Son of the dressage legend
Will Thiago succeed in what Totilas, the wonder horse, was denied?
09/06/2023 09:36 am
Totilas was the most famous dressage horse in the world. After the end of his career, things became quiet around the stallion’s rider. Now Rath is starting at the European Championships – with a very special horse. In terms of sport, Rath can achieve what he never managed to do despite his dear father.
Eight years after the ugly end of Totilas’ career, the rider of the world’s most famous dressage horse is back on the national team. For Matthias Alexander Rath, the start at the home European Championships this week is the end of a long dry spell in sport. “I’m very happy to be back after a long time,” said the now 39-year-old from Kronberg before the first European Championships on Wednesday in Riesenbeck. And a little Totilas is also part of his comeback.
Rath rides with Thiago, a son of Totilas, who has gone down in dressage history as a miracle horse and caused an unprecedented hype in the discipline. “There are many things he got from his dad,” explained the rider – and added: “But also from his mom, he wants to show himself.” The ten-year-old European Championship stallion is “something very special, because father and mother come from our stable”. The son of Totilas and Wahajama was “self-bred and trained” at the local Schafhof stud farm.
Bought for ten million euros
In terms of sport, Rath can now achieve with the son of the black showpiece what he never managed to do despite the dear father: gold. The pair Rath/Totilas was denied an international title. In the five-year partnership, the supposed gold guarantor was often injured, only titles at the German championships and victories at the CHIO are in the statistics.
Before Rath, Totilas had won three gold medals at the World Championships in the USA with Edward Gal and set several world records. Paul Schockemöhle and Rath’s stepmother Ann-Kathrin Linsenhoff then brought the stallion from the Netherlands to Germany in 2010 for an estimated ten million euros. In view of the price and the marketing effort in the first few years after the expensive transfer, silver and bronze with the German team at two European championships are an extremely small result.
The daring experiment failed
The horse entered his last test at the 2015 European Championships in Aachen. The fact that Totilas started at all at the time was heavily criticized. The association, those responsible and the rider did not give a good picture at the time. In the hope of gold, Totilas was sent into the square not quite fit – but the daring experiment failed.
Dennis Peiler, as Sports Director of the German Riding Association FN, gave a self-critical assessment: “We as an association also looked more closely at which horses started at the championships. We want to have horses with us who have proven over the course of the season that they are resilient over several tests.”
“Not an easy time after the exceptional horse”
A few weeks ago, Sönke Rothenberger’s slightly battered Fendi was removed from the EM range – and substitute rider Rath moved up with the ten-year-old stallion Thiago. “He got into it,” said national coach Monica Theodorescu. On the other hand, she did not want to comment on Totilas and the EM 2015: “One has nothing to do with the other. There is nothing more to say about that.”
FN Sports Director Peiler said: “I think not only the association, but also the family has learned a lot that the sport is the priority and not the marketing of a horse.” From his point of view, it was “not an easy time for Rath after this exceptional horse” who died in 2020. But in the eight years since the inglorious end of the European Championships and career of the miracle horse, the rider has “developed enormously.”