12/17/08 - The stallion Hickstead, winner of Individual Gold and Team Silver Medals at the 2008 Olympic Games under Canada's Eric Lamaze, will be offered for breeding for the first time in North America.

Hickstead is a 1996 brown Dutch Warmblood stallion, standing 16 hands high. His sire is Hamlet and his dam, Jomara, is by the well-known and recently deceased stallion, Ekstein. Hickstead's bloodlines also feature such prominent show jumping names as Nimmerdor, Notaris, Ulft, Le Mexico and Joost. Based on his performance record, Hickstead is currently ranked the number one show jumping horse in the world by the World Breeding Federation of Sport Horses (WBFSH).

Together, Lamaze and Hickstead have amassed an impressive list of accomplishments. In addition to winning Individual Gold and Team Silver Medals in dramatic fashion at the Olympic Games, the pair also won Team Silver and Individual Bronze medals at the 2007 Pan American Games. They won the richest annual event in show jumping, the $1 million CN International, at the 2007 Spruce Meadows "Masters" Tournament, making Lamaze only the second Canadian rider in the event's history to capture the title. Most recently, the pair won the $100,000 CN World Cup Grand Prix in front of a home crowd in Toronto, ON, on November 12.

"Anyone who has ever watched Hickstead compete recognizes what a special horse he is," said Lamaze. "With his success at the Olympics, there was great demand for Hickstead as a breeding stallion. We wanted to ensure that he was made available to North American breeders, and have selected Francis Berger as our North American agent based on his knowledge and breeding expertise."

Experienced horseman and breeder, Francis Berger, is the exclusive North American agent representing Hickstead. Due to Hickstead's competitive schedule, limited doses of frozen semen are available on a first-come, first-serve basis at a cost of $5,500 US per dose.

"It is an honour to be asked by the Olympic Champion to represent Hickstead in North America," said Berger who operates South Shore Farm outside of Montreal, QC, and who manages Hickstead's frozen semen for North America. "A horse of Hickstead's quality is usually only accessible to European breeders. Having him available to the North American market is a rare and special opportunity for breeders."

For information on frozen semen from Hickstead
- for Canada, please contact Francis Berger at (514) 924-4035 or francisberger@hotmail.com
- for the United States, please contact Carol Austin, of Superior Equine Sires, at (307) 587-5105 or info@superiorequinesires.com

PHOTOGRAPH:
"Hickstead, the Olympic Champion horse under Canada's Eric Lamaze, is now available for breeding in North America."
Photo Credit - Cealy Tetley, www.tetleyphoto.com