An acute aortic rupture caused show jumping champion Hickstead’s death during a Nov. 6 competition in Italy, a necropsy has revealed. The results of the post-mortem examination were revealed during a press conference held in Canada.

Ridden by the current No. 1 international show jumper, Eric Lamaze from Canada, the 15-year-old bay KWPN stallion collapsed in the Rolex Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) World Cup show arena in Verona, Italy, on Sunday. The horse and rider team had just completed a course with just one rail down, the FEI reported. Videos show Hickstead calmly walking out of the arena before suddenly weakening, sitting back on his haunches, and falling as Lamaze dismounts.

Lamaze spoke at the press conference from his lawyer’s office to address the media about the horse’s death.

"He jumped very well the first and second day, and actually jumped very well the last day," an emotional Lamaze said. "He just collapsed. Nothing was unusual with the round. Even the last jump felt normal

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.