2004 Archived News
11/29/04 Website Updates: We have welcomed some new horses to Hillbilly Farms so we have added them to Our Horses, as well as updating the information on our other horses. There is also a new critique posted in the Jumping Clinic. And our trainers speak out on what it is like to teach Hillbilly Farms riders in the new Trainer Quotes in the Features section.
11/27/04 LWSC Banquet: Hillbilly Farms won a truckload of awards at the Lake Washington Saddle Club Banquet. One of our riders even won a sportsmanship award over the protests of another one of our riders, who loudly demanded a recount. We also won more than our fair share of the coveted Purple Horse Awards, given to people who were embarassed or injured by their horses during the year. And there was a lot of exciting bidding on our auction item which consisted of a 5-pack of Corona, a Hillbilly Farms T-shirt, and inclusion in our website.
11/17/04 Another Party at Cowgirls Inc. We are planning another trip to Cowgirls Inc this Tuesday, November 23rd at 6 p.m. We are celebrating the fact that we can go to a bar on a Tuesday night because none of us have real jobs to go to the next day. If you would like to catch the unemployment/under-employment bug that has been sweeping through Hillbilly Farms come join us. (Warning: Tuesday night is COUNTRY MUSIC NIGHT so don't complain about the music this time.)
10/4/04 Playday update: The LWSC Playday and Potluck, organized by Hillbilly Farms, was a success. The results and photos are posted on the playday website. Silky brought his colleague, Hedgy, to this exciting event. Here they are at the potluck enjoying cool, refreshing Coronas:
10/3/04 Our take on presidential politics: Here at Hillbilly Farms we don't usually get involved in politics. But Silky wanted everyone to know how excited he is about the prospect of his namesake, the Silky Pony, becoming vice-president. Unfortunately, Silky, though he is old enough, was not allowed to register to vote this year. So he needs YOU to cast your vote for the Silky Pony.
9/16/04 Hillbilly Farms' Irish Vacation: Read about our adventures foxhunting in Ireland in Hillbilly Farms' Irish Vacation in our Features section.
8/23/04 Foxhunting in Ireland article: If you can't wait for our full article on foxhunting in Ireland and you are a member of the Lake Washington Saddle Club, be sure to check out the most recent issue of the Saddler. The cover story is an abridged article about our adventures in Ireland, complete with glaring grammatical error in the title.
8/22/04 T-Shirt Sales: We have sold out of extra large Hillbilly Farms T-shirts (everyone must be spending too much time at the Country Buffet). We still have small, medium, and large sizes left.
8/11/04 Fun and games: Hillbilly Farms has signed up to organize the Lake Washington Saddle Club Gyhmkana ... Gymkahana ... Playday and Potluck on Sunday, September 26th. We are going to need people to give us ideas, we are going to need volunteers to help us organize and run the show, but most importantly, we need people to show up and participate.
7/22/04 LWSC July Fun Show Report: After Saturday's Jumper Fun Show, Dexter's new nickname is Big Money because when the pressure is on and the stakes are high he rises to the occasion. In the Team Jumper class he teamed up with another pony (ridden by a talented young rider who would probably rather not to be associated with Hillbilly Farms), to win the $50 purse for the first place team. He also teamed up with his best buddy, Boots, to win the $30 second place prize (Hillbilly Farms lifetime winnings: $154). Here Dexter and Boots plot their winning strategy:
Boots and Dexter continued to dominate the next day at the Hunter Fun Show. Against some very tough competition, including one former Olympic rider, Boots won champion in the 2'6" division and Dexter won reserve champion. Then Hillbilly Farms wrapped up the weekend by once again claiming last place in all of the flat classes.
7/12/04 Party in the Park Poker Ride: This poker ride was Silky's first competitive outing with Hillbilly Farms. Silky was so excited that he slept with his ear brace on all night so he would appear more friendly to the other horses (his ears have a tendency to lie back flat against his head if he forgets to wear his ear brace at night).
Then Silky spent all morning plotting his strategy and making plans to outwit and outrun the other horses. When the results were announced he was DEAD LAST. That is life with Hillbilly Farms, Silky.
7/11/04 LWSC June Fun Show Report: In the Team Jumper class at the LWSC Jumper Fun Show, the Hillbilly Farms Chicken Team won the $30 purse for second place. This brings Hillbilly Farms' lifetime winnings to $99 (we're almost into triple digits!).
In the LSWC Hunter Fun Show our riders were stymied by a tricky equitation course. The last jump on course looked like a flower-box from one side and a brick wall from the other side. Both of our riders rode right past the brick wall, looking for the flower-box they thought they were supposed to jump. Very tricky! Strangely, though, none of the other riders had any problem with this very difficult test. And we continued our erratic ways by once again winning first place and last place in all of our flat classes.
6/1/04 Horse Show Victories: Ever since we announced our trip to Cowgirls Inc. to celebrate our recent horse show victories people have been asking "Horse show victories? What has happened to Hillbilly Farms?" So we would like to take a moment to share the details of these victories to assure our loyal fans that we are still strictly adhering to our principles.
Our winning streak started at the LWSC Jumper Fun Show where one of our horses brought home a blue ribbon in Pre-Adult Jumpers. There were only two horses entered in this division, both from Hillbilly Farms. The division consisted of two jumper classes. In an impressive display of skill and precision, Hillbilly Farms managed to bring home a grand total of one ribbon in this division. The ensuing victory gallop was a sight to behold.
The next day at the LWSC Hunter Fun Show one of our horses won two of the flat classes. But fear not, loyal reader, for we had another horse in these flat classes who upheld the standard of perfection you have come to expect from Hillbilly Farms. This horse finished last in both of the flat classes.
Now on to the next weekend and the site of our final victory. A last minute decision to show at the LWSC Hunter "C" Show resulted in our not-quite-clean horse sweeping his division and winning champion. There was a heart-stopping moment when, after pinning our horse first in two classes, they announced that they had made a mistake (this is not the first time this has happend to Hillbilly Farms). But when they re-pinned the classes our horse was still on top.
This horse redeemed himself, though, the very next weekend at the Area VII Adult Riders Camp, by getting into a tent clearing brawl with another of our horses while out in the turnout paddock. Everyone at the camp was in the dinner tent quietly enjoying an informative lecture when we heard a huge ruckus from the nearby paddock. Everyone jumped up and ran to see what was going on, spilling wine and knocking over chairs in the process. The horses were finally separated and for the rest of the weekend we tried to pretend that it wasn't our horses involved in the fracas, but one of the horses involved is quite conspicuous, with his blonde hair and blue eyes.
5/29/04 Everyone is invited to our second Hillbilly Farms Party. In celebration of a number of recent horse show victories, Hillbilly Farms is once again heading to Cowgirls Inc. The big night will be Tuesday, June 8th, at 6 p.m. for country music night. Arriving at 6 p.m. will allow us to take advantage of cheaper food and drinks during happy hour (5 p.m.-7 p.m.) before the bull riding begins at 7 p.m. We hope you will join us for the celebration. Everyone is invited so bring your friends and watch them be humiliated by the mechanical bull.
5/6/04 Show Season Kick-off Party Report: The 1st Annual Hillbilly Farms Show Season Kick-off Party was a success. We ate, we drank, we rode the bull, we fell off the bull. In fact, the best part about mechanical bull riding is that EVERYONE falls off. We had so much fun that we are planning another trip to Cowgirls Inc. soon. We haven't come up with an occasion or a date yet so stay tuned for details. If you weren't able to come the first time you won't want to miss this opportunity.
And now we would like to introduce Hillbilly Farms' official photographer: Tim Poulsen of Poulsen Photography. Here is Tim trying to look confident before the bull starts bucking.
For more exciting photos from the party go to our Photo Gallery.
3/30/04 Everyone is invited to the Hillbilly Farms Show Season Kick-off Party on Thursday, April 15th, starting at 5 p.m. at Cowgirls Inc. [Let's just hope that their barmaids are better than their web developers.] Cowgirls Inc is a new bar in downtown Seattle that has a MECHANICAL BULL! Get your falls in now before ribbons and points are on the line. And, ladies, this bar is a meat market so don't forget to bring your tasers.
3/29/04 Updates to the website: Check out the new information on buying Hillbilly Farms T-shirts, our updated show schedule, and a new George Morris critique.
3/22/04 - Dinner and a Derby: After an uneventful hunt on Saturday, Hillbilly Farms headed to the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant, for dinner, which turned out to be quite an experience. When we left the restaurant four hours later we were still hungry, yet our wallets were considerably lighter for the experience. The menu was so complex that we weren't sure what we ordered and when our meager portions arrived we weren't sure which part of our meal we were eating. In the end we expended more calories than we consumed. Maybe Hillbilly Farms should stick to the good 'ole Country Buffet.
Sunday morning we arrived at the eventing derby, checked in, and went to unload the horses. Unfortunately a latch on the still-under-warranty trailer broke, trapping one of the horses in the trailer. A couple of horse show dads worked on the problem and eventually were able to free the horse, but not before his scheduled dressage time had passed. A new dressage time was arranged and the newly liberated horse performed a steady dressage test and a nearly clear jumping round and won the class. But then Hillbilly Farms got a taste of how fleeting glory can be when, 10 minutes later, it was announced that there had been a calculation error and someone else had actually won the class. The organizers graciously allowed our rider to keep the first place ribbon and prize (a now half-eaten 10-lb bag of carrots). Next our second horse, an Irish pony with his mane still dyed green from the St. Patrick's Day hunt the previous day, also performed a steady dressage test (are we losing our touch?) and a nearly clear jumping round, to finish second.
1/22/04 - Hillbilly Farms T-Shirts: Now is your chance to buy a Hillbilly Farms T-Shirt. Everyone is going to be wearing them this year...
If you are interested in buying a shirt email us for details. If you are not interested in buying a shirt go ahead and send us money anyway. Either way, you can keep this FREE George Morris paper doll as our gift to you (just print it out, cut along the edges, and dress it up in all the latest fashions).
1/21/04 - Updates to the website: Check out the words to Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be Hillbillies and the new critique in the jumping clinic
1/20/04 - Hillbilly Farms Irish Vacation: Hillbilly Farms is going to Ireland in February to do some foxhunting. We hear that hunting in Ireland is a great quick fix for riders who jump ahead. Nothing is planned out yet so if anyone has any suggestions send us an email. In honor of our trip here is our lame attempt at a limerick (someone doesn't know how to count syllables):
Watch out Ireland 'cause here we come.
Hillbilly Farms is ready for some fun.
We arrive in February
With plans to hunt our quary
Foxes, hares, and anything else that will run.