MOORLANDS Totilas, the the greatest dressage horse of all time, has been sold for a reputed $13 million.
Buyer was former gold-medal winning showjumping rider Paul Schockemohle, now a top European breeder, who completed the multi-million dollar deal from Germany last week.
The 10-year-old stallion was ridden by Holland's Edward Gal to take three gold medals at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky two weeks ago.
At Kentucky, Gal denied rumours that the horse had been sold saying: "I've heard those rumours too, they're not true, nothing is going on."
But Moorlands Stables owner Cees Visser confirmed last Thursday that the horse was being sold.
"The past two years have been a whirlwind of excitement for us, and we've enjoyed watching Edward and Totilas again and again," Visser said.
"After Kentucky, however, we could no longer ignore the interest in the stallion. Therefore, the time came to discuss matters and we decided to let Moorlands Totilas go."
The horse has broken every world record dressage score in the past year.
"Of course, it's not easy for Edward," Cess said.
"Thanks to his talent and effort, Totilas has become the phenomenon he is today."
Originally, Totilas was not to be used as a breeding stallion. However, after his double-gold victory in last year's European championships frozen semen was made available to selected mare owners for a record $7000.
Last month, an embryo by Totilas sold for a record $45,000.
Schockemohle obviously sees good potential earnings using the horse for breeding. It is not yet known who will ride Totilas in future competitions.
Gal called Totilas "the horse of a lifetime".
"He does it himself. It felt like a fairytale," Gal said. "All I have to do is to point the way and he does it. I'm absolutely devastated."
At the Oslo International Horse Show in Norway on Sunday, Gal won the Grand Prix Freestyle riding Interfloor Next One, scoring 76.500 per cent, well ahead of second-placed Aat Van Essen, also from Holland, riding Premier scoring 70.600 per cent.
