As many of you know, when he was first offered for breeding, I jumped onto the Totilas band wagon with both feet, my soon-to-be-depleted checkbook, and a religious-like reverence. People have reacted strongly; primarily, they've fallen into a two, distinct camps: Ridicule/"Scot thinks he's going to reproduce that trot. It's manufactured. Bad training. Totilas will never reproduce himself unless Edward Gal rides the offspring." -- Hyperbolic Enthusiasm/"Those foals are going to be worth SO MUCH MONEY! I love Totilas! Can I have one of them? Please?!?!" In a more sensible vein, my favorite comment, however, came from none other than Denny Emerson. Upon seeing my two Totilas x Jazz fillies, he said,
"Don't sell these two. They're the seed corn of your breeding program."
When I first saw Totilas in the flesh, yes, I was blown away by his trot, but I was more blown away by his athleticism. I've never seen a horse physically go to the extremes of perfect pirouettes, extended canter, the most expressive extended trot I've ever seen, and a beautiful, relaxed, supple walk on the long rein in a matter of minutes. (See the most-viewed Youtube video of Totilas, the one that's been appropriately dubbed with Born this Way--the video was taken by my friend Martyna at the KWPN Stallion Show, and, I was there!) The horse can literally turn his body inside out. Of course, it certainly helped to have Edward Gal in the saddle, but Edward didn't create the athleticism of this horse, the Gribaldi x Glendale genetics did. And, granted, it doesn't appear that any of Totilas' (grammar pedants, I'm purposefully using the apostrophe this way) full siblings are going to demonstrate the magnificence their big brother does, but that doesn't diminish what Totilas himself can do and, in my humble opinion, reproduce.
Recently, Jane Hannigan took our oldest Totilas mare to a Tristan Tucker clinic. If you don't know Tristan, he's a brilliant Australian "Natural Horsemanship" trainer who lives and works in Holland. He starts a lot of horses. He loved our mare. He commented specifically on her amazing athleticism and balance. I asked him specifically if he'd worked with any Totilas offspring, and, if he had, what was he seeing. He said he'd started six of them. I don't remember the exact quotation, but here's the gist of what he said:
"I really like the Totilas offspring. Super athletes. Many people are disappointed in them because they don't come out with their front legs flinging about their head and neck, but they are really athletic and balanced. They have super canters and very good walks. And, very good brains. They are really trainable. Their trots are normal, but I think there is a lot more trot in them. You just won't see it until they get a little older and further along in their training."
Again, these are not Tristan's exact words, but they're close. If you look at the scores and test reports on the Totilas sons that have gone through the 70 Days Test, you'll see his comments are consistent with the jury's opinions. Totilas offspring may well vary in type and they may have normal to good trots, but they are athletic and balanced with especially good canters and walks, AND, they are very rideable. As a dressage breeder, this seems ideal to me.
So, yes, I'm feeling vindicated, just a little bit! Not that it really matters--from day one of beginning our breeding program, I've bred for us, not for anyone else. If a breeder listens to too many people, then his or her decisions are going to be muted and inconsistent. You have to trust your gut and breed for yourself, not for what you think you can sell or what you think someone else will like. I love Totilas as a sport horse and I love him even more as a producer. So, rather than vindicated, mostly, I'm feeling thankful that I trusted my gut and made the leap of faith and checkbook to breed to him to begin with.
Our two Totilas mares are, indeed, the "seed corn" of our program. To guarantee Orchis her prestatie predicate, we've decided to put one of our girls into sport and one into the breeding program. And, now, the fun really begins: We get to watch one of our dream girls become the dressage super star I knew we'd create, and I get to start picking stallions for a fantastic coming three-year-old Totilas x Jazz mare!
