A Canadian court case that made waves in the horse world when the judge ruled Eric Lamaze falsified documents related to his alleged cancer treatment has ended with a judgement in favor of the farm owners who sued the Canadian Olympic show jumper. Simultaneously, Lamaze’s longtime supporters the Rein family have expanded a claim against him that originally revolved around their purchase of one show jumper, Nikka VD Bisschop, who represented Canada at the Paris Olympics, to involve five more horses worth millions of dollars.

On Aug. 8, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice issued a judgement in favor of Iron Horse Farm Inc., owned by the family of show jumper Karina Aziz, over two horses the family purchased through Lamaze in 2007. Justice Erika Chozik ruled that Lamaze owes the family almost $575,000, plus about $100,000 in court costs, to cover the cost of several horses they accused him of misrepresenting. The judgement brings an end to a case first filed in 2010.

Irene Reimanis Aziz, Karina’s mother, called it a “moral victory” and acknowledged “we don’t expect to see money from this.” Lamaze has been the subject of multiple recent lawsuits that found he owed money to various business associates.

“Since Karina and Natalie took up riding, I watched them enjoying ‘sport’ and making the commitment to succeed,” Reimanis Aziz wrote in an email. “[This] judgement doesn’t change my perspective—that of a 71-year-old mother who witnessed the lying and cheating and underhanded shenanigans since the kids took up riding. Quelle surprise that Lamaze is a fraudster! 

“I am happy and proud that my daughter Karina found the detective who blew up the charade that fooled everyone,” she continued. “Karina has a passion for animals and quit trainers when she witnessed animal abuse, something way too common in a sport when you can beat an animal to do the impossible! I am proud of my husband who continued the pursuit when everyone said it was futile. I believe in standing up for the truth and fighting for the truth and even falling on the sword for truth.”

Last year, the Aziz family hired a private investigator to look into the veracity of doctors’ letters Lamaze’s attorney submitted in an effort to postpone a trial. The letters were found to be forgeries, and the judge ruled that the case could proceed.

In the 14-year-old case, the Aziz family accused Lamaze of selling them two horses in 2007 that he significantly misrepresented. The first, according to the suit, Lamaze claimed was successfully jumping 1.40 meters when it had no record at that level. The Azizes returned the horse to him, and he resold it but never repaid them its $250,000 purchase price. 

The second horse went lame within a month of being purchased and was later found to have scars from a suspected neurectomy to de-nerve its front legs. A veterinary examination in 2022 discovered scars “strongly suspicious” for such a surgery and also, through radiographs, determined the horse had two microchips in its neck, an older one that couldn’t be read by modern scanners and a newer one that scanners picked up. The Azizes also determined several years later that the horse, sold to them under the name “Peppercorn,” was actually a horse named “Romen” whose European show record was not what Lamaze had represented when he sold it to them for $265,000. They accused him of renaming and re-microchipping the horse so that he could sell the de-nerved mare under a false identity.

“Peppercorn/Romen remains in the care of Iron Horse and is well taken care of and loved, but has never jumped competitively,” Karina’s father, Gregory Aziz, testified in a July 2024 affidavit that was part of the case. “Nonetheless, the Defendants induced Iron Horse to spend $265,000 USD on the horse under the false pretense that the horse was capable of competing in the jumper class. The non-disclosure of the neurectomy put my daughter and other riders of Peppercorn at significant risk. The horse as received was effectively useless for the purpose of competition since it is against the [Fédération Equestre Internationale] rules to use a de-nerved horse in competition.”

Reimanis Aziz noted Lamaze sold them the double-microchipped, allegedly de-nerved horse “way before his 2008 Olympic Gold medal that made him untouchable.”  

“He gave his word to a beginner jumper—and collected $275,000—while knowing the dangers of jumping a horse with no feeling in the front legs and aware of the fact that FEI rules prohibit a de-nerved horse from showing,” she added.

Reins Expand Claims Against Former Partner

The Rein family have expanded their legal claims against their former business partner Lamaze, now claiming he deceitfully doubled the price of a handful of horses they purchased through him—and pocketed the difference—to the tune of more than $2.5 million. 

The family first was drawn into a lawsuit filed against Lamaze by Lorna Guthrie and Jeffrey Brandmaier of Knightwood Stables in January 2023 over several horse deals in which they claimed he vastly inflated the horses’ selling prices and kept the difference. Chief among them was the purchase and subsequent sale, to the Reins, of Nikka VD Bisschop. The Reins purchased the mare from Lamaze in 2021, and under their ownership she won team silver at the 2023 Pan American Games (Chile) and more recently was the highest-placed Canadian horse in the Paris Olympic team jumping qualifier. Guthrie and Brandmaier said in their suit that Lamaze sold “Nikka” to the Reins without their permission and repaid them only a fraction of the purchase price. In November 2023, a judge found in their favor and ruled Lamaze owed them approximately $1.4 million. Lamaze quickly appealed that decision, but in June the appeal was dismissed. 

In October 2023, the Rein family filed a cross-claim in that case accusing Lamaze of fraud, misrepresentation and breaching Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act for selling them Nikka under false pretenses, from misrepresenting Guthrie and Brandmaier’s consent and interest in selling their share, to not disclosing their complete ownership stake, to subsequently not passing on to the couple their share of what the Reins paid for Nikka.

In July, “due to events that have come to light” since that October filing, the Reins amended that claim to add five additional horses Lamaze sold them between December 2021 and June 2022. 

In all cases, the Reins claim Lamaze misrepresented the horses’ actual asking prices—doubling them or more—and then pocketed the difference, as well as collecting commission from the sellers without disclosing to the Reins that he was working an agent for both buyer and seller, in violation of Florida law.

The Reins claim they paid $900,000 for one horse, Cera Charisma, whose actual purchase price was $350,000. After Lamaze collected a commission from the sellers, the Reins claim, he pocketed $560,000. 

In a separate June 2022 deal, they went through Lamaze to purchase four more horses from Ashford Farm in Belgium whose prices totaled approximately $5.6 million. They claim Lamaze paid only half that amount for the horses and again kept the difference.

“Similar to Lamaze’s misrepresentations concerning Cera Charisma, Lamaze misrepresented to Rein that the foregoing prices were the lowest that Ashford Farms would sell the three [sic] horses and the prices that Ashford Farms was actually selling the foregoing horses,” the suit states. “Upon information and belief, all four horses, Cartier, Crack, Chagall and Groovy, were all previously offered for sale for half (or a significant reduction) of the price that Rein paid for each horse.” 

“At no point in time did Lamaze advise Rein that Lamaze and Torrey Pines would inflate the purchase price of Cartier, Crack, Chagall and Groovy each by about 100%,” the suit later states. “Had such an exorbitant commission been communicated by Lamaze, Rein would have declined the 2022 Deal and gone elsewhere, as a €2,350,000.00 fee or commission is neither standard nor customary, and is in fact in violation of Florida law.”

The Rein family has asked for a jury trial in Florida, seeking compensation for damages, court fees and other costs.

The Chronicle is unable to locate Lamaze to seek comment.