Now, to be clear, none of my horses have any brands, but that doesn't matter. A "brand" inspection still needs to happen. There are two parts to the inspection. One is "proof of ownership". According the the inspector, a bill of sale is only legally binding in a court of law for 10 days. After that, you must have proof of ownership from the state brand inspector. The second part of the inspection involves "permission to cross state lines." There are two options available; a temporary permit or a lifetime permit. The temporary permit is only good for a brief time--I think about 3 days. I opted to get the lifetime permit on all the horses even though it is more costly upfront. I didn't want the hassle of having to call up the inspector every time when we wanted to make a quick weekend trip to Yellowstone or the Tetons.
Piper and Valentine had their inspections taken care of a long time ago, but I needed to get the other four that I acquired in the past year done. Now we're all legal!
Saturday was the long delayed spring clean-out of the animal pens. Stable Boy rented a skidsteer and a dump trailer (I don't know how we'd survive without A-1 Rental) and we spent the day scraping manure and adjusting fencing. Also, since we finally had a non-windy day where I wasn't tied up with other things, I was able to spray weeds in all the pastures.
Yesterday we hosted the local dairy cow 4-H group at West View Acres. It was a dual purpose visit. First, their leader is trying to expose the kids to the various agricultural businesses in the area. Second, this is the group that organizes and sets up all the pens for the "petting zoo" at the Madison County Fair. I've provided horses for the "zoo" the last couple years. The club wanted to meet all my horses and get photos so that they could make informational posters for the fair.
I believe they will have space for 2-3 of my horses at the fair this year. I'm thinking I'll let the club members choose which ones I should bring. That should be fun.