THE wonderful Irish Sport Horse stallion Codarco has sadly passed away aged 11.

His American rider Chloe Reid posted a long heartfelt message on her social media last night (Tuesday) explaining the horse passed away on Friday. Reid confirmed on Thursday that he died from cancer in his abdomen.

“Thank you for being my partner of a lifetime. You are leaving so many people heartbroken and one little girl who will never forget you. Rest easy my fluffy minion,” Reid wrote.

She added: “Please respect his honor and my team to gather all the answers of why we lost him so soon.”

Bred in Co Galway by Tomas O’Brien, Codarco (Darco x Orame) was produced in Ireland as a young horse by David and Tomas O’Brien and had much success in the young horse ranks before being sold to Billy Twomey. Under David, he won the four-year-old final at the Dublin Horse Show in 2011.

He won the Boomerang Final in Millstreet in 2014 and Reid took over the ride at the beginning of 2015 when he was purchased by Team Reid LLC.

Together the pair enjoyed some fantastic days, with one of the best coming in Falsterbo last July when the combination were double clear in the Superleague Nations Cup and finished third in the five-star Grand Prix.

They jumped a clear round in the five-star Nations Cup in Sopot, Poland, in June to help Team USA to victory.

MORE ON THIS IN SATURDAY’S THE IRISH FIELD