Eric Lamaze and Hickstead were competing in the World Cup Grand Prix in Verona, Italy, on Sunday, November 6. Upon completion of their round at approximately 3:25 in the afternoon, the pair were walking out of the arena when Hickstead suddenly collapsed and died. The competition was halted at the request of the riders, and Lamaze’s fellow competitors gathered in the Verona arena to pay their respects to one of the greatest horses of all time, and to support their colleague in his moment of loss with a minute’s silence.
Under FEI regulations, any equine death at an FEI event must be investigated and a post mortem undertaken. The findings listed the cause of death as a catastrophic rupture of the major blood vessel, the aorta, which led to heart failure. Hickstead was 15 years old.
Hickstead (Hamlet – Jomara x Ekstein) was born March 2, 1996, bred by Jan van Schijndel in The Netherlands. The Dutch Warmblood stallion was owned by John Fleischhacker’s Ashland Stables and Lamaze’s Torrey Pines Stable, and had been paired with Lamaze since he was purchased as a seven-year-old.