AGED GELDINGS

THE COOLEST TE IS JUST LIKE FINE WINE.

BY MEGAN ALPERS, JOURNAL INTERN

Gene Parker said it best: The Coolest Te has gotten better with age.

First, he qualified for the World Show in halter as a yearling and 2-year-old. When he was 3, he came in third in amateur and open. Last year, he was reserve. Now, The Coolest Te has finally matured into a world champion aged gelding.

This has been The Coolest Te’s year.

“It started at the Youth Finals,” Parker explained. “He was a world champion aged gelding this year, went to the Congress, he was grand champion open gelding and then grand champion youth gelding and then we came out here and won. It’s great.” 

This year The Coolest Te has won at the Youth World, Congress and now the World Show. The 7-year-old is owned by Laurie Sagers of Lumberton, North Carolina, and shown by Gene Parker.

Seventeen-year-old Erin Sagers showed The Coolest Te to his world championship at the Youth World. She and her mother, Laurie Sagers, adore the 1998 sorrel gelding.

“He’s really fun to be around. He’s got a really great personality,” Laurie said after the Congress. “He is easy to show, he likes to be out in the show ring. He likes knowing that there are a lot of people looking at him, and he really likes putting his ears up.”

Parker, who has shown The Coolest Te since he was 2 years old, keeps the horse fit by ponying him and giving him turn-out time away from the stall. He said The Coolest Te’s best attributes are his shape and correctness.

“This horse, he’s real balanced,” he said. “He’s got a lot of muscle. He’s got a real pretty head for a gelding. A lot of geldings are not your better-headed horses.”

The Sagers love The Coolest Te’s kind disposition so much that they have been turning down offers from prospective buyers.

“We’ve got several people that are wanting to buy the horse, but the owners like him a lot,” Parker said. “They might just make a lawn ornament out of him, who knows.”

Erin still has another year of eligibility to show at the Youth World, and after her win this year said she would show The Coolest Te as long as she could.

“He’s great to be around,” Parker said. “He’s the kind that you go look at first in the morning. You like to see him first.”

WINNER STATS Horse name: The Coolest Te Pedigree: Te Coolest x Wild Roses by Terdy Too Owner: Laurie Sagers, Lumberton, North Carolina Breeder: Tallent and Mandic Ranch Inc., Huntington Beach, California Trainer: Gene Parker, Orrum, North Carolina Exhibitor: Gene Parker, Orrum, North Carolina Total Class Entries: 24 Purse: $10,488 World Champion Prizes: Gold trophy, Montana Silversmiths buckle, Cripple Creek jacket, Tex Tan silver halter and lead, Justin ostrich Tekno Crepe boots, Professional's Choice products, Nutrena feed, neck ribbon