Re: RC: California Horse Owners: Please Read.

[Nat & Richard <trailride@foothill.net>]

> 5.00    PROCEDURES FOR TRACKING AND IDENTIFYING CERTIFIED FORAGE
> 
> a.  A certificate of inspection shall be completed for each field and 
> crop cutting inspected.  The certificate shall document that all 
> conditions of these rules have been met, and shall contain 
> the growers name, address, commodity, and estimated amount by number
> of bales and weight. 

Connie,

How is this supposed to work with "forage" that is brought into CA from,
say, Nevada?  Does CA get to send its inspectors out to other states to
certify their crops, field by field?  Or do we count on a reciprocal
system, where CA can accept a NV certification?  

It seems to me that the scope of this legislation will result in serious
difficulties when/if placed in practice.

But I have another, perhaps more cogent, concern:  

There are probably 20 to 50 times more horses used for arena and other
non-trail purposes than in our sport of Endurance (and other consistent
riders of public lands.)  The administrative costs proposed in this
legislation will drive up the cost of "certified" hay.  The cost of
creating a new category of hay will not be spread across the entire
hay-consumption market. Instead, the demand for certified hay will
inevitably be small -- 20 to 50 times smaller than the overall market.  

Feed dealers will have a difficult time obtaining and stocking *any*
certified hay, much less a selection.  Those of us who wish to (or are
forced to) comply with weed-free regs in order to access our local
trails will have have to pay enough to make the certified hay market
viable.  

Given the prospect of doubling one's feed bill in order to have a
weed-free horse that can use the trails on public lands, most of us will
simply stop using the public lands.  The market for certified hay will
collapse (if indeed it ever does get off the ground) and then, even
those who were willing to pay the price will be left with no choice but
to abandon their favorite trails.  For me, that means no Tevis Ride, no
trips to Yosemite or Yellowstone, and the list goes on.

Here's the point:  This whole program, as presented, is fundamentally
unworkable for market related reasons.  In order to work at all, THE
CERTIFICATION PROCESS MUST APPLY TO ALL HAY sold in the state and the
program must be MANDATORY, not voluntary.  Yet I seriously doubt that
that approach would ever make it into the law/regulations.  Why would
anyone besides endurance/trail riders support such a move?

So the best thing is to force the folks who are calling for weed-free
forage to just come out in favor of banning horses from public lands.  I
think we can fight that battle.  And win.

Let's skip the death of a thousand strokes.

Richard Goodwin

-- 
Natalie's Barn & Breakfast    http://www.natbarn.com    1-877-NATBARN