Unlike Gem, who was a gelding, keeping Gemini a stallion means he will be able to propagate his line.Īsked about the decision to go for cloning, which is expensive and still fairly new to the horse sport world, Chapot said, "It was something I could give to my daughter." ON THE RAIL Gemini may be the key to realizing that ambition. standard in international jumper competition after World War II.īoth Chapot and his wife, Mary, rode in the Olympics, and they would like to see their daughter do the same. He noted that the high-jumping Bonne Nuits played a prominent role in the early history of the team, which replaced the cavalry in bearing the U.S. Frank Chapot successfully campaigned Good Twist during his years with the U.S. The Chapots want to breed Gemini to regenerate the famous Bonne Nuit line of jumpers that included Gem's sire, Good Twist. "This guy was too quick for him," his wife pointed out proudly.Įric Palmer, founder of French cloning firm Cryozootech, approached the Chapots about cloning Gem before the horse's death in 2006, and came to New Jersey to take a tissue plug used in the process. "Every time he came close to him, he had a good move," bragged Chapot. "That's a very nice sign," contended Chapot, who then described the way Gemini wouldn't let himself be cornered by a pasturemate. Yet there are indications that Gemini might be something special.Ĭhapot points out that after being on a van from Texas for 36 hours, Gemini "had a little buck in him" when he first walked into the ring. There's a long time to go before it will be possible to see if Gemini's potential can live up to the two Olympic silver medals Gem earned with rider Greg Best, or the three American Grand Prix Association Championships he took with Best, Leslie Howard and Chapot's daughter, Laura. Although he cleared the fence, the colt tumbled to the ground, obviously new to this kind of thing despite his genetic inheritance, then bounced back up with no harm done, apparently.Īsked if he could see a link to Gem in Gemini, Chapot said, "He's got something." In the show jumping world, however, it's best not to count your medals before they're won. But no one could have moved fast enough to stop Gemini's big escape. When the colt is out in the field, the doting Chapot sits in a chair close by and keeps an eye on him in case there's trouble.
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