![\"TotalisHalfPass\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/TotalisHalfPass.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEdward learned to ride at the age of 14, and riding was all he wanted to do.<\/p>\n
He got his first pony at age 17 and took up dressage when the animal did not want to jump anymore. He rode at the 2006 WEG in Aachen on Lingh. He formed his most successful partnership with Totilas. The pair twice broke the world record dressage score, and won three gold medals at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexingtones. More recently, Edward rode Glock\u2019s Undercover at the European Championships in Herning where the pair were third.<\/p>\n
In May 2010, Chris Hector sat down for an exclusive interview with Edward.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Every time you appear in the arena, it seems to be such an emotional experience \u2013 do you find it tiring, all this drama? At Windsor it was amazing \u2013 but the retirement ceremony for Gribaldi at the KWPN Stallion show that was sensational?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cThat was very special when all his children came in, and he came in last, and you knew it was the good bye for Gribaldi\u2026 quite emotional. It started all with Gribaldi for me. I rode him for 12 years and that is a long time. Together with Lingh, he was my first real international horse. After Lingh was sold, he took over his place, and it was good to have him because I could keep on riding in the big competitions. Then comes his son, Totilas, and that is even more amazing. Every time you are surprised at what he can do, he astonishes me every time!\u201d Do you find the father in the son?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cA lot, not only his appearance but also his ability for collecting, for piaffe and passage, and the pirouettes \u2013 Gribaldi had it too.\u201d<\/p>\n Totilas seems so strong \u2013 every time you see the footage of him doing the canter pirouette at Windsor, it seems so perfect, so effortless for him\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cYou just say, now pirouette and turn and he starts doing it and it\u2019s so easy with him. Most of the things are easy with him. In the arena, when there is a lot happening, at the prize giving, you can let him walk normal and he just stands there, and when you want him to do something, he immediately reacts, and that is good.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why I did it like I did, because I don\u2019t want him to get like \u2018oh I go into the ring I get excited\u2019 now he also knows it is good again and he can be cool \u2013 and that is also a talent from him, that he can switch in his mind and go, okay relax. And he relaxes. That is very rare.\u201d I was watching you ride the younger horse, United, and he started to get excited and you just put him into halt \u2013 he went in immediately, total immobility \u2013 is that something you work on?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cOf course we train that. We want very much energy \u2013 and then also stop. We train it at home, okay, you can\u2019t train it like this with this atmosphere with all the people. When you practice a lot, then I think you can do it, even when it is very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n How would you describe your training system?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t really want to call it a system. I just adapt my riding to every horse. I train every horse different. Okay I have some basics like I want to have tempo control, and they must be quick on my leg. Some horses I ride a little bit high, some I ride really deep, and it really depends \u2013 what I think is the best for the horse, that\u2019s the way I train him.\u201d Do you like to use the quote, unquote \u2013 Rolkur Method?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cYeah when it is necessary, but there is some kind of negative thing about rolkur, but I don\u2019t think it is negative, when it is done properly, then it is good. But when you ride in the old classical school way and you don\u2019t do it well, then that\u2019s not good for the horse either. You really need to get into it before you can judge it, and I think people see something and say \u2018oh that\u2019s bad for the horses\u2019 but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s right. I think everything is bad for the horse when its not trained properly.\u201d<\/p>\n With Totilas, would you use this method to warm him up?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cIt depends how he is. Sometimes I need to make him a little bit rounder when he gets more excited, sometimes it is not necessary. But when it is necessary, I do it.\u201d<\/p>\n There are some times then when you would go into a test without using rolkur at all?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cYeah, when he is really relaxed\u2026 but okay I think he is an exceptional horse, he doesn\u2019t need a lot of training to do these things. It\u2019s always difficult to compare other horses with him.\u201d How far can this roller coaster roll?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know, I hope for a couple of years. He is only coming ten this year, so he is really really young.\u201d<\/p>\n Are you worried when he starts have his semen collected, it will be more difficult for you to train and ride him?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cHe has now been covering for one and a half months, and I haven\u2019t noticed any change with him, no change – so that is good.\u201d<\/p>\n What are the plans in the run up to Lexington?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll have a rest period, and then Kentucky\u2026 I don\u2019t know exactly when he comes back into work. I don\u2019t give him a complete rest. Maybe for two or three weeks, we just hack him or lunge him, then I do normal basic conditioning training. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s good for horses to do nothing for two months and then get them started again. So three weeks where I don\u2019t sit on him, then I train him lightly, and take him for walks outside.\u201d Are there areas that he can do better?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cMost of that is in the test, because at home, he can do everything for a 10. In the test there is always something else going wrong, not really wrong but you say, this time the walk can be better or I had some mistakes in the changes. It changes in every test, so I think when he goes really like he can do it at home, with no mistakes, then it is almost perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n You trust him a lot, at Windsor, the walk hadn\u2019t been great in the Grand Prix, but when you were in the K\u00fcr, you just went, bang, walk and threw the rein at him, right in front of the judges\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cHe will do it for you. I knew the first day in the Grand Prix he was too excited because he was in a stable with horses passing by, he doesn\u2019t have much experience going to international shows, it was all a little bit too much for him. That was only the second time he had been abroad. When we were there it was really like \u2018oh what is happening here?\u2019 Then I practiced a lot of walk, on the morning of the k\u00fcr I just walked him around, and in the test it was good.\u201d What are you going to do when you have to retire Totilas \u2013 are you going to have to retire from dressage because you won\u2019t find another like him?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know. Sometimes it is difficult, people start comparing all the other horses to Totilas but I know Totilas is one of a kind. But we still have a lot of good young horses \u2013 I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll retire, but it is difficult to get this kind of experience again, but at least I had it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n![\"TotalisWave2\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/TotalisWave2.jpg\")
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His temperament seems to be extraordinary? On the Friday night of the KWPN show,\u00a0 he did that incredible performance at the farewell to Gribaldi, but the next day, he came in to accept the Horse of the Year, and you would have thought he might get excited remembering the night before but he was so cool\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n![\"TotalisWave\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/TotalisWave.jpg\")
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