In a press conference in Toronto today, Nov. 9, Eric Lamaze confirmed cause of death in the loss of his champion stallion, Hickstead, as well as responded to the public’s questions. 

Necropsy results showed that the 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion died from heart failure caused by acute aortic rupture.

Representatives for Lamaze said this would be the last time Lamaze would answer questions on the topic, so he could move forward with the grieving process.

“A horse like Hickstead for sure changed my career, and it’s something that, for me, it meant everything,” said Lamaze.

He admitted that in the years leading up to Hickstead’s success, the stallion’s difficult character almost made Lamaze give up on him. “I think it’s that what these horses do for us is incredible. They become part of our family. They really change our life. It’s a sport that we chose because we love it, but it’s also a sport that we chose because we love the animal,” he said.

In the days of competition in Italy leading up to the Rolex Grand Prix of Verona CSI-W, Lamaze and his team saw nothing unusual in Hickstead’s behavior, and he assured the public that the stallion was in very good health.

“Hickstead jumped very well the first day, he jumped very well the second day, and actually he jumped very well the last day. He had 4 faults. That was his first indoors of the year. He always took a show to get at ease with himself. The warm-up felt normal, the last jump felt normal,” he said.

Lamaze, who believed that when his horse collapsed, he did so in a manner as to avoid injuring his rider, continued, “You can imagine a horse like that had the best care in the world. He traveled a lot. He was very happy. I think this is just a fluke thing that can happen. This was always a horse we really protected. If he wasn’t in great shape, we backed down.”

Lamaze had his sights set on the 2012 Olympic Games in London with Hickstead. In 2008, at the Beijing Olympics, they won individual gold and team silver. Lamaze admitted that while he had plenty of “very good” horses in his string, there isn’t one at the moment he feels is Olympic ready.

“I’ve been [to the Olympic Games] once on an incredible horse. I would never go back on less than a very good horse and having a very good chance. I’ll do anything I can to help Canada to win another medal, but we have until Dec. 31 to acquire a new horse for the Olympics,” he said. “I have wonderful owners and great support. I think there will be a lot of talk about what we do from this day on. But it’s not easy to find a horse with the caliber of Hickstead.”

Before this tragedy, Lamaze had planned to travel to compete next in Toronto for the Royal Fair, Nov. 4-13.

“It was something really difficult. We had to make the decision whether or not to come to Toronto. It’s something that happened very fast, but in the end, I’m really happy that we came to Toronto, that we came here to [speak about Hickstead], to answer questions, to come in front of my Canadian public,” he said.

The Canadian show jumper acknowledged that because his horse was so successful on the international circuits, they often didn’t show in his home country, so he chose to come to Toronto to honor Hickstead.

He rode Artisan Farm’s Herald 3 to a 10^th-placed finish in the $31,000 Jolera International Jumper Welcome Stakes on Nov. 8 at the Royal Fair, and when he entered the ring, the crowd greeted him with copious amounts of applause.

“It was pretty emotional for me. I knew why the people were clapping,” said Lamaze, noting that Herald 3 was a little unsettled by all the noise. “He was a very, very special horse that was very exciting to watch. He enjoyed the loud crowd. So I think it was proper, the noise they were making. They can make as much noise as they want.”

Watch the full press conference here.