A collective gloom always sweeps the equestrian world when a well known horse dies at the height of his powers, but it will take longer than usual to dissipate following the fatal collapse of Olympic champion Hickstead at the Italian World Cup qualifier in Verona yesterday.
It’s not just that it happened suddenly as he merely walked out of the competition arena under the horrified gaze of his fans; this horse was a true personality and stadium-filler, with millions over the world already rooting for him to recapture the individual gold medal at London 2012.
Two Olympic opportunities don’t always drop within the career span of a Grand Prix show jumper but 2008-2012 back-to-back golds were a real possibility for Hickstead. This autumn, aged 15, he was jumping every bit as well as he did in Hong Kong, regularly beating most other 2012 contenders and sustaining his Canadian rider Eric Lamaze’s world number one ranking. He won the world’s richest outdoor tournament, the $1 million Spruce Meadows Masters in Calgary, for the second time only a few weeks ago.
Like a lot of top class jumpers, Hickstead was bred in Holland. He was originally named Opel but, when licensed as a breeding stallion, he was obliged to take a name beginning with the same initial as his sire, Hamlet. His then owner changed it to Hickstead, after her favourite showground.
Lamaze first saw Hickstead when looking for a dealing horse in 2004 but thought that at 16 hands high he was too small to be a speed horse, and too expensive to produce and show a profit if he did not make the grade. Lamaze only returned to re-try Hickstead when still empty-handed at the end of his European horse-shopping trip – not the first time second-thoughts have launched one of the great horse-rider partnerships of our time.
It will be ironic if post-mortem examination shows that Hickstead had a weak heart, for it was certainly a very generous heart. Horses do pick up the vibe of an important occasion but no-one would pretend the top ones actually know when a specific round is significant. But Hickstead really did excel every time it mattered. At his first Pan-Am Games in 2007 he won individual bronze and team silver, and at the Olympics the following year he was the only horse to lower just a single pole throughout the week.
Yesterday, German Olympic rider Marco Kutscher described Hickstead as “the measure of all things.” He had an unconventional and effervescent style but was openly coveted by Lamaze’s fellow riders. The world championship, uniquely, has a four-way horse-swapping finale, a different sort of pressure to the Olympics where you ride your established equine partner throughout. At last year’s worlds in Kentucky, the chance to sit on Hickstead would almost rank alongside a podium place. Lamaze ended up with the individual bronze after faulting on his rivals’ horses but Hickstead jumped clear for everybody, earning the official citation Best Horse in the world.
At international jumping shows, the media can often see more on closed circuit TV than from the public grandstand but I, and many other colleagues, invariably trooped down to the ring-side to watch Hickstead in “real life.” You got an real adrenalin rush from the sight, sound and slipstream as he bounded down to a seriously big fence, towed in by some irresistible force. If only he could have talked. Hickstead would definitely have been saying Whoopee!
Ticketing ‘slight’ has its upside
One of the main reasons for shoehorning Olympic equestrianism into Greenwich Park, with all its incumbent expense and logistical challenges, was to expose equestrianism to movers and shakers who hadn’t seen it before.
I don’t know, therefore, what to make of news that only 168 of 9,000 tickets bought by the government for entertaining during London 2012 are for the solid fortnight of horse sport. Just five other categories of sport seem even less appealing to the dignitaries and business executives the government wants to woo.
Is this a slight or not? It’s still potentially 168 more big-wigs than would have sampled equestrian if it involved a long hike out to the sticks. Having said that, the drive to Leigh on Sea does not seem to have deterred government from purchasing over 1,000 tickets for a mere two days of mountain biking.
At least there's consolation for the legion of horse fans disappointed in the public ballot. The number of VIP seats left unoccupied every day can be no more than 12!
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