As the announcer called One Perfect Clu’s number as a world champion in amateur weanling geldings, Terry Wilkerson of Raleigh, North Carolina, had to blink back tears.

“It kind of welled me up when we won,” Wilkerson said. “When we bought him from Gene and Bobbie (Parker), we thought he was really special.”

“Baby Clu” as Wilkerson calls him, stood quietly throughout the class and looked like a seasoned show horse instead of a weanling.

“He’s one of those kind that amateurs dream to have because he’s just so easy to show, easy to be around,” Wilkerson said.

“We flew all over the country this year looking for a baby colt or a baby gelding,” Wilkerson said. “This colt was about an hour and a half from us, so it was pretty cool that we found him that close by. We just kept going and looking at a lot of horses and kept coming back to him and saying, ‘You know, he’s the best one.’” 

"He is absolutely one of the coolest horses I have ever owned," Terry Wilkerson said of One Perfect Clu, his weanling gelding.

Wilkerson grew up showing in showmanship, pleasure and horsemanship, and after he graduated from college in 1989, began showing halter horses.

“It’s really cool to see how much potential you can get out of one of these horses,” he said. “We love to look at pretty horses and to walk around them and critique them and just see how good they can be.”

Even though he won the world championship, Wilkerson thought he could have taken his performance up a notch.

“I told Gene and Bobbie when I came out I wish I’d done a better job showing him. He was really quiet. I would have liked to get a little more show out of him.”

Baby Clu came in first under all four judges in the open and the amateur weanling geldings at the All American Quarter Horse Congress this year.

“Gene’s always said he looked like what a Quarter Horse is supposed to look like,” Wilkerson said. “Very structurally correct, a lot of muscle, and absolutely what we think a Quarter Horse is supposed to look like anyway.”

“He’s just like a buddy,” Wilkerson explained. “It may be quirky, but I talk to him a lot. I mean, we’re amateurs and we do this to have fun. You spend a lot of money and a lot of time and effort to get to this point, and when you get here you sure want to enjoy it because it doesn’t last very long.”

WINNER STATS Horse name: One Perfect Clu Pedigree: One Silent Clu x MBJ Raquel by Tardee Impressive Owner/Exhibitor: Terry Edwin Wilkerson, Raleigh, North Carolina Trainer: Gene Parker, Orrum, North Carolina Breeder: Gerald Ray McCloskey, Evergreen, North Carolina Total Class Entries: 15 Purse: $11,510 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.