DAY IN THE COUNTRY; CITY KIDS EARN PRACTICE IN HORSEMANSHIP.

Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer

It's not every day that 11-year-old Brittany Brooks of Watts gets to live the fantasy of many young inner-city children and go horseback riding in the countryside.

But on Tuesday, thanks to a program called Horses in the Hood, she and 10 of her friends got to do just that at Upper Middle Ranch in Lake View Terrace.

``They taught us how to balance on the horse. They taught us posting and how to be gentle with the horse,'' said the sixth-grader from Markham Middle School.

``I really, really liked it, and now I want to come back and ride horses again,'' she said.

She'll get her chance in January, when the group will return for a follow-up class, thanks to Kathie Kusner, the former U.S. Olympic equestrian rider who founded Horses in the Hood in 1992.

``Our ultimate goal is to build a small farm in Watts where people can go to learn to ride horses,'' Kusner said. ``But that takes a lot of money, and it'll take us a while to raise that much. When it happens, it will be a great source for the community.''

Children are chosen for the day trips through the L.A. Bridges after-school program, which provides tutoring and activities for children and teens in the inner-city areas of Los Angeles.

``These are kids who came to us with failing grades, then raised them up thanks to their own hard work,'' said Alretta Harris, an L.A. Bridges case manager accompanying the kids Tuesday. ``This is a way to reward them by taking them out of their everyday setting and showing them something different. They earned it.''

Jane Shaw, who owns the Thumbs Up Riding Club, lends the horses to the program at a discounted rate.

``I get a kick out of showing the kids something new,'' Shaw said. ``A lot of these kids have never been near a horse before, and it's a shame because it's a great experience.''

She said there are important moral lessons to be learned by the children from their contact with the animals as well.

``They learn that there is a direct relation between their actions and the results of their actions,'' she said.

And even more important is the bond that forms between the kids and the animals, said Joseph Gonzales, a freshman from Burbank High School, who was fulfilling his community volunteer hours by helping out Tuesday. He should know, he's been around horses all his life.

And Esther Elizarraras, a 12-year-old from Markham Middle School, said the contact with horses has had an even bigger impact on her, inspiring her to want to be a jockey.

She said the idea of a chance to ride horses pushed her to do better at school so she would be chosen.

``I love the horses, I really love the horses. You have to be nice and gentle with them, just like a baby, and then they're nice to you.''

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3 Photos

Photo: (1) Yorel Bishop of Paramount, 10, lets out a laugh as she adjusts her riding helmet. She and nine others attended riding lessons at Upper Middle Ranch in Lake View Terrace on Tuesday, sponsored by the Horses in the Hood program.

(2) Esther Elizarraras, 12, said the idea of a chance to ride horses pushed her to do better at school so she would be chosen for the program.

(3) Le Roi Bishop, 7, pets his horse, Magic, before heading into the riding arena.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer