Horses

Bridle trails and horses have been an important part of life for residents of La Cañada Flintridge since it was first subdivided in the 1920s. Over the years, many residents have kept horses on their properties and the Karig family, who bought a place on Woodleigh Lane in 1950 for $45,000, was no exception. The house itself was a small ranch house built in 1937, but the draw was the enormous backyard with lots of space and access to the riding trails for the four Karig children, explained Mary Karig Durso.

A day filled with activities for visitors of all ages is planned as a fundraiser for Ahead With Horses for Disabled Children. "Thank You Stan Gray Day" will be held on Sunday, June 11 at the Ahead With Horses facility at 9311 Del Arroyo Drive in Sun Valley. The event, which gets underway at 11 a.m. and continues until 5 p.m., will feature a special horseback demonstration by children with disabilities at 1 p.m. in tribute to Stan Gray, founder of Little League Baseball in the local valley.

Darleene Barrientos Authorities are on the lookout for anyone in possession of 10- to 12-inch locks of horse hair after a few animals at a local camp got unexpected haircuts this week. A wrangler at Camp Max Straus saw three horses in her care that seemed nervous Tuesday, and discovered their misshapen tails, according to police reports. She told an officer she believed someone cut the horses' tails to use the hair for western accessories or key chains.

Josh Goldstein BURBANK -- For those who make a living recreating scenes of panic, excitement and danger for television and film, this was just too good for fiction. It was just after 8 a.m. Saturday when about 35 adult horses broke loose from a corral thanks to an unlatched fence at Circle K Stables near the intersection of Valley Heart Drive and Mariposa Street. Giddy in their newfound freedom, the horses galloped and trotted through the streets of Burbank, and some kept going to Glendale and Eagle Rock, police said.

FYI WHAT: Equestfest WHERE: Los Angeles Equestrian Center, 480 Riverside Drive WHEN: Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. COST: $8 per person, $5 to park Without horses, there would be no Rose Parade. Before floats rumbled down the streets on rubber tires and motors, each scene was mounted on a carriage and dragged through the city behind a team of horses. "We've had equestrians from the very first parade," said Joanne Asman, the event coordinator for Equestfest, a showcase of the parade's horses to be displayed from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, 480 Riverside Drive.

BRUCE CAMPBELL Youngsters with disabilities just seem to overcome so many problems when on horseback. Joyce Davison from Ahead With Horses Inc. recently told the West Glendale Gateway Kiwanis Club story upon story about the wonderful results disabled youngsters where having riding horses. Ahead With Horses keeps 15 horses ready for youngsters to ride at its stable in Sun Valley. The program specializes in working with children and young adults who suffer from many disabilities.

Glendale's leading figure, L.C. Brand, was short, stocky and, according to those who knew him, so self-conscious about his height that he wore a tall, broad-rimmed hat to create an illusion of height. He greeted guests while seated whenever he could. According to a profile of Brand written in 1992 by a relative, Judy Brand, some felt he suffered from a "Bantam Rooster" complex and that he deliberately intimidated people. One of his employees, Gilbert Budwig, described his boss this way: "He was short, broad-barreled and skinny-legged and he looked awful hard-boiled.

Hundreds of equine enthusiasts got an early look Sunday at the 2009 team of horses set to march in January’s Tournament of Roses Parade. Equestfest, at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, allowed many to catch a sneak peek of the horse teams slated to march down Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day during the annual parade. “This is great for him,” Giovanni Arevalo said of his 17-month-old son. While his son stared at the Long Beach Mounted Police squad, sitting atop Grand palomino horses, Arevalo, 28, also reveled at the chance to see the fanciful assortment of equines for himself.

Displaying amazing animal-human interactions, Cavalia presents its awe-inspiring originality under a multispired tent at the juncture of the Golden State Freeway and the Burbank Boulevard overpass. It would be grossly understating to summarize this one-of-a-kind experience as merely a hybrid of a traditional circus and a Cirque du Soleil production, although there are elements of both on display. Artistic/show director Normand Latourelle and his cast have instead crafted a historical tribute to the millennia-old relationship between mankind and horses.

Janine Marnien Joy Rittenhouse started riding horses about 30 years ago as a way to recover from polio. The method was so successful that six years ago she founded Move a Child Higher, a therapeutic horseback-riding program for mentally and physically handicapped children. MACH 1 is holding its sixth-annual Ride-A-Thon fund-raiser Sunday, to raise money for the program and its 27 students. "We have just gotten more involvement each year," Rittenhouse said.

It may be too obvious an intro, but filmmaker Todd Solondz - whose new film “Dark Horse” opens next week - could himself be considered a dark horse. His films have a strong following at festivals and in art houses, but they are too honest, too dark, and too bitterly funny to fit any major studio's notion of “commercial.” Most of all, they are relentlessly unsentimental - which doesn't mean they're not emotionally engaging. He first attracted attention with “Welcome to the Dollhouse” (1995)

A 1,000-pound horse is safe and sound after falling into an empty pool at a home in the Shadow Hills area of Sun Valley Thursday. The horse's caretaker arrived at the home on the 10900 block of Walnut Drive around 8:30 a.m. and found the 27-year-old horse at the bottom of the pool. Rescue workers were able to tranquilize the horse and pull him to safety. He is expected to be okay. According to the caretaker, the male Arabian horse is kept in a stable behind the home. They do not know how the horse escaped from the stable and ended up in the empty pool.

Up in the Crescenta Valley, residents often see signs referring to Dunsmore, as in canyon, avenue, park, elementary school and even as in sediment debris basin. But who was the person behind all those signs? Jo Anne Sadler, the valley's resident historian, decided to find out. The first thing she found was that his name has many spellings. She's seen it as Dunsmoor, Dunsmore and Dunsmuir. She says the correct spelling was Dunsmoor. “While the Dunsmoor family only lived in the valley for a few years, they left their mark," she wrote in the Crescenta Valley Historical Society's newsletter, the Ledger, published in March 2011.

“Oh my goodness.” That's the first thing Mara Baygulova said 13 years ago when she laid eyes on a donkey-zebra hybrid - called “zonkeys” or “zedonks” - in Shadow Hills. She had to have the rare equine. Lucky for her, the donkey dealer had no idea what he had on his hands, Baygulova said, and she ended up getting for free what could have cost thousands of dollars. “He didn't know her value,” she said. Baygulova grew up with a donkey named Mona Lisa and had promised her son, Andreas, a donkey just like hers.

A horse named Cowboy found it a tough trot home in Altadena when he stepped on a manhole cover that gave way. The man riding the horse, Damon Scott, managed to leap from the horse to safety. But the horse became trapped in the manhole along Lincoln Avenue, KTLA-TV reported. Scott and two other riders tried to pull Cowboy out. Scott even climbed into the hole to loosen Cowboy's saddle. Continue reading > > -- KTLA-TV Photo: Horse named Cowboy after falling down manhole cover.

Lisa Herron and her 1,100-pound horse, Zip, are currently forced to clip-clop on asphalt at Bette Davis Park, but come next year, the duo could be trotting along a new 3-acre bridle loop connecting with a new Glendale park and trail system along the L.A. River. “I'm really excited,” Herron said. “It's just really dangerous to ride on the street with all the cars.” Herron and her white-and-brown horse were front and center at a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for the equestrian project, which is covered by $3 million from Los Angeles Department of Water & Power.

An outbreak of a potentially deadly equine herpes virus that has affected 18 horses in California has kept ticket sales for the Memorial Day Classic, a weeklong riding show at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, at about half of what they should be, according to a spokeswoman for the event. All 18 horses affected by the equine herpes virus-1, a highly contagious airborne virus, were placed under quarantine, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. No new cases have been reported since May 23. Humans are not at risk of contracting the virus, for which there is no vaccine.

This past week saw Burbankers kick up their charitable and caring spirit by walking the Chandler Bikeway, enjoying a Western-themed horse show at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center and strutting the fashion catwalk to benefit the charities of Temple Emanu El. Supporters of the Family Service Agency of Burbank took to the Chandler Bikeway for the organization's fourth annual Care Walk on April 30. Following a welcoming ceremony conducted by the...

Bridle trails and horses have been an important part of life for residents of La Cañada Flintridge since it was first subdivided in the 1920s. Over the years, many residents have kept horses on their properties and the Karig family, who bought a place on Woodleigh Lane in 1950 for $45,000, was no exception. The house itself was a small ranch house built in 1937, but the draw was the enormous backyard with lots of space and access to the riding trails for the four Karig children, explained Mary Karig Durso.

NANCY CAROL KIRST             Nancy Carol Kirst of Newport Beach, California entered eternal life on March 12, 2011 at 60 years of age. She was born July 13, 1950 in La Cañada, California, where she lived throughout her youth, and died on March 12 in Newport Beach. The second child and oldest daughter of Philip and Colleen Kirst, Nancy was a fourth generation Californian whose forebears were prominent early settlers of Los Angeles and La Cañada. She attended parochial grammar school at Saint Bede the Venerable, where her parents were founding members of the parish.