GEM TWIST
Gem Twist, one of the greatest show jumpers of the 20th century, was euthanized on Nov. 18 due to the infirmities of old age. He was 27.

Gem Twist delighted thousands of fans during a spectacular career that stretched for more than a decade between the 1980s and the mid-1990s.

Along the way, the gray gelding took Greg Best to the 1987 Pan American Games team silver medal and two Olympic silver medals a year later in Seoul, as well as earning the best horse title at the 1990 World Equestrian Games.

The three-time American Grand-prix Association Horse of the Year also did his share of winning with his subsequent riders, Leslie Burr Howard and Laura Chapot, the daughter of his breeder and trainer, Frank Chapot.

Gem Twist’s star quality continued during a retirement tour that began in 1997 with a dramatic farewell ceremony in New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Courtesy of his owner, Michael Golden, the equine senior citizen would make the trip with the Chapot family to Florida for the winter circuit every year, even after he’d finished his jumping career.

Gem Twist’s saga ended at his birthplace, the Chapot’s Chado Farms in Neshanic Station, N.J., when the gelding, surrounded by many of those who loved him, was put down after he could no longer stand.

In his heyday, “Gem” was a star whose flamboyant style of soaring over the jumps drew the admiration of professionals as well as the crowds.

Good Twist, Frank Chapot’s mount for many exciting victories when he was captain of the U.S. Equestrian Team, was Gem’s sire, a grandson of Bonne Nuit, whose jumping offspring were legendary.

In keeping with that tradition, Gem was a pure professional. “He’s someone you respect a lot. He’s had so much experience and is so competitive himself. He enjoys his job,” Laura Chapot said after she started riding the horse, who took her to the AGA Rookie of the Year title in 1995.

Gem, whose dam was a former race horse named Coldly Noble, was bought by Golden as a 3-year-old after he tried both him and his full brother. Golden’s trainer at the time, Arlene Orr Amory, advised her client to select Gem. It was a wise choice, since the brother never did anything of note.

“Gem was the first horse I ever bought,” Golden said. “Who knew this would happen? It was a one-in-a-million shot.”

Although the horse was called Icy Twist at the time, Golden renamed him, because he thought of the animal as “my gem.” It was not immediately obvious to everyone, however, that he was a jewel.

When the horse proved a little too tricky for Golden to handle, he sent him back to Frank Chapot for training. Eventually, he was being ridden under Frank’s direction by Greg Best, a teenager who was as unknown as his mount at the time.

In 1987, when Gem was 8, it dawned on Frank that Gem had great potential after he won a grand prix in Florida, and then took another the next weekend.

“I think I’ve got a very special horse here,” Frank told German dealer Paul Schocke-mohle, who promptly offered to buy Gem. Like all offers that came Golden’s way throughout Gem’s career, it was refused. The mount on which Golden had spent $12,000 was worth millions, but the Chapots and his owner couldn’t calculate the value of keeping the horse who took them on so many wonderful adventures.

In 1994, Gem’s greatest rival, Milton–another great gray, who had been ridden by John Whitaker of Great Britain–went into retirement. While some thought it was time for Gem to join the leisure ranks, too, he proved them wrong by continuing for another two years, scoring several major successes with Laura aboard. Among them was a victory in the AGA Championship, a class he also had taken twice before, with Best and Howard up.

“To come back at that age and do what he’s done with three different riders. I even get teary-eyed when I watch such a great athlete go,” said Anne Kursinski, who rode on the 1988 Olympic squad with Best.

Although Gem is gone, there’s been discussion about cloning him, as has been done recently with a number of equine champions in order to carry on their bloodlines. Frank cannot discuss the subject, because the outfit that would clone Gem doesn’t permit clients to comment.

Any clone would be used for breeding, rather than competition. As Golden pointed out, “Frank has a strong desire to maintain or recreate Gem’s line to see whether his athleticism, his heart and competitive nature can be reproduced.”

Discussing the cloning concept, Best noted, “It’s not Gem Twist for sure, but it’s something that keeps a bloodline alive. If you could go back, you would have left Gem a stallion, but with modern technology, we possibly have the [means] to do that. It would be a real shame not to do it.”    Nancy Jaffer


ANDRE’ PAQUIN
Andre’ Paquin, an international-level combined driver from Drummondville, Quebec, died on Nov. 4 after a battle with cancer. He was 62.

Mr. Paquin was a respected combined driving competitor who competed throughout Canada and the United States. He was difficult to beat on the marathon and very competitive in the cones and dressage. He was regularly Canada’s leading pair horse driver.

Mr. Paquin was a strong supporter of The Bromont International Driving Show in Quebec, and his ultimate goal was achieved last year when he represented his home country at the 2005 World Pair Driving Championships in Salzburg, Austria, where he placed 46th.

Last May, while he was fighting his illness, he finished first at Bromont. His final equestrian activity was in September when he judged a preliminary-level show in St.-Gervais, Que.

Mr. Paquin was an accountant and president/general manager of Verrier Paquin Herbert, one of the largest accounting firms in Quebec.

He is survived by his wife Yolande Allard; two daughters, Caroline and Julie; stepson Francois; and a grandson.    Staff


MONIQUE DANA
Monique “Mo” Dana, a prominent hunter/jumper trainer and patron of the arts, died on Nov. 9, at Mercy Hospice in Johnston, Iowa, after a courageous battle with cancer. She was 52.

Ms. Dana turned her passion for riding into a career with race and show horses. She trained horses for many well-known owners, including Jackie Onassis, Paul Mellon, Bertram and Diana Firestone and the Johnson family.

In the early 1990s, Ms. Dana trained grand prix rider Alison Firestone Robitaille, who was then a successful pony rider. Ms. Dana bought and trained horses for nearly 25 years, living in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Florida.

Ms. Dana was born in South Bend, Ind., and her family lived in several East Coast cities throughout her youth. She moved to Iowa in the mid-1990s and established herself in Des Moines as a community leader.

Throughout her tenure as the executive director of the Des Moines Arts Festival and subsequently the director of the Downtown Events Group, Ms. Dana received countless accolades from the local press, prominent business and community leaders, close friends, and casual acquaintances.

In her 10 years in Des Moines, she was named a local woman of influence, as well as America’s best arts festival director. Des Moines presented her with a key to the city; a local publication even suggested a postage stamp be designed in Ms. Dana’s likeness. But, perhaps the most fitting tribute was the title Ms. Dana received from an annual best-of-Des Moines list when she was dubbed Best Human Dynamo.

Several articles in The Des Moines Register paid tribute to Ms. Dana and her commitment to the city and the arts.

One article included: “She loved her job, the arts festival, Des Moines, and the state of Iowa. She promoted her adopted city and state tirelessly to whomever would listen or could help her get things done to improve the quality of life here. She was an avid Cyclone fan, especially football and women’s basketball. She was honored to attend practices for both sports, was named an honorary coach for the football team’s intra-squad games, and became a moving fixture on the sidelines for regular-season ISU football games.

“Mo laughed easily, and loudly, always spoke her mind without hesitation, and pushed for the things in which she believed–especially her family and friends. She was once described as possessing an ‘unlimited reservoir of energy and a don’t-take-no-for-an-answer spirit.’ It served you well in this life, Mo. Take it with you and give ’em hell. We’ll miss you.”

Ms. Dana is survived by her mother, Christiane Laroque Dana; her brother, Gregory Dana; sister-in-law, Joyce Dana; and five nieces. She was preceded in death by her father, Richard Dana.

Memorial contributions may be made to Mercy Cancer Center, c/o The Mercy Foundation, 1111 6th Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50314.    Staff


DAKTARY
Daktary, a well-known Grand Prix horse of the 1980s and ’90s, was euthanized on Oct. 18 due to the infirmities of old age. She was 27.

Standing 17.3 hands and weighing more than 1,700 pounds, Daktary, was an impressive mare to behold in the competition ring. The Hanoverian mare, by Darling, was trained to Grand Prix by Robert Dover and first competed at that level at age 8 with David DeWispelaere.

In 1988, DeWispelaere and Daktary won a Grand Prix class at Dressage at Devon (Pa.) and in the fall captured the Col. Bengt Ljungquist Memorial Championship at Grand Prix with the highest score at that level (64.27%) in the Championships’ history, at that time.

Mary Flood, of Wildfire Farm, began riding Daktary in 1989 and competed the mare for the next five years. The two were top Grand Prix competitors, winning classes at Devon and other notable shows, and were long-listed for the U.S. Equestrian Team in the early 1990s.

“She was absolutely wonderful to ride. Everybody noticed her and everybody knew her. She was this big, awesome dark bay horse with a huge tail; she really had a lot of presence. I was very lucky to be able to ride her,” said Flood.

Randy Dauphin, Marshall, Va., bought the mare in Texas as a 3-year-old when she’d been newly imported. Dauphin recalled the first time she saw Daktary. “I felt the ground shaking, and I saw this gigantic mare trotting toward us in the field. The owner said, ‘Oh, you don’t want her, she’ll never be any good.’ But she was the most magnificent horse I’d ever seen,” said Dauphin.

Daktary was from a family of prominent competitors, with her full brother Dynasty being Canadian Cindy Ishoy’s World Cup and Olympic partner.

When Dauphin bought the mare, she was bred to Adios III and produced Aries, who became an exceptional broodmare. After being bred to Waldgott, Aries gave birth to Waldaire in 1989, and the chestnut stallion went on to win more than 43 national year-end awards, and, at age 18, still competes at the Grand Prix level and stands at Watermark Farm (Pa.).

“Daktary was the most intelligent horse I’ve ever known in my life. She knew everything; she was very kind and very brilliant,” said Dauphin.    Staff