Australian Edwina Alexander, riding Cevo Itot Du Chateau, competes during the International Jumping Competition on April 4, 2010, at The Grand Palais in Paris. Edwina Alexander finished 6th and German Marcus Ehning won the event.  AFP PHOTO / FRANCK FIFE (Photo credit should read FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images)
Horse of a lifetime: Cevo Itot du Château
02:33 - Source: CNN

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Tops-Alexander won LGCT titles in 2011 and 2012

Cevo Itot du Chateau is her horse of a lifetime

CNN  — 

He’s dwarfed by many of his rivals but star showjumper Edwina Tops-Alexander wouldn’t swap him for anyone else.

Cevo Itot du Chateau is the little chestnut gelding the Australian rode to Global Champions Tour titles in 2011 and 2012.

The French bred jumper out of Le Tot de Semilly was given to Tops-Alexander by her husband Jan as a New Year gift in 2007 and went on to become the biggest money earner on the Global Champions Tour with more than $3.5 million.

But what is that marked him as a horse of a lifetime?

“He’s 157 cm in height so he’s very small compared to a lot of the other horses but he’s a very, very special horse,” three-time Olympian Tops-Alexander told CNN’s Aly Vance.

“He’s got a big heart and plenty of stride. When I got him home and rode him for the first time it just felt like I’d ridden him all my life.

“It was just a connection we had. It takes a long time to get that feeling, that communication with a horse but from day one it was like that.”

Australian Edwina Alexander riding Cevo Itot Du Chateau at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2010.

‘Very bossy’

“Toti,” as he is affectionately known, was retired in 2014 at the age of 18 but still rules the roost at home.

“He hasn’t changed a bit,” adds Tops-Alexander. “He’s still in the same box, he’s a little tubbier than he was, but he goes out a lot, he’s in the field and goes in the lake and on the treadmill.

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“He’s very pushy and very bossy and he knows what he wants. He loves food, he loves the attention and he still knows he’s a special horse.”