Eric Lamaze’s Chacco Kid Retired from Competition

The 16-year-old chestnut Oldenburg gelding (Chacco Blue x Come On) sustained an injury while competing in the 1.50m ATB Cup on Sunday, June 21, at the Spruce Meadows ‘National’ tournament in Calgary, AB.

“‘Chacco’ was landing and turning from the double Rolex vertical when one of his hind feet clipped the front foot,” explained Lamaze. “Normally, the front shoe would come off but in this case it didn’t. He tried to step out of it, resulting in an injury to his check ligament. At 16 years old, it’s too much to expect him to come back and jump again. Instead, we’re looking forward to giving him a nice retirement in the field in Belgium where we can see him every day and enjoy reliving many memories.”

Lamaze discovered Chacco Kid through Marcel Delestre, who was training the Colombian show jumping team at the time. Chacco Kid was imported from Colombia and joined Lamaze’s string in the winter of 2016. The pair began showing at that year’s Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL.

Partnered with Chacco Kid, Lamaze enjoyed numerous victories around the globe and represented Canada at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, NC. For Lamaze, his most meaningful win with Chacco Kid came in the $500,000 RBC Grand Prix of Canada, presented by Rolex, during the 2019 Spruce Meadows ‘National’ tournament in Calgary, AB. It was Lamaze’s first competition since publicly revealing that he had been battling a brain tumour.

“My favourite memory with Chacco was winning the RBC Grand Prix when I wasn’t well,” recalled Lamaze. “The win was 70 percent horse and 30 percent rider. He knew he had to take care of me and seemed to rise to the occasion.”