RECREATION / IRENE GARCIA : Spirit in Stirrups : Horseback riding--be it for relaxation, fun or ‘cowboy cool’--is gaining in popularity, area instructors say.

As vice president of purchasing for an electronics company in Woodland Hills, Bobbie Strouse puts in long and stressful hours. She often works 12-hour days filled with enormous pressure.

But Strouse appears relaxed and free-spirited three nights a week when she rides her thoroughbred, Danny, at New Haven Farm equestrian center in Canoga Park.

“This is my sanity and everybody who knows me knows it,” Strouse said after an hourlong ride on Danny last week. “It’s exercise and an absolute escape.”

Strouse began English-style jumping about six years ago. She became so involved with it that she purchased a horse a couple of years ago. Besides serving as mental therapy, Strouse says, riding is also a great workout.

“You get really sore in the beginning because you really work your legs and arms,” she said. “You develop strong legs and arms over the years.”

Horseback riding, both English and Western style, is gaining popularity, according to many instructors in the Valley and Ventura areas.

Randy Durand, who runs New Haven Farm, says he had 18 new students last month. His facility has four rings and a 50-horse barn.

“It’s great for kids because there’s a lot of discipline and you have to be very focused,” Durand said. “Adults come here to get away. They use it as a release from their hectic lives.”

Durand grew up around horses and for more than 15 years has competed in English hunters’ seat jumping events. He teaches only English-style riding, which is more difficult to learn than Western.

That’s because it’s considered to be more disciplined and technical because the rider must have total control of the horse while navigating jumps.

Western saddles are larger and the riding style is more relaxed. Kelley Milligan, owner of Hansen Dam Equestrian Center in Lake View Terrace, says there is a growing demand for Western lessons.

She teaches both styles and says in the last year, Western lessons probably have doubled.

“A lot of people don’t want the discipline and training of the English,” Milligan said. “They prefer the relaxation of Western.”

Milligan says there’s more to Western riding’s increased popularity than the desire to take a soothing ride on a trail.

“It’s cool to be a cowboy right now,” Milligan said. “You look around and cowboy boots and jeans and hats are all in now. Country Western dancing also is pretty big and people may associate horseback riding with that.”

A new student could master Western riding in about a month with two one-hour lessons a week, Milligan said. English style would take about twice as long.

Lessons range from $30 to $50 an hour for either style. Many of the Valley-area equestrian centers offer only English and most provide the horse for lessons.

“I like it because it’s a lot of fun to jump,” said 17-year-old Meredith Berrier, a Cleveland High student who rides at Merle Rose Stables in Northridge. “It’s kind of like flying.”

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More than 30 equestrian centers in the Valley and Ventura areas offer lessons. For those who own or rent horses, there are six recommended riding locations in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Among them is the Cheeseboro Canyon Trail in Agoura Hills. It is a wide, 4.6-mile trail that begins with a scenic grove of 200- to 300-year-old oak trees.

Another is the 7,000-acre Malibu Creek State Park in Calabasas, which features 20 trails. Some of them include hidden waterfalls, a lake, rocky cliffs, stream-side forests and pastoral oak woodlands.

Topanga State Park in Topanga has a rugged trail featuring high, boulder-studded ridges and stream-side forests.

Other horse trails within the Santa Monica recreation area include: Franklin Canyon Ranch in Beverly Hills and Pt. Mugu State Park and Zuma Canyon in Malibu.

“It’s not just great for the person to get out on a trail, it’s really good for the horse,” said Hunter Newman, a riding instructor at New Haven Farm. “It’s very therapeutic for the horse.”