Catherine Haddad wrote that it is rumored in Germany that Matthias Rath will be the new rider.  She points out the irony that Rath is a student of Balkenhol who has been very critical of the Dutch training system.

I hadn't thought about the German/Dutch rivalry when I wrote that Schockemohler should have insisted on keeping Edward Gal - that was pretty silly in hindsight!

 I actually find this sale to be a bit sad and heartbreaking. After watching an interview with Edward Gal about Totilas being such a willing partner for him, that this horse likes to work and you only have to ask him for something and he'll present it, you have to wonder about how heart wrenching this has to be for Edward.

  Paul sure landed himself a great stallion though, from my understanding his routine it already to be ridden and then off to the breeding shed, so the experience is already there and is a gold mine for sure.

  Totilas is such a nice horse, and hopefully he is treated right, he is a stallion that is worth keeping a stallion in my books. He seems like an all around happy horse, and even Edward touched on how content he is in the barn, always friendly and greeting you in the stall.

If he competes with a German rider then the presentations are subject to opinions.
The question is will he compete or become a stud?

If Totilas goes well with a new rider people will say it is because of all the work that Edward did with the horse. If Totilas does poorly with a new rider they will say the person cannot ride and that the horse will only perform for Edward.
It will be a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation for the new rider all around! lol

I think it'd be interesting to see if Totilas was trained a different way with a different rider.

This is one of those sit and watch things. As Paul Schockemohle has been saying, "a horse is mine when he stands in one of my stalls." We have no guarantees of anything, a new rider could come out of right field.

But I would hope it would be a German rider, since he is owned by a German owner.

And I think they'll continue competing him - go try for the Olympics. Doesn't Edward have Totilas's sister, Sisther de Jeu anyhow?

I still can't believe he was sold. He and Edward were made for each other! But I guess when that amount of money is involved, it's got to be hard to figure out what the "right" thing to do is...

buy out the competition!

It really broke my heart to hear Toot (as he was lovingly called by Edward) was being sold.
It seems so wrong. Isabelle Werth was dead on when she said in an interview that Totilas was not a great horse all by himself. It was the combination with Edward that really made him that good.

One thing is for sure. The new rider will experience a lot of pressure because of all the broken records of Edward and Toot.
I would not be surprised if there will not be another rider for him and he will never be in competitions again.
What I read in interviews with PS, it looks like he is looking at just another investment. An investment that should earn itself back as in, a new rider has to pay for riding Toot for a period of time and the rest of the time it's his job to earn money by producing offspring.

All in all, I think it is so sad how Edward and (his) Toot are not a combination anymore.

I read on Eurodressage that Totilas' new rider will be announced next Tuesday...