Thought you all would find this of interest…
An important reminder to carry your brand papers with you whenever you haul your horse(s), or have the papers with you in a friends trailer.
Just last week I was stopped on the Red Feather Lakes Road by a brand inspector. I was just a half mile from my house. His name was Lyle Horn and very nice and informative. I had the permanent brand paper for my horse, but my neighbor who had just finished a ride with me and whose horse was in my trailer, did not have them with her—her brand papers were at her house in a file. Lyle said he is flexible and followed us to her house so she could produce her papers.
I asked questions about consequences: So if you do not have the papers, you get a ticket which means a mandatory court appearance, plus a fine between $200 and $1,000. I asked who decides the amount of the fine, he said the judge, and if a person brings the correct papers to court the judge will probably just charge you the court costs plus $130. Yikes.
He said the regular brand costs $18 and is good for hauling 75 miles from your horse’s home. A permanent brand costs $39 and is good anywhere in Colorado. Lyle said the costs are going up in January— probably doubling. So if you are considering getting a permanent brand—do it before then. He also said they are going to be more active in the future (i.e. stopping more people hauling stock).
Kathy
NCBCH – Northern Colorado Back Country Horsemen
Additional information can be found on this .pdf from the State of Colorado State Board of Stock Inspection Comissioners HorseBrandLaw, or http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/Adams/sa/dobi.htm
For more information on the Division of Brand Inspection, visit www.colorado.gov/ag/brands.
To contact the Boulder area brand inspector Colby Stone call 720 296-4044.
A permanent card for the life of your ownership of the horse is currently $43.00.