IF Jappeloup was the outstanding star of the 1986 world show jumping championships in Aachen, that honour went four years later to Gem Twist.

In between these world championships, he and America’s Greg Best won individual silver at the Seoul Olympics, one podium place behind Jappeloup and Pierre Durand.

Best and the Frank Chapot-bred were on the American silver medal team at the Games too, as was the Irish Sport Horse mare Mill Pearl.

Her rider, Joe Fargis, had won individual gold on home ground at Los Angeles in 1984 with the ex-racehorse Touch Of Class.

Thoroughbreds were a staple part of the American show jumping scene, particularly in their zenith of the 1980s. Michael Matz won the 1981 World Cup final with Jet Run, as well as a slew of world championship and Pan-American Games medals, while Rodney Jenkins’s Idle Dice was the first horse to be inducted into the Showjumping Hall of Fame back in 1987.

Jenkins had originally produced Philco, another off-the-track thoroughbred, that went on to great success with David Broome. This pair was on the British silver medal team at the 1977 European championships and followed up the year after with team gold at the world championships.

Another famous US-bred grey is Gem Twist.

“Gem Twist was a horse of a lifetime for many reasons. Not only was he one of the most talented horses the world has ever seen, but he was also a horse that had special importance to our family, having bred him and trained him through his incredible career,” Laura Chapot told The Irish Field.

https://foto.ifj.ie/fotoweb/archives/5006-Irish-Horse-World/Irish%20Horse%20World/GTI.jpg.info#c=%2Ffotoweb%2Farchives%2F5006-Irish-Horse-World%2F%3Fq%3Dgem%2520twist

Laura Chapot on the 'family horse' Gem Twist

Titles roll in

Laura, currently on the Florida circuit, was one of three riders to compete ‘Gem’ - his stable name - at Grand Prix level. “His lightning speed, tremendous scope and desire to never touch a rail made him the ultimate show jumper.”

Not only did Laura’s father Frank breed the handsome grey, but he had also competed his sire: Good Twist. The American pair won 21 international classes across Europe and the United States during their career in the late 1960s and early ‘70s.

Good Twist’s pedigree contains a Who’s Who of influential thoroughbred sires: Bonne Nuit, Precipitation’s sire Hurry On and that distinctive grey The Tetrarch.

Gem Twist’s bay dam - Coldly Noble - came from the Double Jay line with a double cross of War Admiral in her family tree.

Foaled in 1979, the Chapot’s Good Twist x Coldly Noble colt was originally named Icey Twist. ‘Gem’ was later bought from his breeder by Michael Golden, who intended to compete the young thoroughbred himself.

In a similar story to Carling King, who Kevin Babington had bought for owner Saly Glassman, their potential was such that they went to professional riders instead. Greg Best was the stable jockey at the Chapot’s New Jersey farm at the time and their partnership quickly gelled.

Their 1985 USET Talent Derby win was a preview of what followed. By 1987, their Grand Prix wins at Florida, Lake Placid and Tampa sealed Best’s AGA Rookie of the Year award and the first of Gem Twist’s Horse of the Year titles. Plus, the exciting new partnership won a team silver medal at the Pan-Am Games held in Indianapolis.

Stockholm first

Another US team call-up was for the Seoul Olympics, where, as told in last week’s Jappeloup article, Best and Germany’s Karsten Huck on Nepomuk jumped off for the individual silver medal. Gem Twist and Best’s faster time sealed the silver, to match their team medal result.

1989 marked his second American Grand Prix Association Horse of the Year title and then, the focus switched the following year to the inaugural World Equestrian Games after the pair were shoo-ins for the American team.

https://foto.ifj.ie/fotoweb/archives/5006-Irish-Horse-World/Irish%20Horse%20World/GT%20II.jpg.info#c=%2Ffotoweb%2Farchives%2F5006-Irish-Horse-World%2F%3Fq%3Dgem%2520twist

Seoul Medallists: Greg Best, Pierre Durand and Karsten Huck

The World Equestrian Games were a new concept, championed by the FEI president Prince Philip, and Stockholm was selected, over close runner-up Rome, to host the first Game

Following on from the success of the Stockholm Olympics, the same stadium was also used as the main location for several events, including show jumping.

Seoul Olympic course designer Olaf Petersen was back on duty at Stockholm, where one eye-catching signature fence was based on the famous Swedish handcarved red wooden Dala horses.

Household names

Amongst the household horse names pictured sailing over this fence were the pair of famous greys: Gem Twist and Milton, John Whitaker’s hope. Milton’s owners - Tom and Doreen Bradley - had ruled out Milton travelling to Seoul, but closer to home, Milton was one of the medal favourites.

Other famous show jumping horses to have competed at these first Games include Darco (Ludo Philippaerts), Dollar Girl (Thomas Fuchs) and Mon Santa (Michael Whitaker). The Hard Study gelding and Lannegan (Hail Titan) were the two Irish-breds on the British bronze medal-winning team, alongside Milton and Grand Slam (Nick Skelton).

In the individual competition, Gem Twist and Best were 12th after the opening speed round, then jumped clear in both the team - where the US team were to place fourth - and top-20 round, which saw them through to the individual final.

A since discontinued format, WEG’s final saw the top-four riders swap horses to decide the individual medals. The other three contenders were Milton and Whitaker, with two horses and riders from the victorious French gold medal team: Eric Navet and the home-bred stallion Quito de Baussy and Hubert Bourdy with Morgat - hopes were high for a gold medal double for France.

All four started on a zero score and Navet went into the lead, producing a four-fault round with his own horse and a quarter-time fault after his round on Milton. Ironically, Gem Twist’s fence down in the final happened during his round with Best and, while Best finished fourth in the final reckoning after Navet, Whitaker and Bourdy, Gem Twist was declared the best horse of that day.

Whitaker’s choice

Gem Twist impressed John Whitaker so much in that final, that when he was asked in a Horse & Hound interview, proudly kept by Laura Chapot, which other horse he’d like to have ridden, he sang the praises of the American grey.

“There have been so many good ones over the years, but my latest favourite is Henrik von Eckermann’s King Edward - he’s my size and he’s a bit of a machine. Jappeloup was also my size, a bit of a freak.

“However, one I might put in front of both of those is Gem Twist. I rode him in the horse swap in Stockholm World Championships in 1990 and he was even better than I expected. Milton had everything and could do things most horses couldn’t, but he wasn’t super-fast across the ground, whereas Gem Twist had everything, plus he was very, very fast in a jump-off.”

Praise indeed.

Three’s a charm

Two years after Stockholm, with Greg grounded with a broken shoulder, Gem Twist’s reins were handed over to Lesley Burr Howard (then Leslie Burr Lenehan), as the horse’s connections felt her style was the closest match to Best.

The new combination’s results saw Gem Twist win his third American Grand Prix Association Horse of the Year title that same year - the only horse to win three such titles.

Then Laura Chapot rode the family horse. “I have two favourite wins with Gem. The first being at the Royal Winter Fair in the World Cup Grand Prix.

“It was a team event at the time, and there were a lot of great horse-rider combinations in the class. Winning any class at that show is an honour, but winning that Grand Prix was especially important, given our family’s long successful history at that show and the fact that it was a team event.

“The other being the AGA Championships, which at the time was considered one of the most prestigious events in the US. Gem had won it previously with Greg and with Leslie, so for the horse to win it again with a third rider was a testament as to what an incredible horse he was.”

Babington link

Gem Twist, even more handsome in real life, had a considerable worldwide following, particularly after his performances in Seoul and Stockholm. One of the highlights of my J1 summer was watching him and Mill Pearl compete in the 1989 Hampton Classic, which that year was won by Michael Matz and Schnapps. (Just the week before, Matz and his wife DD had survived the United Airlines plane crash near Sioux City, before going on to compete at the show).

The €64,000 question: Would Gem Twist be as competitive in today’s sport? “I think Gem had the characteristics to be a superstar in any era of the sport,” Laura replied.

“He was not as light-boned as many thoroughbreds, but still had the heart and stamina. He didn’t necessarily stand out as a typical thoroughbred, but more as a modern sport horse.”

Another of Gem Twist’s earlier riders was Kevin Babington, who worked for Frank and Mary Chapot at their New Jersey farm in Neshanic Station for two years after he first went to America.

“The timing was good, because I got a chance to ride a lot, mainly green horses. Greg Best, the main rider, was concentrating on the Olympics and Laura [Chapot] was still in school,” said Kevin in his American Thanksgiving feature in these pages back in 2008.

What did he think of Chado Farm’s star horse?

“He had an amazing technique. Even riding him on the flat, you knew you were on something special as his suspension across the ground was unbelievable.”

https://foto.ifj.ie/fotoweb/archives/5005-Irish-Field/IF/IFL/IFL/if-Greg%20Best%20Gem%20Twist.jpg.info#c=%2Ffotoweb%2Farchives%2F5005-Irish-Field%2F%3Fq%3Dgem%2520twist

Greg Best and Gem Twist

Born a game player

By 1996, Michael Golden decided it was time to retire Gem Twist. A series of send-offs was held at various shows, including the USET Grand Prix in West Palm Beach and at another Florida show: the Budweiser American Invitational in Tampa.

Similar to another iconic grey in this series - Snowman - Gem Twist too had a final farewell party thrown for him at the National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden in 1997, before crossing the East River to retire in New Jersey with the Chapot family.

Gem Twist could have been sold for $2.5 million at the peak of his career. Instead, he stayed at his home for life for nearly another decade until 2006, when the 27-year-old was put down.

Five years previously, the grey was inducted into the United States Show jumping Hall of Fame, to join his sire Good Twist (2010).

For Laura, he is her undisputed horse of a lifetime. “He was born knowing how to play the game and the bigger the spotlight, the greater was his desire to win.

“I don’t know that we will ever see another horse with his lightning bounce off the ground and explosive style in the air. It felt like no other.

“Truly a horse of a lifetime.”

By the numbers

800,000 - in US$, Gem Twist’s lifetime prize money.

75 - show jumping horses competed at the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Stockholm in 1990.

37 - countries competed at the 1990 WEG.

24 - year tenure as the US show jumping chef d’equipe for Frank Chapot.

16.3 - hands high, or 170cm. Gem Twist’s height.

16 - countries sent teams to the 1990 World Equestrian Games in Stockholm.

Six - sports held at the 1990 WEG: dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, show jumping and vaulting.

Three - American Grand Prix Association Horse of the Year titles won by Gem Twist. The only horse in US show jumping history to do so.

Two - Rookie of the Year awards earned by Greg Best and Laura Chapot for their results with Gem Twist.

One - Gem Twist is the most recent thoroughbred to win an Olympic individual silver medal in show jumping.

Did you know?

  • The late Frank Chapot, a former US Air Force veteran, was the US show jumping chef d’equipe when the team won gold and Joe Fargis his individual gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
  • Chapot made six consecutive Olympic appearances from 1956 to 1976, and was a member of two silver medal-winning teams at Rome (Trail Guide, 1960) and Munich (White Lightning, 1972). William ‘Bill’ Steinkraus, the 1968 Mexico Olympics individual gold medal champion was on both of those teams too.
  • Mary Mairs Chapot, Frank’s wife, was the youngest woman to ride on an United States Equestrian Team (USET). The couple were also the first husband-wife combination to compete on a US show jumping team and were both on the Olympic team for Tokyo (1964) with San Lucas and Tomboy.
  • Mary and Kathy Kusner made another piece of history at those Games (where Kathy rode Untouchable), as the first women to compete on an US Olympic team, following a rule change that allowed women to compete in show jumping at the Games. With Tomboy, Mary also won individual and team gold at the 1963 Pan-Am Games in São Paolo.
  • Frank and Mary’s daughters - Laura and Wendy Chapot Nunn - followed in their footsteps as top-level show jumpers. Their parents were inducted to the United States Show Jumping Hall of Fame - Frank in 1994 and Mary two years prior to that.
  • The most recent inductees into the US Show Jumping Hall of Fame are Irishman Lee McKeever, who has worked for Barney and McLain Ward since he arrived in America 36 years ago and another off-the-racetrack thoroughbred: Albany, on the Los Angeles gold medal team with Gem Twist’s rider Leslie Burr Howard. The 2018 FEI Groom of the Year, Lee, is McLain’s sport horse manager and advisor (see page 87).
  • The Gem Twist theme continued at the event held in Wellington, as the Hall of Fame international award went to another Olympian in Kevin Babington, while a special tribute was paid at the event to Mary Mairs Chapot, described as a true pioneer in American show jumping. Both Laura and Wendy were also present at the sold-out event.
  • Both Snowman - the Christmas ‘Horse of a Lifetime’ feature and Gem Twist were commemorated by the Breyer model horse company. The Gem Twist collectible was first introduced in 1993.
  • Gem Twist has been cloned three times: Gemini CL, Murka’s Gem, and Gem Twist Alpha Z.
  • Greg Best moved to New Zealand in 1994 and a decade later, was the Kiwi show jumping team coach at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.