AQHA Pro Horseman Gene Parker leading Rula Class to his 2008 world championship in 3-year-old geldings.
Rula Cool ruled over a class of 17 competitors at the 2008 AQHA World Championship Show, giving this statuesque 3-year-old gelding a trifecta of gold trophies. Owned by Erin Sagers of Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, and trained by AQHA Professional Horseman Gene Parker of Orrum, North Carolina, Rula Cool now has earned world championships at the World Show, the Ford AQHYA World Championship Show and the Bayer Select World Championship Show. Gene tells us more:
Q: Let’s start at the beginning, tell me about his bloodlines. Gene: This horse is by Te Coolest out of a daughter of Kid Clu, and the Te Coolest stallion is a stallion we stand at the barn. We’ve had him for approximately 10 years. The Sagers that own this horse have had two previous world champions by this same stallion. It’s worked out real good for us. They’re good customers, and I’m pretty proud of that. This horse has won the (Ford) Youth World, he won the (Bayer) Select World (both in 2007), and now he has won the open World (Show). So that’s a pretty good record.
Q: How much does he look like his sire? Gene: He looks a lot like him. He looks like a Quarter Horse. He’s not a real tall, up-off-the-ground horse. He’s a real balanced horse, got a lot of pretty look to him. He’s real good-legged, great-minded, pretty-headed like his sire.
Q: I actually had some trouble photographing him in the arena because his coat is so shiny, it was giving me a glare. Gene: That particular horse, his sire is real tight-haired. Even in the wintertime, he never grows hair. He keeps a real tight haircoat. We like that about the foals by him, too. They’re always good-haired.
Q: What’s he like to show? Gene: Today, he was a little bit of a problem. He’s usually pretty quiet. For some reason, he moved around a little bit today, but normally, he’s real good. The amateur girl (Erin Sagers) that owns him could not show last week. She had him qualified, but she’s in college in pre-vet, in vet school, and they wouldn’t let her out of her exams to come show. So she missed showing him.
Q: Oh, he could have gotten another world championship? Gene: That’s bad luck to say that. But it’s a possibility.
Q: What’s next for this horse? Gene: We’ll show him next year. (Erin) will show him in amateur, re-qualify him in amateur. I won’t have to qualify him in open now, so that’s a plus. We’ll show him again at the (All American Quarter Horse) Congress and probably the World Show next year.
Fun Fact: Erin's family also owns The Coolest Te, another son of Te Coolest. He has earned five world championships in halter, five reserve world championships and two third places at the World Show.
WINNER STATS
Horse name: Rula Cool Pedigree: 2005 sorrel gelding by Te Coolest x Starstruck Clu by Kid Clu Exhibitor/Trainer: Gene Parker of Orrum, North Carolina Owner: Erin Sagers of Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina Breeder: Marcia Lambrecht, Whitesboro, Texas
Total class entries: 17 Purse: $9,467.30
World Champion Prizes: Custom-designed gold-tone trophy, Montana Silversmiths buckle, neck wreath, gold medallion, Cripple Creek-logo jacket, world champion patch, Tex Tan product, Justin Boots
