Horse Sense : Motorists, Riders Need to Use Their Heads When They Share the Road

It was Sunday evening, the first day of daylight saving time, when tragedy struck.

Like many horseback riders in the San Fernando Valley who enjoy that extra hour of daylight, Jose Avellaneda was out on an evening ride with two partners on Bledsoe Street, not far from his house.

The horsemen didn’t see any lights, hear an engine or screeching breaks. For no apparent reason, a car, which neighbors said was traveling at about 40 mph, came from behind and slammed into the three riders.

“I still don’t know what happened,” said Avellaneda a few days after the accident. “It was a very fast thing.”

By official estimates, there are 20,000 horses citywide. Accidents involving horses and motor vehicles are rare, at least those that injure animals or people, said Lt. Bob Pena, spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation. The April 7 accident involving Avellaneda is one of the two he recalls in the last few years that resulted in the death of a horse.

But with riders increasing their activity each year after the calendar switches from standard to daylight saving time, the number of close calls increases, Pena said. The incidents are a reminder of the tension in such communities as Sylmar, Granada Hills and Sunland, where the city borders the country and horses and autos must occasionally share the road.

In last week’s accident, Avellaneda, a 36-year-old car painter, injured his back and his horse nearly broke a leg.

A second rider and his horse escaped injury, but the third man wasn’t as lucky. He was hospitalized with back injuries and gave Animal Regulation officers permission to shoot his horse after the animal suffered two broken legs.

Most riders say they prefer the rustic rides along trails, which provide softer ground and a safer environment for their animals. But transporting the horses to the foothills is expensive. Many riders don’t have the trailers and trucks needed for the task. Some are not even old enough to drive.

But horses need to exercise, so many riders in Sylmar take their animals on quick street rides--legal as long as riders respect traffic laws--before or after work or after dinner, said L. J. Pope, 50, who cares for six horses when she’s not working as a test technician for a phone company.

“We’re a working-class neighborhood,” she said about Sylmar, where a recent poll indicated there are about 1,800 horses of several breeds, including Arabians, Peruvian Pasos and quarter-horses. “We got to pay the bills.”

But as most riders will tell you, horses and horsepower don’t mix very well.

Though some drivers might accidentally spook a horse by slowing down to let a child in the car admire the animal, other motorists are downright mean.

“One time after Fourth of July, people threw firecrackers and bottles at my horse,” said Leah Blose, a 16-year-old high school student whose family has three horses.

There have been times when people, sometimes teenage boys, have driven by repeatedly, honking their horns and yelling, Blose said.

Other times, drivers don’t seem to have bad intentions, riders say, they just don’t know how to drive safely around horses.

Some people pass a foot away from the animals at 30 or 40 mph and don’t make an effort to move toward the middle of the street. Meanwhile, the drivers seem to expect the horses to remain motionless, said Julie Sexton, a 51-year-old rider.

Drivers should drive slower than the speed limit when there are horses on the road, riders say.

“If there were little children walking, you would stop” instead of whizzing by at 45 mph, said David Riniker, a 38-year-old Sylmar resident and a member of the Equestrian Trails horse club.

But the horse people also recognize that, though most of them are very cautious, a few make riding unsafe for themselves.

For instance, some won’t wear reflective equipment at night and sometimes won’t follow traffic rules such as riding near the road’s edge to stay out of the way of traffic.

“People on horses also need common sense,” said Blose. “There are a few riders who think everyone should go around them.”

Horse owners should also train their horses to be around noisy traffic, if possible beginning when the animals are young, riders say.

What’s needed, many riders agree, is a little more horse sense on both sides. And whether you’re a driver or a rider, it’s important to remember that a horse can be unpredictable.

“You never know what to expect from a horse,” Sexton said. “Horses are big, beautiful but dumb animals. If they were smart, they wouldn’t let us ride them.”