My girlfriends and I are heading west in the fall of 09.  We are from Michigan and have never ridden the western part of the US.  We are contemplating Bryce Canyon and the only reason I have is: seen some pretty pictures....is that a good enough reason? We camp and trail ride with our horses a lot from April-October due to weather restraints in Michigan.  We need information from all of you on this forum who may have some suggestions for us such as.

1.  Where to stay if wanting to ride Bryce Canyon. 2. Anyone that lives in that area a hired guide that would be willing to take us out a day or two for hire, we have our own horses. 3. What road from Michigan to Utah is the least mountainous if any. 4. Are there areas to ride even better than Bryce Canyon.5.  We don't want trails that if the horse mis-steps a foot we are off the cliff.  We want to experience all the beauty we can in one week.  Any suggestions from someone who has experienced the Utah trails and can offer some suggestions for us.  Thanks in advance debbie

Do a search for Painted Horses post.  He has some georgeous photos.  I get so jealous!!

Here is one with pictures.

http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/forum/thread-view.asp?threadid=10734

I am from MI., take me with you!.....

1.  Where to stay if wanting to ride Bryce Canyon.  Bryce Canyon, The GrandStaircase Escalantee and Zions National park would all be Great places to ride in October.  Bryce and Zions both get several million visitors a year. Most from foreign lands. So expect people to hang around young and try to take your picture.  I seriously believe our pictures are on more coffee tables in europe than my wife has at home.  You may not see another person in the Grand Staircase.  Near Bryce you can stay at Ruby's Inn ( google Ruby's Inn for more details) they have corrals and charge about $10 per night, you bring your feed. And it needs to be Certified Weed Free.

2. Anyone that lives in that area a hired guide that would be willing to take us out a day or two for hire, we have our own horses.  You won't need a guide for the trail in Bryce Canyon, Red Mountain, and probably not for Losee or Castro Canyons. They are easy to follow trails. The Grand Staircase is very big and you can get lost out there. Get a good map and pay attention to where you ride and you should be fine.  If you are a blonde type of personallity, hire a guide for any rides in that area.

3. What road from Michigan to Utah is the least mountainous if any. Probably the fastest and easiest drive will be I-80 west to Salt Lake and I-15 South to Southern Utah

4. Are there areas to ride even better than Bryce Canyon. I love to ride in the Bryce area each spring. I tolerate the crowds for a weekend.  And You should NOTavoid this if it's your Once in a lifetime trip.  The ride through Hops Valley and into Kolob Arch in Zions is great.  We start getting snow occassionaly in September and October at the higher elevations. I could give you some suggestions of Great rides, but if winter arrives early, you may want to avoid them, just put them on a Maybe list and see what the weather is the week you arrive.  Of course southern Utah will be warmer and drier than Northern Utah.

5.  We don't want trails that if the horse mis-steps a foot we are off the cliff.  No problem

You can ride the trails of Bryce Canyon

And load up and drive  One  and 1/2 hours and be in some stunning National Forest

Does Michigan have "brand inspection" papers or cards?

I don't plan to go out west again because of all the hassle of all kinds of papers, inspections, health certificates listing every state you are going thru, hay and who knows what kind of local laws concerning pulling horse trailers.  And I do understand not wanting weeds from other areas but that hay shore fetched a pretty premium;  seemed a lil like gouging to me.....but what do I know, as I am just a hick from the sticks. 

Might want to put protective footwear on your horses......I wish we had put a second layer of mats in the trailer.  Good luck with your trip;  that is one heck of a long haul.

Southern Utah is mostly Sand stone and shale.  I ride in Bryce canyon each spring barefoot.  You don't need borium. Keg shoes wil be fine if you need shoes, and I've never in my life used any pads.

If you don't want to find and purchase Certified Hay here in Utah. Start your horses on Hay pellets. Most pellets are certified as the process of making the pellet destroys any seeds. Certified hay around here usually sells for $2.00 maybe $3.00 more per bale than non-certified. And it's ALMOST ALLWAYS Alfalfa. Very little certified grass. Some of the parks, like Yellowstone will not allow you to take ANY feed into the park, since they don't want ANY seeds  ( weed or grass) to be spread out. But you can take pellets.

Most states will consider your coggins valid for 6 months. A few for 1 year. Each state has different travel laws. You will need to get a Travel Permit that is dated with in 30 days of your trip.  It will have to list your destination and the states you pass through.  They will want to see the travel permit and Coggins to enter any of the National Parks and at the State Port of entry.  You should carry proof of ownership for your horses. Here in Utah either your breed registration or brand inspection will suffice for ownership.  Some states will want you to meet their brand inspector and have him inspect your horses as you enter the state. I've seen discussions on website about Wyoming requiring folks entering from the Dakotas to do this.  I've never had a problem crossing from Utah to Wyoming. I just show the Coggins, Travel Permit and my Utah Brand Inspection and they shoo me on my way.

Driving out from Michigan will take more than one day. You will need to find some places to spend the night while in route. I stayed at the Fairgrounds in Laramie Wyoming one night. It was like $10 a horse. I turned them out in the arena for hour to run and stretch, I hosed them down in the wash racks ( it was 90*) and put them in some of the livestock corrals. ( where they keep the cattle during rodeos and auctions. These corrals were larger than the box stalls.  I see Lots of Cowboys staying at the Legacy Center in Farmington Utah, The Spanish Fork Arena in Spanish Fork during the summer.  They set up a base camp here and then travel to rodeos in Boise, ID,  Evanston & Cheyenne Wyoming, Reno Nev and of course all the Utah rodeos. They may stay 2-3 weeks before heading back home.  You can also find folks who offer Horse Motels.  private farms that allow you stay the night and offer you a corral.

Dear Painted Horse-thank you so much for all of your help.  I am having a get together with the gals going on the trip and have printed your messages out for all to read.  I went on mapquest and typed in fairgrounds for each state on our journey out and was surprised at how many there were along the way.  I also have the book US stabling guide. We will be coming in September sometime and will take our time getting there so as to not put too much stress on our horses.  Thanks again you have given us some great information.  Debbie

As it gets closer I will e-mail you and get your phone number in case we need some advice once we get out there if you don't mind.

You can find Utah's rules here:

http://www.utahhorsecouncil.com/HorseTransport.html

And I know Wyoming honors Utah's Brand Inspections and vice versa.

Since your state does not offer a brand inspection. I would suggest the Breed registration papers ( in your name) Most of the newer registration papers have pictures of the horses laminated to the back of the paper ( at least the breeds I'm playing with do).  I have found that most of the law enforcement that will stop you while driving through the state don't get too worried as long as you have something that shows ownership.  A piece of paper with a hand written bill of sale note doesn't cut it here. It needs to be an official breed registration, Brand inspection issued by a state, or a bill of sale from a ligitmate auction house.

Based upon the thousands of horses I see coming and going through Utah each year. It can't be too terrible of deal to put together.

2565.4 miles from our house to Ruby's. 

Red Rock is a guide service that provides horses and guides. I know you can hire them to guide you on the same trails that they take their clients on.

I don't know if they will allow you to mix your horses with theirs.  Guides get a little worried about unknown horses mixing with their animals.

Travel papers are made up of three documents.  Proof of ownership, Negative Coggins, and current travel permit.

You need some proof of ownership.   I believe Utah's rules state they will recognize the following, Breed Registration, Brand Inspections or receipt from a recognized Auction as the three acceptable proofs of ownership.

A grade won't have a breed registration, and a horse given to you won't have a receipt from an official business, just an individual which doesn't count. All you are doing is proving that you own the horse in your trailer.  That you didn't stop by a gate and load in a friendly horse out of some field.

Here in Utah, I would call my local Brand Inspector and have him come and issue a Brand Inspection. They offer a 1 year for $10 or a Life time for $20. They take the horses picture, note any distinguishing markings, sex, height, approximate weight.  The state issue a laminated card that comes in the mail 4-5 weeks later. I assume that in the interm they check the data base of stolen horse. That doesn't help coming in from out of state, but maybe your own state has some type of simmilar program.

I would check with your local states department of agriculture and see what they offer for ownership documentation. A lot of states back east don't have brand inspection. If nothing from the state, I'd bring anything your vet would give you. Coggins and current Health Certificate to start with. If the horse has an implanted chip, there should be some record of who implanted it and somebody tracks that stuff. Or what good is a chip if there is no way to verify the number.

There are a LOT of rodeos in the west during the summer. They haul horses in from almost every state. Many of the cowboys stay at a fairground near me. They often stay for several weeks. It's a big cowboy campground over their for the month of July.  They Run up to Boise for a day, back over to Cheyenne, do both the Day of 47 Rodeo in SLC and the Pioneer Days rodeo in Ogden. Since there are SO MANY out of state horses camped at that one location, the State Vet and Brand Inspector spend a lot of time making sure they are healthy and have their papers. My point being is that there has to be an accepted method of proving ownership for horses coming from states that don't have Brand Inspection. There are just too many horses traveling in and out of the state each summer. Some how they are meeting the requirements.   Just check with your local department of agriculture and follow their advice.

Negative Coggins is pretty common. Most folks know what that document is.

The travel permit is a paper issued by a vet stating that the horse was healthy on the date he inspected the horse. It is valid for 30 days. It details where the horse is coming from and what it's destination will be. The vet keeps a copy, the horse owner keeps a copy, The state where it's issued gets a copy and the state where the destination is located gets a copy.  Then if there is an outbreak of some equine desease,  the respective states can look at the travel permits and allow or disallow entrance into the state. It gives the state vets a way of knowing which horse may have been present in an area if an infectious desease broke out.

I used to put on a Competitive Trail Ride. One year some of the riders who had registered to come didn't show up. They called and said an Outbreak of VS had broken out in New Mexico and they were not allowed to cross the state line between Colorado and NM because their horses had been in the area of the outbreak. A couple of summers ago, We had an outbreak of VS at the fairground where all those cowboys camp in the summer. Any horse with in 10 mile radius of that fairground had to have a vet exam the day prior to travel in order to travel back into Colorado. You could no longer use your 30 day permit. So the states do try to use these papers to control the spread of equine deseases.

Another thing to be aware of.  You will need certified weed free feed on ANY pubic land in most of the west. That includes Froest Service, BLM or State lands. I know for sure that Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and California require it. And Parks like Yellowstone won't allow you to even bring in Certified hay. They want the trailers swept clean.

How expensive is it to haul horses out from Maryland.  That would be at least a 3 day in each direction drive,  So now you need 6 days driving plus the 5 days of horse rides for a total of 11 days off work. Fuel and wear and tear on your equipment.  Then pay a guide to lead you on a trail ride. Shuttle your horses to each of the venues you want to ride. What ever food they provide. It's probably not out of line.  Would I pay it. No!  But I can drive there in 4 hours.

I will tell you the scenry is stunning. The experience of seeing it from the back of a horse won't be forgotten. I have a neighbor who keeps telling me I need to go to Europe with him and see the castle what ever. That I'm missing out on life because I have not taken that opportunity. One day I replied, he needed to get on a horse and ride through the Grand Staircase Escalante, to ride into Kolob Arch in Zions, or to see Square Top in the Wind Rivers or Red Castle in the Uinta Wilderness. they are every bit as majestic as any castle built by man. And I'd much rather share the day with a horse vs a smelly taxi driver in a foreign land.

 Red castle in the Uinta Wilderness

Thanks

My Wife is writing a check now!!

Seriuosly, Yes! I agree with you.  I would love to see your side of the country from horse back even if a few touristy trails I am sure you are correct it will be breathtaking.

Thanks for all the input.

A brand inspection does not require that you BRAND your horse.  A brand inspection documents what identification an animals has (including a microchip or tattoo)

On Utah's brand inspection the brand inspector will list anything that can be used to identify an animal. Color, markings ( blazes, socks), height and weight, and any man made markings such as brands, tattoo, or microchips. They submit this inspection to the state records and return a laminted card to the owner.

None of my horses have a physical brand burned into their hide.

I would contact your local Texas Agriculture Extension Service. They do promote permanent identification of animals. (http://www.texastrailriding.com/horseowners/images/13279821-horseid.pdf)  Talk with them about how they document identification. It does no good to have a microchip if you don't document where it's located, how to scan for it and what number it will show when scanned.

Make sure your coggins test is current. Some states only recognize a coggins for 6 months. Other states 12 months. And your health certificate is usually only good for 30 days.