LESSONS FOR LIFE INNER-CITY KIDS SADDLE UP FOR SUCCESS.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

LAKE VIEW TERRACE - As she gently patted a large brown horse named Baxter, 9-year-old Misha jumped suddenly and cringed in fear.

``Ah, he's going to bite me,'' worried the curly-haired girl as Baxter moved his head toward her.

That was four days ago. On Thursday, Misha saddled up Baxter by herself and rode him around a ring, trotting with confidence.

Misha is among 18 inner-city children who spent this past week learning the finer points of all things equestrian at Thumbs Up Riding Camp on Little Tujunga Canyon Road in Lake View Terrace.

Today, the riding students will demonstrate their new skills at the camp as friends and family members gather for a pizza party.

``The first day was hard because I didn't know how to get the saddle on or anything,'' said Kimberly, 9, a bubbly girl in a Tweety Bird T-shirt. ``Now I can trot and put the saddle on and everything. My favorite part is when we finish riding, I like to give him a bath and sweat-scrape him. It's fun.''

This is the second summer that the riding camp has teamed up with Horses in the Hood Los Angeles, a nonprofit organization that brings children from Watts to the suburbs for a five-day series of riding lessons.

During the camp, the children learn everything from how to use grooming devices like the sweat scraper and hoof rasp, to horse anatomy and riding styles. They also learn respect, trust and responsibility.

``There's an emotional involvement with riding horses that you don't have with other sports,'' said Kathy Kusner, 62, founder of Horses in the Hood and a lifelong equestrian.

``It's terrific how kids feel about themselves at the end of the camp. They're doing a bunch of things they never thought they could do. I hope this encourages them to explore other things they never thought about, and maybe pursue a career in the horse industry.''

Those who work with the children say it's extremely gratifying to watch them grow in skill and confidence.

Liz Chapman, who works at Thumbs Up, said one of the girls told her on the first day that her friends don't think she's strong because she doesn't want to fight.

``But I told her she can be strong in different ways,'' Chapman said. ``When she rode a horse for the first time, she got off and said 'I feel strong.' These kids are so bright; they just don't have a lot of opportunities.''

By the end of the week, 8-year-old Diana was trotting at the end of a lunge rope as Chapman swished a whip behind his legs to keep him moving.

``Give him a kick and click. Where's the gas pedal?'' Chapman said, pointing at Diana's feet. ``Who's the boss?''

``I am,'' shouted the once-timid girl as she trotted in a circle atop her horse, Enhancer.

Jane Shaw of Glendale, who has been running children's riding camps for more than two decades, said most of the children are ``frightened to death'' on the first day and don't want to get near the horses.

But by the end of the week, she said, they're riding and grooming the horses and feeling confident in themselves.

``They come into a new situation and they meet a lot of new people, and they find out they can do all that,'' Shaw said.

``Horses are so imposing, and the kids become very, very proud of themselves when they're able to manage an animal like that. It teaches them they don't have to be stronger than a horse, they just have to be smarter. And they can apply that to other parts of their lives.'' The children also learn other practical lessons about handling a horse.

``Don't stand behind him because he'll poop on you or kick you,'' said Vicsai, an energetic 10-year-old, reciting a lesson he learned on the first day.

Kusner said she launched the riding-camp program in 1999 to give inner- city children the opportunity to learn about horses.

``Horses can cost money and be economically restrictive,'' she said. ``Even when segregation ended as a practice, it didn't end at horse shows.'' Since the program began, she said, 21 camps have been held serving more than 300 young people from ages 5 to young adulthood.

Horses in the Hood works with six organizations, including LA's Best - a city-funded after-school program that serves 18,000 children from high-risk, low-income neighborhoods. Children in this week's camp attend the LA's Best program.

While Kusner said she doesn't believe her program is a cure-all for inner-city problems, she said it could be part of the solution.

``If you have something you're very involved with, whether it's horses or something else, you're not going to have time to get involved with gangs,'' she said.

The $5,000 cost of each camp is funded solely through donations, she added.

Tax-deductible donations to Horses in the Hood can be mailed to 10573 West Pico Blvd., #251, Los Angeles, CA 90064. The organization's Web site can be found at www.hhla.org.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Salvador, 10, gives his horse, Henry, a spray after a ride at Thumbs Up Riding Camp in Lake View Terrace. Salvador is one of 18 students participating in the Horses in the Hood program.

(2 -- 3) Students in the Horses in the Hood program, above, await instruction before riding through an obstacle course at the Thumbs Up Riding Camp. Lateana, right, prepares to saddle up at the Lake View Terrace camp.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer