LONG IN THE SADDLE; ENDURANCE RACE TESTS HORSES, RIDERS FOR 50 MILES.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

Suzy Kelley's 7-year-old horse trotted and plodded over 50 miles of boulder-strewn stream beds, cliff-perched trails and fire roads in the Angeles National Forest on Saturday to win the Sunland Endurance Ride for her rider.

Dusty and hot, but not noticeably winded, the pair crossed the finish line nearly eight hours after the start and a half-hour before the second-place finisher.

Kelley, one of the nation's top endurance racers, said she countered the boredom by singing to herself, playing memory games and talking to her horse, who she said was nervous beforehand but charged through the race like a champ to post her first win.

``It can be all the nasty things in the world, but it's still fun. Why else would we keep coming back unless we're masochists?'' Kelley said, pausing to load a saddle. ``And that could well be true.''

Their victory celebration - hay and water for her horse and an afternoon packing away gear for Kelley - was muted somewhat because they were deprived of a rematch with last year's winner, Larry Bowers of Chatsworth.

The two riders had raced neck-and-neck to the finish last year, but Bowers had to pull out Saturday when his horse hurt its right rear leg, perhaps from stepping on one of the rocks that made the course so challenging.

``It would have been a lot more exciting if Larry and I had raced in - that always makes it fun for everyone,'' said Kelley, 56, of Orange.

In the spirit of true sportsmanship, Bowers congratulated Kelley as the two stood next to their trailers, comparing notes on the riding conditions and trail.

``It's real disappointing,'' Bowers said. ``It's like any sport - there's only one winner, and the rest would like to be.''

Dabney Finch finished second, while Theresa Bitondo came in third.

Endurance riding, an Olympic event, has grown ever more popular in the past 40 years despite the lonely hours of repetition and grueling distance, according to organizers of the Sunland ride, which is in its 26th year.

``Psychologically it's the same type of people who do marathons,'' said assistant manager Roxanne Greene, herself a veteran of more than 500 endurance races. ``Not all horses can do it and not all people can do it.''

In a bid to bring more equestrians into the sport, the first 25-mile loop of the race was open to 40 non-competitors who took the trail at their own pace and for the simple sense of accomplishment.

Fifty-four riders set out to complete the full 50-mile course, but seven were disqualified when their horses became injured or overheated.

The unseasonably hot November day proved a wild card in the race, forcing veterinarians to hold more rest stops and exams for the horses, which extended the race about 90 minutes longer than usual.

The course wound through the forested foothills, reaching a height of about 4,000 feet on Pinnace Mountain and through Kagel Canyon and Little Tujunga Wash.

The ``roller coaster'' posted the biggest challenge - a mile-long stretch of steep ridges and deep valleys that tested the strongest of these horses, which are mostly Arabian for their legendary endurance and strength.

The race started at 6:15 a.m. at the Lake View Terrace Equestrian Center and wound up with Kelley's win at 2:03 p.m.

Along the trail, riders occasionally dismount and walk or run alongside their horses. On especially steep slops, the riders revert to tailing, a technique in which they hold the reins with one hand and the horse's tail with the other, to get pulled over the ridge.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo: (1) Suzy Kelley washes down La Petite Dancer, to get his pulse down, before taking him back out on the 50-mile Sunland Endurance Ride.

(2 -- 3) At left, Shirley Briscoe of Lake View Terrace rides past the midway point of the 50-mile Sunland Endurance Ride. Above, Dr. Fred Beasom checks a horse's pulse before letting him back out on the course. Hot weather forced more checkups than normal.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer