L.A. as horse country

On Sunday, Mireya Navarro filled in New York Times readers on the horsey life in L.A.

Life is good for Rocket, the urban horse. He lives in a wooded neighborhood in one of the most exclusive sections of Los Angeles, Sullivan Canyon, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the 405 freeway and oblivious to the traffic, sprawl and shopping enclaves around him.

Just minutes from Rocket are the villages of Brentwood and Pacific Palisades, with their expensive boutiques and Starbucks. But Rocket inhabits a different Los Angeles, one where traffic signs read: "Whoa. Horses and Children at Play. 10 m.p.h.," and $3 million homes come with corrals. The wealthy put up with dusty surroundings and the scent of manure.

"It's so incongruous, but I'm so grateful," said Sara Nichols, a Democratic fund-raiser and environmentalist, who keeps Rocket and three other horses in front of her California ranch home designed by Clifford May. "A day doesn't go by that I don't think, 'Wow, am I lucky.' "

The horses of Compton, Griffith Park, Sullivan Canyon and of course Chatsworth also make the cut.

Also in the NYT: After last week's glowing Janet Maslin book review, a feature story followed on Sunday about LAT Magazine staff writer J.R. Moehringer.