Edward Gal

Edward Gal (born 4 March 1970 in Rheden) is a Dutch dressage rider.[1] He and the stallion Totilas (nicknamed "Toto"), were triple gold medalists at the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games,[2][3] becoming the first horse-rider partnership ever to sweep the three available dressage gold medals at a single FEI World Games.[2] Going into the 2010 Games, they had amassed multiple world-record scores in international competition, leading one American journalist to call them "rock stars in the horse world".[4] After the World Equestrian Games, Totilas was sold to German trainer Paul Schockemöhle.[5] Gal continues to be successful training and competing dressage horses at the international level.

Edward Gal

Edward Gal with Totilas
Medal record
Representing the  Netherlands
Equestrian
Olympic Games
2012 LondonTeam dressage
World Championships
2010 LexingtonTeam dressage
2010 LexingtonSpecial dressage
2010 LexingtonFreestyle dressage
2006 AachenTeam dressage
2014 NormandyTeam dressage
European Championships
2009 WindsorTeam dressage
2009 WindsorFreestyle dressage
2015 AachenTeam dressage
2005 HagenTeam dressage
2009 WindsorSpecial dressage
2013 HerningTeam dressage
2019 RotterdamTeam dressage
2011 RotterdamTeam dressage
World Cup
2010 Den BoschIndividual dressage
2004 DüsseldorfIndividual dressage
2005 Las VegasIndividual dressage
2015 Las VegasIndividual dressage
2014 LyonIndividual dressage

Career

Gal began his equestrian career as a jumper at age 14, beginning with ponies and graduating to larger horses at age 20. However, when he discovered his horse did not like jumping, he switched to dressage. While enjoying solid success in national and international competition, he did not become a truly dominant rider until he began competing with Totilas in 2008. Gal would later say that he and his team understood that Totilas was a special horse after their first Grand Prix competition.[4]

At the time, Gal replaced his countrywoman Anky van Grunsven as the dominant rider on the world dressage circuit. In July 2009, Gal and Totilas broke van Grunsven's world record score in Grand Prix Freestyle[6] with an 89.50% mark at Hickstead, England, and shortly thereafter followed it up with another record score of 90.75% in the same discipline at that year's European Championships.[7] In December 2009, at the fourth leg of the 2009–10 FEI World Cup Dressage series at Olympia in London, they extended their record in GP Freestyle to 92.30%, more than 10 points above the second-place finisher.[7] While not setting a world record, they easily won that season's FEI World Cup final in GP Freestyle at home in the Netherlands, winning by more than 7 points with a score better than their first world record.[8] The pair also had a world-record score in the Grand Prix Special discipline to their credit, having recorded 86.460% at Aachen in July 2010.[2][6]

Gal and Totilas were installed as the overwhelming favorites in the 2010 FEI World Games in Lexington, Kentucky, their first competition outside Europe. Klaus Röser, head of the German dressage team that has long dominated the discipline, said about Gal, "That we can beat Edward; I don't think so, I don't believe so. We have to be realistic."[4] Röser's assessment proved correct, with Gal and Toto first leading the Dutch team to gold in the team competition, and then easily winning gold in Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle.[2][3]

In a piece in The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky that ran before the 2010 Games, dressage trainer Susan Posner pointed out that Totilas was only in his second year in grand prix dressage despite being 10 years old, and said that his success illustrated how capable Gal was as a rider.[4]

He also competed at the 2015 European Dressage Championships in Aachen where he won a gold medal in team dressage. The Dutch national dressage coach Wim Ernes died on 1 November 2016 due to a brain tumor. Gal, together with the other gold medal winners Patrick van der Meer, Hans Peter Minderhoud and Diederik van Silfhout, carried his coffin during the funeral on 5 November 2016.[9]

International Championship Results
Results
Year Event Horse Score Placing Notes
2003European ChampionshipsLingh 29th Individual
2004World Cup Final Lingh
2005 World Cup Final Lingh
2005European ChampionshipsLingh Team
4th Individual
2006 World Cup Final Lingh 4th
2006World Equestrian Games Lingh Team
12th Individual
2007 World Cup Final Gribaldi 64.900% 11th
2009 European Championships Totilas 84.085% Team
83.042% Individual Special
90.750% Individual Freestyle
2010 World Cup Final Totilas 89.800%
2010 World Equestrian Games Totilas 84.043% Team
85.708% Individual Special
91.800% Individual Freestyle
2011 World Cup Final Sisther du Jeu 77.393% 4th
2011 European Championships Sisther du Jeu 70.517% Team
69.211% 18th Individual Special
2012 Olympic Games Glock's Undercover 75.395% Team
80.267% 9th Individual
2013 World Cup Final Glock's Undercover 84.446%
2013 European Championships Glock's Undercover 81.763% Team
79.479% 4th Individual Special
84.911% 4th Individual Freestyle
2014 World Cup Final Glock's Undercover 83.696%
2014 World Equestrian Games Glock's Voice 72.414% Team
70.392% 25th Individual Special
2015 World Cup Final Glock's Undercover 84.696%
2015 European Championships Glock's Undercover 82.229% Team
EL 29th Individual Special
2016 Olympic Games Glock's Voice 75.271% 4th Team
73.655% 20th Individual
2017 World Cup Final Glock's Voice 78.921% 6th
2017 European Championships Glock's Voice 72.457% 5th Team
69.468% 24th Individual Special
2018 World Cup Final Glock's Zonik 79.654% 8th
2018 World Equestrian Games Glock's Zonik 77.189% 5th Team
77.751% 7th Individual Special
2019 European Championships Glock's Zonik 78.758% Team
77.994% 8th Individual Special
84.271% 6th Individual Freestyle

Notable horses
  • Lingh - 1993 Bay Dutch Warmblood Stallion (Flemmingh x Columbus)
    • 2003 European Championships - Individual 29th Place
    • 2004 FEI World Cup Final - Silver Medal
    • 2005 FEI World Cup Final - Silver Medal
    • 2005 European Championships - Team Silver Medal, Individual Fourth Place
    • 2006 FEI World Cup Final - Fourth Place
    • 2006 World Equestrian Games - Team Silver Medal, Individual 11th Place, Individual 12th Place Freestyle
  • IPS Gribaldi - 1993 Black Trakehner Stallion (Kostolany x Ibikus)
    • 2007 FEI World Cup Final - 11th Place
  • Totilas - 2000 Black Dutch Warmblood Stallion (Gribaldi x Glendale)
    • 2009 European Championships - Team Gold Medal, Individual Silver Medal, Individual Gold Medal Freestyle
    • 2010 FEI World Cup Final - Gold Medal
    • 2010 World Equestrian Games - Team Gold Medal, Individual Gold Medal, Individual Gold Medal Freestyle
  • Sisther de Jeu - 1999 Bay Dutch Warmblood Mare (Gribaldi x Amor)
    • 2011 FEI World Cup Final - Fourth Place
    • 2011 European Championships - Team Bronze Medal, Individual 18th Place
  • Glock's Undercover - 2001 Black Dutch Warmblood Gelding (Ferro x Donnerhall)
    • 2012 London Olympics - Team Bronze Medal, Individual Ninth Place
    • 2013 FEI World Cup Final - Bronze Medal
    • 2013 European Championships - Team Silver Medal, Individual Fourth Place, Individual Fourth Place Freestyle
    • 2014 FEI World Cup Final - Bronze Medal
    • 2015 FEI World Cup Final - Silver Medal
    • 2015 European Championships - Team Gold Medal, Individual 29th Place
  • Glock's Voice - 2002 Black Dutch Warmblood Stallion (De Niro x Rhodiamant)
    • 2014 World Equestrian Games - Team Bronze Medal, Individual 25th Place
    • 2016 Rio Olympics - Team Fourth Place, Individual 20th Place
    • 2017 FEI World Cup Final - Sixth Place
  • Glock's Zonik NOP - 2008 Dark Bay Danish Warmblood Stallion (Blue Hors Zack x Romanov)
    • 2018 FEI World Cup Final - Eighth Place

Personal life

Gal is in a long-term relationship with teammate Hans Peter Minderhoud. Gal has been interviewed in several Dutch media outlets about his relationship with Minderhoud.[10]

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References
  1. "Edward Gal, Dutch dressage rider". horseandhound.co.uk. 2 February 2010. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  2. "Gal and Totilas Win the Special in Style – Can They Make It a Hat-Trick of Gold?" (Press release). International Federation for Equestrian Sports. 29 September 2010. Archived from the original on 12 January 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  3. "Gal and Totilas Make It a Golden Hat-Trick on a Night to Remember" (Press release). International Federation for Equestrian Sports. 1 October 2010. Archived from the original on 12 January 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  4. Cengel, Katya (26 September 2010). "Dutch pair setting pace for dressage competition at World Equestrian Games". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  5. http://www.dressage-news.com/?p=8673
  6. "Search Centre: Results by Competitor". International Federation for Equestrian Sports. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 30 September 2010. Search fields: Competitor = Gal, Administering NF (National Federation) = NED (Netherlands), Gender=Male
  7. "Edward Gal and Moorlands Totilas Set New Dressage World Record" (Press release). International Federation for Equestrian Sports. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  8. Cuckson, Pippa (27 March 2010). "Edward Gal and Moorlands Totilas win FEI World Cup dressage final". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  9. "Gouden EK-team gaat de kist van overleden Ernes dragen - Sportnieuws". 2 November 2016.
  10. "Edward Gal and Hans Peter Minderhoud, One Track Minds". Eurodressage.com. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
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