MILLS (ALEMANIA), 26 Mar. (dpa/EP) –
The semen of the dressage horse Totilas, who died just over a year ago, is the subject of a strong dispute between the successful former German rider and last owner Paul Schockemöhle and the breeder and previous owner of the stallion, the newspaper ‘Bild’ indicates this Saturday. .
Totilas, a multi-gold horse, died of colic in December 2020 at the age of 20. The animal was not only successful in dressage, but also in breeding, especially for its breeder, the Dutchman Kees Visser.
Even after his death, Totilas’s frozen semen continues to sell for a very high price. According to the website of the Schafhof kennel of his former jockey Matthias Alexander Rath, the mating fee amounted to 4,000 euros.
According to the information from ‘Bild’, Visser withheld the horse’s semen against what was agreed when Schockemöhle bought Totilas for 10 million euros in October 2010. The former show jumper and also a German horse breeder got the Justice prohibit Visser from selling the horse’s semen.
Visser denied that there had been an agreement and for his part took legal action against Schockemöhle in the Netherlands. “I’m pretty calm about it,” Schockemöhle, 77, told the newspaper.
Totilas was admired as no other dressage horse had been before. When it was presented by Schockemöhle in Germany in the fall of 2010 there was a huge media buzz around the animal, considered a gold guarantor.
The stallion had his greatest successes with Dutch jockey Edward Gal. In the 2010 World Championships -a few months before the sale to Germany- Totilas and Gal won three golds in Lexington, in the United States.
Following the sale to Schockemöhle, Totilas was unable to live up to expectations with his new jockey Matthias Rath, also due to health reasons. He was withdrawn from competition after the 2015 Europeans in Aachen. Totilas spent his last days at the Schafhof cattery near Frankfurt. Offspring from him is highly coveted.