Horseman Not Found in Search of Waterway : Hansen Dam: The Pacoima man was last seen riding toward Big Tujunga Wash, where his stallion was found mired in mud.

Antonio Rosales loved to ride his horse Bailarin on the paths around Hansen Dam. The 57-year-old Pacoima man rode there nearly every morning since he stopped working full time about two years ago.

But on Monday, he went out for his morning ride and did not return.

Family members and authorities fear that the former semiprofessional rodeo rider may have fallen off the horse while trying to cross the rain-swollen Big Tujunga Wash, which flows into Hansen Dam near there.

A team of rescuers searched the area for several hours Tuesday morning but did not find him.

“We have no chance of finding him while the waters are still that high,” said Capt. Gary Bowie of the Los Angeles Fire Department after his team searched a half-mile stretch of the wash. “If he was alive out there, we would have found him by now.”

Bailarin --Spanish for dancer--was discovered wandering around the wash alone on Monday. The horse was mired in the mud along the wash and had to be helped out by Los Angeles police officers and employees of the city’s Animal Regulation Department.

Meanwhile, the Rosales family reported Antonio Rosales missing Monday afternoon.

Rosales went riding with his son Alfredo, 29, about 7 a.m. Monday. Bailarin, a 4-year-old stallion, was acting restless and bothering Nina, the 3-year-old filly Alfredo Rosales was riding.

So they agreed to ride separately, to calm Bailarin , and meet on the far side of the park. Antonio Rosales took the longer path on the east side of the dam, while his son took the shorter path along the west side.

Alfredo Rosales said his father thought the eastern path, which crosses the wash, would be safe since it had not rained that day.

“I saw him riding off by the wash, and then I never saw him again,” Alfredo said. “I waited for him. I thought he might be taking his time.”

Eddie J. Milligan, owner of the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center, said the trails along Hansen Dam, one of the San Fernando Valley’s most popular areas for horseback riding, were “very, very dangerous” because of the rains. He urged riders to avoid most parts of the park, because horses could slip or get stuck in the mud.

“A lot of the horse trails people usually ride are impassable this week,” Milligan said. “People can ride these every day, but you just don’t realize how wet and slippery it is out there.”

Antonio Rosales’ family, which includes four sons, three daughters and numerous grandchildren, gathered at the family home in Pacoima on Tuesday afternoon. Several said they had trouble believing that their father, who taught them all to ride, could ever have an accident.

They describe their father as a caballero , which is Spanish for both a skilled horseman and a gentleman.

“My father is great with horses,” said Juan Antonio Rosales.

“I can’t believe something happened to him,” said Rogelio Rosales, 23, his voice choking with emotion. “He would go there every day. I’ve ridden there with him many times. He knows the trails perfectly.”

Antonio Rosales grew up on a ranch outside Calera, a small town in the Mexican state of Zacatecas. For many years, he competed in semiprofessional rodeos in Mexico, eventually quitting to work construction to better support his family. He worked sometimes in Mexico but often in California as well.

In 1980, he brought the family to Pacoima and, as soon as he could afford it, bought horses.

“He loves horses,” Rogelio Rosales said. “He’s always very happy when he’s on his horse.”