The long vigil is over. After 14 weeks of battle, Sunday Silence died of heart failure Sunday, Aug. 19, brought on by infection in his leg and the debilitating effects of laminitis.

At Shadai Stallion Station in Japan’s Hokkaido, where staff and veterinarians have watched over the stallion since early May, there was great sadness, but it was mixed with the somewhat comforting belief that the great stallion in his last hours found some freedom from the pain. There is some comfort also in the fact that he left this world on his own, at his own pace.

Eisuke Tokutake, media liaison at Shadai Stallion Station said, “Sunday night he lay down for the first time in a week. Maybe he was finally comfortable, I don’t know, but he lay down again this morning,

“Later in the morning, the vets were all there, including the insurance company veterinarian, and the talk was that Sunday wasn’t getting up,” Tokutake continued. “They had just given him an injection of painkiller and had gone to prepare the next injection. When they came back he was gone. His hooves were severely deteriorated and the pain was severe. From Saturday they’d switched to a stronger painkiller and were giving him lots of it. I think that helped make him more comfortable and that was why he probably lay down,” Tokutake explained