The death of Peter Charles' top ride Traxdata Nustria Van Meijershoeven has come as a devastating blow to Irish showjumping in the lead-up to next month's European Championships at Hickstead.

Veterinary surgeons at the Liphook Clinic, close to the Irish rider's yard in Hampshire, were unable to save the nine-year-old gelding when he suffered a ruptured ulcer in his spleen at the weekend.

It was at Hickstead less than three weeks ago that Charles badly injured an ankle in a fall during the Eventing Grand Prix, an accident which kept him out of Ireland's team for the British Nations Cup two days later.

Now, as he struggles to get fit in time for the championships, he finds himself without the horse he described as "the best I have ever ridden".

Nustria had demonstrated his formidable talent as a seven-year-old when finishing second in the 1997 Olympia World Cup qualifier to Germany's Ludger Beerbaum and the far more experienced P S Priamos.

A Belgian warmblood by the famous sire Darco, Nustria was victorious in the £13,000 Grand Prix at this year's Royal Windsor Horse Show and, as he approached his peak, was being groomed by Charles for the Sydney Olympics.

"There is no replacing a horse like Nustria," Charles said yesterday. "Carnavelly, who won the Grand Prix in Berlin last November, is a good horse and I shall obviously focus on him now, but I shall have to start looking for new horses."

Liverpool-born Charles, who took Irish nationality when denied a place in the British team for the 1992 Olympics, has also lost the ride on La Ina, the horse on which he won the European title in 1995.

Jes Nielson, La Ina's owner and joint-owner of Nustria, decided last week to retire the horse, who is now 17. During a glittering career, La Ina won more than £500,000 in prize money.