November 21, 2006

Top US showjumper Gem Twist died on Saturday, at the age of 27.

The grey gelding was owned by Michael Golden, and was bred and trained by Show Jumping Hall of Famer Frank Chapot and ridden by Greg Best, Leslie Howard and Laura Chapot.

Gem Twist was a thoroughbred, by Frank Chapot's outstanding jumper Good Twist, who had won 21 international classes in the United States and Europe during the 1960s.

He was retired in 1997 after many victories and more than $US800,000 in prize money. He won three American Grandprix Association Horse of the Year titles, the only horse to do so. He also earned two Silver Medals at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and was named "World's Best Horse" at the World Equestrian Games at Stockholm, Sweden, in 1990.