Trivia Archive 3

Ritz...Unfortunately I didn't know Steve Hill well. I had met him and spoken with him about Hill's Perfection and of course knew his reputation as a top knotch horse trainer; but I never got to know him on a personal level. Everyone called Hill's Perfection; "Hill" so I took that as my screen name. Hill's Perfection's was named after Steve Hill; but his name could never be legally or officially changed because before he was gelded he had sired four foals. His registered name was Reyclif's Mid-Merry; but he was always shown as Hill's Perfection...except once. I remember we went to a show somewhere outside of Tn...maybe in Tx or possibly Baton Rouge and they made us enter him under his registered name. I remember everyone asking "Who???" after the announcer called out our name. :scratch:

You know me pretty well Smitty.Actually thoughI started out as a drag racer growing up and then got into Nascar after I moved to Fl . about 20 yrs. ago.I'm not a big fan of the CHASE but it is what it is.I used to be a Waltrip fan and now I'm a Dale Jr. fan.I think I remember your Dad being involved with Nascar Hill.I talked to Darrell a couple of times at shows when he had that colt.Your right Curb he was pretty sad under saddle.

smitty wrote:

Is his name Johnny?

Yes it is.

Johnny Brown. He's been discussed on here before in length. David Mason says he's THE best horseman most people have never heard of and one of the best horsemen ever. I think Everett knows him as well. Highly respected by those that know. That's him on the Talk Of The Town page on the Walker's West site. He's in the shot where Talk is drinking a shot of Jack Daniels.

http://www.walkerswest.com/Champs/TheTalkOfTheTown.htm

Well, I see you've already been there Ritz! I should also mention I love the area you live in. I was in your town just last fall. I'm very familiar with all of the Big South Fork and Dale Hollow area. I'm originally from Somerset, Ky. I have literally tromped all over that neck of the woods. Still go down that way at least twice a year.

I'd love to hear your story about Eb's Black Diamond sometime.

The Chat has an interesting thread right now about the BEST horses to ever enter the big oval. I agree with most of the comments, although a few of these folks are obviously newbies. Everybody's got an opinion, but there is one post that I particularly agree with by someone named HUGGY BEAR. I don't know who Huggy Bear is, but he or she damn sure knows a good hoss when they see one. Here's Huggy Bear's post:

"The best one's I've seen since about 1975, in no particular order: Reve's Little Boy, The Super Stock (could flat-walk is a$$ off), The Pusher, The Pushover (could flat-walk his a$$ off), Pride's Secret Threat, Ebony's Threat, Ebony's Sun Lady, Ebony's Go Boy's Dream (when she won the 15.2 mare class in 1986 with Jimmy, maybe the best single performance I've ever seen), My Magic Marker (the night he did a u-turn on the eastside and they tied Skillsaw, he was freaky scary good, and as Ronnie Spears told me, "he could have done a backflip and I still would have tied him"), Fire N Ice any time he showed, The Specialist almost any time he showed, Delight's Summer Girl (most underrated mare of all time), Out On Parole, Powered By Generator the night he won the four-year-old stud class with the late Charlie Weddington (a smooth, long-walking mo-fo), JFK as a two-year-old (could damn-near walk on water), Ritz any year except the year he won the Big Stake, Mark of Carbon on Championship night in 1978 (perfect), and Mountain Man in the preliminary in 1980 (the most powerful performance by an equine, ever.)"



Huggy Bear and I must have been born under the same sign!

Those were all good'uns for sure.I think Mt. Man and Moonglow Jr. were 2 of the most powerful horses I've ever seen.

Smitty, I actually live in Greeneville right now,. I have been here for 3+ years working for a company.

I am in the process of trying to buy a farm in Shelbyville and build some broiler houses for Tyson,


My mothers side of the family was from the Big South Fork Area. I know it very well. Especially the area on the North side of the River. We call it "No Business". I spent many a weekend camped in there deer hunting before there were good roads.

Ritz,

If the area you call "No Business" is adjacent to No Business Creek, then I know exactly where it is.....it's right on the KY/TN border and very close to a trout stream called Rock Creek, where I often fish & camp. Not too awful far from Pickett State Park in Fentress Co. I don't hunt, but my Dad used to grouse hunt all over the BSF before the Govt even named it. I hope to do some trail riding down there one day. I also want to take my kayak down there and do a 2-day float fishing trip from Station Camp to Blue Heron. I reckon I better get on the ball and do some of that stuff before I get too darn old and while I still have some guts.

I'll probably be down that way in October.

Ritz...I was around the poultry business most of my life; my family was in the business (Holly Farms Poultry; now Tyson Foods); my major in college was Poultry Science. I had a broiler farm (4 houses w/ a capacity of 138000) and raised broilers for 9 years. I loved the work but it was hard work; long hours; and very confining. You can't leave your chickens and when they're older; I was even afraid to leave the farm for fear of something happening (ex:power going off and sprinklers not working or any and many number of things that can happen)..it only takes a few minutes of heat and no ventilation to lose a heck of a lot of chickens!! When they are younger it is not quite that bad though. Of course; I bet you know all this and probably even work in broilers now. You have no idea how many times I wished I had not sold my farm because I did love farming and I loved raising chickens! I hope things work out for you...it will be a great career move on your part!!

Hill wrote:

Ritz...I was around the poultry business most of my life; my family was in the business (Holly Farms Poultry; now Tyson Foods); my major in college was Poultry Science. I had a broiler farm (4 houses w/ a capacity of 138000) and raised broilers for 9 years. I loved the work but it was hard work; long hours; and very confining. You can't leave your chickens and when they're older; I was even afraid to leave the farm for fear of something happening (ex:power going off and sprinklers not working or any and many number of things that can happen)..it only takes a few minutes of heat and no ventilation to lose a heck of a lot of chickens!! When they are younger it is not quite that bad though. Of course; I bet you know all this and probably even work in broilers now. You have no idea how many times I wished I had not sold my farm because I did love farming and I loved raising chickens! I hope things work out for you...it will be a great career move on your part!!

Hill, I supervise over 150 houses for a broiler Company in East Tennessee. We raised broilers when I was a kid and I worked for another company specializing in breeding stock for Broiler companies for several years before going into business on my own as a hunting guide(wild boar hunting with knives)....When I got my fill of that I come back to chickens and took the job I currently have.

Broiler houses have come a long ways. Houses are now ventilated with cool cells (basically air conditioning) and are computerized. I can run houses and change settings from my cell phone or computer if I need to. In 95+ degree weather I can get houses to run 75 degrees with grown birds in them. We are growing birds that weigh 5.40 lbs at 43 days of age now.

smitty wrote:

Ritz,

If the area you call "No Business" is adjacent to No Business Creek, then I know exactly where it is.....it's right on the KY/TN border and very close to a trout stream called Rock Creek, where I often fish & camp. Not too awful far from Pickett State Park in Fentress Co. I don't hunt, but my Dad used to grouse hunt all over the BSF before the Govt even named it. I hope to do some trail riding down there one day. I also want to take my kayak down there and do a 2-day float fishing trip from Station Camp to Blue Heron. I reckon I better get on the ball and do some of that stuff before I get too darn old and while I still have some guts.

I'll probably be down that way in October.

That's the area. My dad knows every square inch of it. When you are up that way let me know.

Ritz...Wow!! I really wish I had not sold the farm now!! My houses were old then...they were actually an old test farm from the '60s and when I first took it over there was one house that I had to feed BY HAND!! Yes in hanging feeders!! Each house had a different type feeder and waterer (one was the old open trough with auger...yuck!)..it was a freakin' mess in the beginning and the hardest physical labor I have ever done. Some days I would be in those houses 18 hours a day...imagine feeding grown chickens in hanging feeders!!! and imagine how TERRIBLE the cost was!! We modernized all the houses...the hanging feeders were the first to go. Those old houses would have to be torn down and totally replaced to be competitive in today's market. Things sure have come a long way!

Hill wrote:

Ritz...Wow!! I really wish I had not sold the farm now!! My houses were old then...they were actually an old test farm from the '60s and when I first took it over there was one house that I had to feed BY HAND!! Yes in hanging feeders!! Each house had a different type feeder and waterer (one was the old open trough with auger...yuck!)..it was a freakin' mess in the beginning and the hardest physical labor I have ever done. Some days I would be in those houses 18 hours a day...imagine feeding grown chickens in hanging feeders!!! and imagine how TERRIBLE the cost was!! We modernized all the houses...the hanging feeders were the first to go. Those old houses would have to be torn down and totally replaced to be competitive in today's market. Things sure have come a long way!

I have several houses that are 660 feet long and hold 50,000+ chickens in each house.

Most are 500 X 54 and 500 X42 No curtains either. All computer controlled and ventilated by a method called "Tunnel ventilation".

RITZ........tell us why you chose RITZ-A-ROO as your name here, if you don't mind.

smitty wrote:

Anyhow,

RITZ........tell us why you chose RITZ-A-ROO as your name here, if you don't mind.

That is the name of my sons 9 year old gelding he shows in the 11 and under classes.

Below is a link to a video of him back in the early spring when he was first learning to ride....

Micah on "Ritz-A-Roo"

Ritz-A-Roo, nice gelding and looks like your son is doing a good job!!

Smitty..here he is on him just a few weeks ago...you can see how far he has come this summer on him.

Embed this for me....

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Ritz,

Only videos from Youtube and Dailymotion can be embedded on this board. Instead of the "embed" code, you use the "link" code (and embedding must not be disabled under the embed code) Sounds complicated, but it's really not. You just copy the link code and then click on the green filmstrip icon, then paste the code in the pop-up box.

I can't use the code you just posted. (it appears to be the embed code)


confused? So am I.........

hmmmmm.........lets see if this is the right one....

I think that's the right one, but let me know if it's not. It appears both the young rider and horse are coming along nicely! Brings back memories of when I first started showing. Some very special times.

Note: Just so I didn't confuse anything, I moved some of the conversation from Photos & Mem. to here, as this thread is more suitable. I also deleted some of my own unessential posts.

Ritz,

I think I have been in Greeneville before, or pretty close to it. Me and a buddy went down to Newport, TN and did some stream fishing in that area back in the 90s. We fished the Pigeon and the French Broad. We were looking for some public access to the Nolichucky when I drove up your way, but never did find any. I remember the scenery was beautiful; wide, green valleys with tall mountains in the distance. I need to explore that area further someday.

Interesting about the wild boar hunting with knives. I always heard they were in the Big South Fork, but I've never seen any. There's some black bear in there now, but I haven't seen any of those yet either. Still, when I camp there I hang my food up in a tree at night.

WoooHOOO for Micah! Love watching our youngsters!

Looks like Micah's got the fever, and he's becoming quite the jockey. Ritz-A Roo, you need to show 'em some of your monster kills.