CALTRANS WORKS TO MAINTAIN BOUNDARIES REPAIRING FENCES TO PROTECT HORSES A PRIORITY FOR AGENCY.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

GLENDALE - Riders who board horses in stables along Interstate 5 and the Ventura Freeway say Caltrans' poor maintenance of barrier fences could allow more animals to find their way into the path of speeding cars.

Two weeks ago, a horse from the Los Angeles Equestrian Center was hit and killed in morning-rush hour traffic after it threw its rider and got onto the Ventura Freeway through a hole in a right-of-way fence.

``Some of us have been talking about the different breakages in the freeway fencing along the Golden State that need to be looked at,'' said Elaine Brock, who owns a stable that boards 51 horses in the 4000 block of Verdant Street in Atwater.

``Some of the fencing needs to be fixed - if not, we're going to have the same problem,'' Brock said. ``We just don't want anybody else hurt.''

About 200 horses are boarded near the freeways in the Burbank and Glendale areas, said Joe Tafoya, a park ranger for the city of Los Angeles.

State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Judy Gisch acknowledged a hole in the fence allowed the horse to get through, but said it has since been repaired.

Caltrans is responsible for maintaining the 6-foot chain-link fences designed to keep animals, people and debris off the freeways.

Brock said horse riders have seen some fencing that is either open or bent down to a point that would allow horses to easily pass through.

Horse owner Chrisanne Greshan, who works at the East Valley Feed and Tack store on Sheldon Street in Shadow Hills, said Caltrans should better maintain the barrier fences.

``Horses are inherently animals of flight or fight. They're going to run from anything that scares them, and when they run, it's basically in a blind panic,'' Greshan said.

``With the fence being the only source of a barrier, my concern is if they're not checking that fence, it's useless,'' she said. ``It only provides a false sense of security to the community surrounding that area.''

Gisch said that when Caltrans is notified of a portion of the fence that needs repair, a worker is immediately dispatched to the site to conduct an emergency repair, Gisch said.

But although the fencing is maintained and patrolled regularly, she said, Caltrans lacks the manpower to inspect every inch of the miles of fencing - most of which is not visible from the freeways - forcing the agency to rely on tips from the public.

``What happens, however, is we cannot patrol the areas 24 hours a day. People need to show us where the fences are in horrible shape and pose the potential threat of letting animals get on the freeway,'' Gisch said.

Naush Boghossian, [phone]

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Jason Heidrich, front, and Edward Martinez repair the fence Tuesday along the Ventura Freeway, near horse trails used by the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer