Hurdles Are Plentiful in Equestrians’ Endeavors : Thousand Oaks: Riding skill and high costs are key elements of a sport that a school operator says ‘is becoming more and more of a business.’

One does not have to be a millionaire to circulate in the haughty world of show horses.

“But it helps,” said Nancy Turrill, 63, co-owner of the Foxfield Riding School in Thousand Oaks.

Turrill kept watch Thursday over one of the school’s star pupils, Jaime Krupnick, as she put her horse, Central Park, through a light workout under a cloudless sky.

Krupnick of Thousand Oaks and Kelli Ferroni of Westlake Village, both 17, spent the sunny afternoon gracefully guiding their horses over four- and five-foot jumps as Turrill offered suggestions.

“It is hard to realize how hard it is when it looks that easy,” said trainer Susie Postel as she put one of the school’s horses, Button, through a workout. “There’s a lot to it. But it is a nice feeling to sit on something that big and have it respond.”

Just two miles from the strip malls and congested intersections of downtown Thousand Oaks, Foxfield Riding School is set against a backdrop of lush green hills.

Foxfield is the first of the white-fenced horse farms that stretch for miles along Potrero Road as it winds through Hidden Valley.

The school’s name, scenery and sport all hint of money. The graceful horses in Foxfield’s barn and the expensive pickup trucks in its parking lot reinforce that notion.

The sport is expensive, Postel agreed.

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But unlike most of its neighbors, Turrill said, Foxfield is open to the public and encourages students of lesser means.

“We have a lot of empathy for the kids that don’t have much,” Turrill said. She trades lessons to students for help around the ranch, such as cleaning stables and giving the horses a workout.

“We used to look through the fences of the good stables and wish,” she said, recalling her meager start in the sport.

“It’s not just a sport for the wealthy,” she added quickly. But hundreds of thousands of dollars are needed to make it to the top echelon.

“You need a backer to make it all the way,” she said with a frown. “It is becoming more and more of a business--a big business.” She and her twin sister, Jo Ann Postel, started the school with one horse 27 years ago. Now they own 80 horses and board another 30 or so, the 63-year-old Turrill said.

Foxfield is also home to several up-and-coming young riders, including Ferroni and Krupnick.

Krupnick and Central Park recently brought home to Thousand Oaks one of riding’s most prestigious awards, a U.S. Equestrian Team Gold Medal. The medal was awarded after Krupnick racked up 20 victories on the show jumping circuit last year.

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“Jaime is one of those who could go all the way,” Turrill said, referring to the Olympics.

“I’m shooting for 2000,” said Krupnick, a Westlake High School senior and a rider since she was 3. Her studies will take too much time for her to be ready for the 1996 Olympic team, she said.

Krupnick is talented, has three top-notch horses and, above all, the financial backing of her family, Turrill said.

“It is a very expensive sport,” acknowledged Krupnick’s mother, Claudia. “I’m embarrassed to say how much money I’ve spent on horses.”

Good show horses fetch as much as $100,000 each, Turrill said. Meanwhile, entry fees in competition easily reach $2,000 an event, Claudia Krupnick said, not to mention boarding, feeding and transporting the horses.

“There is a reason it is called the sport of kings,” Claudia Krupnick said.