Confiscated Hay

["KIMBERLY PRICE" <kmprice51@hotmail.com>]

Hey Kimberly -- I have been lost from chat lines becuz I;ve been away and
my message box has been returning email...but could you please forward
this to Ridecamp etc. for me?

      I returned from Oregon last Thursday after a week at a Classical
Horsemanship clinic taught by Marji Armstrong of Australia.   (It was
excellent, but that's another story!)
      I stayed with my son and dtr. in law on their ranch near Medford.
Joseph grows hay -- so I took a 2-wire bale of oat hay with me when I
left to drive home.  At the Ag. Inspection Station just south of the
Calif. state line the bale was taken from me, over my objections.
    Why taken?   Because the hay was not certified that it was free of
the SIERRA BLISTER BEETLE.   The fact that Jackson County, where the
ranch is, is one of several counties in Oregon where SBBs have not been
found, made no difference to the lady inspector.   She let me have a
flake for my horse and kept the rest.. So then I drove off, and I think
the adrenaline from that encounter lasted for at least 50 miles   (:-#)

So here's the message.  If you're coming south from Oregon, get that
Sierra Blister Beetle certificate, or be prepared to have your bales
taken from you.   ( In 2003 you will have to also have a certificate that
the hay is certified weed free -- more on that coming soon.)

To end on a better note:   to anyone driving north or south on I-5 in
northern Calif.  and looking for a place to stay overnight,  I can
recommend Clarissa Hale's place in Cottonwood, just south of Redding.
(She rides endurance too.)    It's about 8 miles west of the freeway,
easy access, good parking,  large lighted  covered riding arena, huge
paddocks for the horses, a shower and bathroom, and is quiet and safe.
She charges $10.00 per night for horse and rider,  $8. for each
additional horse.   Phone 530-347-1367.

And to anyone in the Bay Area looking for certified weed free hay,  I
just bought my year's supply of CWF oat hay at Sears Point Hay and
Farming Co., off Hwy. 37 just east of the Sonoma/Sears Pt. Raceway
turnoff.      $9. a bale, $8.75 if you buy more than 16, and these bales
are 3-wire and HEAVY (one weighed 155 lbs).  Open Saturdays only, 8 am to
4 pm.   I have bought hay out of their fields for 25 years now,  and it's
good.   Best regards,   Connie B.

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