story by BreAnne Benson
No matter if she was in a crowded public area or a wide-open hay field on their ranch in McKinnon, Wyoming, Kashlee Hill was practicing her barrel pattern with water bottles and anything her imagination could make work. The nine-year-old cowgirl has since upgraded from those water bottles to real barrels on some of the biggest stages and is proving to be an all-around hand, competing in barrels, poles, goat tying, and breakaway roping. For her, KK Productions has been a place to grow as a rider and a competitor. “It’s a great opportunity to step up and do your best against the best,” she said.
Kashlee is the daughter of Kelsea and Monte Hill, she’s also a big sister to her five-year-old brother Haizen. Her parents rope together, and her mom goes to jackpots with her whenever they’re not ranching. When Kash was younger, she caught the rodeo bug from her cousins Cori and Shaylee Terry. “When I was little, I liked watching them so I could do it when I grow up,” she said. They lived right up the road and when she was only two years old, she was in the arena trying to tie goats with the girls. She spent as much time as she could on a horse, from riding in the chest carrier with her mom, being ponied behind the others while they moved cows to eventually riding on her own. Her first horse’s name was “Sherwood” because he came from NFR team roper, Matt Sherwood’s family. He was her dad’s head horse and “one of those horses that was so calm and mellow, he would do anything that you asked,” said Kelsea. “All we had was ranch or team roping horses, she trained them to do barrels and poles with,” she added. Kash now has a team of three horses that she loves; Dazzle, Fancy and Hollywood. Hollywood is the one that kicked off her barrel career, Dazzle is a spitfire that does barrels and poles and Fancy, her all-around horse, is the one that qualified her in barrels to the KK finals in Las Vegas. She also made it in poles, however, barrels is her favorite event.
Last year was Kash’s first time qualifying for the KK finals. She placed fifth in the jr. barrels average and qualified for poles. Her favorite part was attending the back-number ceremony, “you get to see everyone, who you’re competing against, and how much you’re going to have to get on you’re a game.” Her mother has enjoyed their time so far in the association because, “it’s a great level for kids to see If they want to pursue, they do a great job of making it like a mini NFR,” she said. Her ambitious goals to qualify for the NFR one day in both barrels and breakaway, on horses she’s trained, are inspired by one of her role-models, Jordan Briggs. “At the NFR she had great runs, she has her values, and she never gives up.” Her more immediate goals include finishing in the top five in each of her events this year. Her pregame includes lots of dance parties and positive affirmations. Her mom taught her to envision her runs, pray, talk to her horses before each run, and the value of using her manners when she goes to races. It’s one of Kashlee’s favorite memories with KK productions, “you have to use your manners, I like that part,” she said, “they’re truly supporters,” she said.
