1 405
34. Jane Gregory GBR 1 390
35. Constance Menard ISR 1 375
36. Dane Rawlins GBR 1 375
37. Michael Barisone USA 1 375
38. Marc Peter Spahn BEL 1 360
39. Remy Issartel FRA 1 360
40. Aat van Essen NED 1 360
41. Ulla Salzgeber GER 1 285
42. Diane Creech CAN 1 285
Note: In the case of tied points, the best individual result in Grand Prix will be decisive.
Rules can be found on www.worlddressagemasters.com. The finale in Munich will carry double ranking points.

Complete information on the Exquis World Dressage Masters is available on the updated Internet site, www.worlddressagemasters.com.
The 2010 WDM series began in Palm Beach on Feb. 4-6 where The Netherlands’ Anky van Grunsven and Salinero won the Grand Prix Freestyle, USA’s Leslie Morse and Tip Top won the Grand Prix Special and the USA’s Steffen Peters and Ravel won the Grand Prix.
The schedule for the remainder of 2010 is:

* May 13-16 – Munich, Germany;
* June 10-13 – Cannes, France, and
* July 29-Aug. 1 – Hickstead, England.