GIRLS GET TIME FOR HORSING AROUND; SAUGUS CAMP OFFERS 2 WEEKS OF INSTRUCTION TO YOUNG EQUESTRIANS.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Horses seem to hold a special allure for little girls - maybe it's the animal's unique combination of power and sweet-tempered accessibility, making them sort of a one-ton Barbie doll that loves to be fed by hand, groomed and bathed - and in gratitude, will take you for a real fun ride.

So it was no surprise to find seven young girls trotting around a dusty arena Wednesday at Don-E-Brook Farms, where they are in the midst of a two-week summer camp that teaches them basic equestrian skills.

Liz Farinella, owner of the 12-acre ranch, said she plans to offer several of the two-week camp sessions this summer. For $270, campers learn to ride English and Western style, to feed the animals and saddle them up, and to make them trot, canter and gallop.

Each child is matched up with a horse on the camp's first day, and they remain a team until the last day, Farinella said.

Nine-year-old Rebecca Wright said her favorite new skills have been getting her equine partner Chester to lope - an easy stride - and to walk in reverse. Usually the animals respond to their handlers' directions, but sometimes they rebel.

``One day (Chester) was being really bad. He wouldn't accept the bit and he was trying to run away,'' the Castaic girl said.

Bianca Rose, 7, said her horse Lacey balks at having a girth - the leather strap that holds the saddle in place - fastened around its belly. ``Once, when she was in a bad mood, she bit me,'' the Santa Clarita girl said.

``Cougar sticks his tongue out at me,'' interjected Saugus resident Heather Holscher, 9, about the 27-year-old horse that's her partner.

Jordan Mack, holding the reins of her female horse Kishka, passed along a Horsemanship 101 lesson. ``Never walk behind a horse if it doesn't know you're there,'' the 10-year-old Saugus girl said. ``It'll kick you.''

Farinella and her teen-age counselors teach the campers, who spend 3-1/2 hours a day at the San Francisquito Canyon Road ranch, equitation - the art of horseback riding - as well as how to care for the animals' health, safety and diet.

The girls learn that they must dislodge pebbles from their horses' hooves and shoes, to feed them a mushy mixture of powdered bran and water that aids digestion because horses tend to swallow sand, and how to perform maneuvers like the Cloverleaf - a looping route around three obstacles - in a manner that minimizes the risk of leg injuries to the animal, Farinella said.

The summer camps were introduced a few years back when Farinella's regular clientele, who take lessons in recreational riding, dressage - exhibition-level techniques - and gymkhana, an equestrian specialty that includes barrel racing and other horseback contests, continually asked her whether she would add day camps during the long, hot days of June, July and August, she said.

Most of the 100 horses in Don-E-Brook Farms' stables are tame enough for beginning riders, and they range in age from two newborns, Poet and Paavo, to 47-year-old Sam, the elder statesman of the ranch, Farinella said.

During this camp session, Sam's master is Kristin DeAnfrasio, 9, of Valencia. ``When I kick him, he goes into a canter, but I really want him to walk,'' Kristin said, adding she has learned to ``pull back on the reins'' to slow her horse's gait.

The girls learn to be responsible for brushing their horse's coat and mane, for feeding them - alfalfa hay, oat and barley hay, and lots of carrots - and giving them daily exercise. ``Give them fresh water, salt blocks, good food, lots of love - and (the horses) usually thrive,'' Farinella said. ``They love one-on-one attention.''

Jordan said the feedback between horse and rider is unspoken but evident; Kishka often makes her contentment clear. ``When I brush her right here (along the nose), she closes her eyes,'' Jordan said.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color in SAC edition only) Lindsay Andrews, 7, gives her training partner Oreo a kiss at the Don-E-Brook Farms summer camp.

(2--color in SAC edition only) Lindsay grooms her steed. Campers learn a variety of equestrian skills in the program.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News