The Hanoverian stallion Belucci (by Bolero) died unexpectedly on Dec. 27. He was 23.

Born and bred in Europe, Belucci placed eighth out of a field of 40 horses at his performance testing in Adelheidsdof, Germany. In his early career, Belucci com-peted in the FEI levels in dressage and reached Grand Prix.

He stood at stud in the Netherlands for just over 10 years, producing top international horses in dressage and show jumping before being imported to the United States by Beverly Sziraky. Soon after arriving in the United States, Heidi Cook, owner of Heritage Farms, Spanaway, Wash., purchased the chestnut stallion.

“I’ve never in my life had a stallion as kind as he was,” said Cook, who developed a bond with Belucci that lasted seven years. “He just loved people and human attention. We tried to put him out to pasture for the summer, but he would stand at the gate and whinny when he saw us.”

Belucci was licensed and approved by the Verband Hannoverscher Warmblut-zuchter e.V., the American Hanoverian Society, the Oldenburg Verband, the Inter-national Sporthorse Registry, the Danish Warmblood Society, the Canadian Warmblood Horse Breeders Association and was issued a lifetime breeding permit from the International Arabian Horse Association.