Lamaze named Athlete of the Month

Eric Lamaze riding Hickstead finished 27th individually following the third day of competition at the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany. Photo by Cealy Tetley

Eric Lamaze was named the ProChaps "Athlete of the Month" for August following his amazing performances at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) held August 20 to Sept. 3 in Aachen, Germany.

Riding Hickstead, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion owned by Torrey Pines and Ashland Stables, Lamaze began the first day of show jumping competition with a bang, setting a blistering fast pace and leaving the jumps in their place, not to mention the exhilarated fans on the edges of their seats. Stopping the clock at 78.40 seconds, Lamaze shot into the lead. Only American favourite Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, NY, and her mount Authentic were able to squeeze ahead of Lamaze, leaving him in second place against 116 of the top show jumping athletes in the world.

"It was my plan all along to attack this course, I wanted to be competitive from the beginning," said Lamaze following his round. "Hickstead's very quick and he's careful, he has been here in Aachen before and has had tremendous results this summer."

Lamaze maintained his runner-up position following the second day of show jumping competition, featuring the first round of the Nations' Cup team competition. As the third rider on course for the four-member Canadian Show Jumping Team, Lamaze and Hickstead put in another faultless performance, clearing each of the difficult obstacles, including a water jump, and a very technical triple combination.

In recognition of his achievement, Lamaze will receive a pair of state-of-the-art riding chaps, compliments of ProChaps. A Canadian manufacturer of high-performance riding chaps, ProChaps is the sponsor of the Jump Canada "Athlete of the Month" program.