*Footnotes

In this week’s Footnotes:

Modern urban life gets so hectic sometimes, you just might want to go “the cowboy way”--pack it all in and take that proverbial ride into the sunset. Well, why not? We live in Southern California, where “the cowboy way” was practically invented in movies and television. All you’ll need is a horse, a sunset and the cash to pay for it all.

* Adventures on Horseback at Saddlerock Ranch, 31811 Mulholland Highway, Malibu, (818) 706-0888, offers not one but two kinds of sunset rides in the Santa Monica Mountains. The first is a two-hour guided excursion that costs $50 per person (possibly a good way to meet other people into the cowboy or cowgirl way). Also offered is a romantic Champagne Sunset Ride, with bubbly, cheese, crackers and desserts, for couples only; $200.

* Renegade Ranch, 28822 Bouquet Canyon Road, Saugus, (805) 263-0056, offers horseback riding for $14 for adults and $10 for children for the first hour, $10 for each additional hour. Griffith Park Horse Rentals, 480 Riverside Drive, Burbank, (818) 840-8401, has mounts available for $15 per hour. If you’re not comfortable in the saddle, riding lessons there are $35 per hour.

* So you start riding regularly and you love it. After awhile, you start thinking about buying your own horse. Although some horses can be found for $800 to $1,000, you should probably expect to pay upward of $3,500 for a healthy basic starting horse. And that’s only the beginning.

* A Los Angeles city license for your horse costs $14. Boarding and feeding your horse costs about $130 to $175 per month, depending upon whether your mount is housed in a corral or stall. A new saddle will probably cost you upward of $600, but used ones are available in the $300-$350 range. Then, riding boots, gloves, pants, a hat, riding crop. . . .

*Real Americans ride horses. In fact, it’s almost a cultural imperative. George Washington, Sitting Bull, Teddy Roosevelt, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, the Marlboro Man and Brad Pitt all rode horses. Even Winston Churchill, a half-American, was an equestrian. So how can a Valley-ite ride high in the saddle? *