If you grew up in Australia back in the day, you remember The Saddle Club. Weirdly Aussie-filmed show based on Bonnie Bryant’ books was the reason a entire whole became obsessed with horses.
Fast forward a bit, and a new show reignited that fire. CBC’s ‘Heartland‘ has been around since 2007—yeah, 19 seasons—and it’s a massive Canadian soap about Amy Fleming, a teen in Alberta who takes after her late mom as a ‘horse whisperer.’ She reads troubled horses, uses intuition, fixes them up, deals with family drama—mostly it’s just comforting, horsey family TV.
It’s total cheese, but it’s also genuinely wholesome and soothing. Honestly, I blame this show for ruining my bank account. I went from an adult taking casual lessons in 2016 to owning three horses, doing eventing, and having zero savings.
Why’d I do it? The scenery, for starters. Alberta’s mountains are a dream, and watching Amy ‘join up’ with a stressed horse in a round pen makes you want to quit your desk job and just live outside.
Then there’s the bond with her horse, Spartan. Is it realistic that a rescue horse turns into a world-class jumper overnight? Nah, but you don’t care.
When I bought my first horse, she was a nightmare. When I took a bad fall or felt like quitting, I literally asked myself, ‘What would Amy Fleming do?’ It sounds silly, but it worked.
I even bought a terrified filly later on and used Amy’s natural horsemanship tricks to get her comfortable.
When my third horse got sick, I found myself stress-watching the episodes where Spartan is in the hospital. It kept me sane.
Even if you aren’t a ‘horse person,’ there’s something nice about a slow, sunny drama that doesn’t try too hard. Just don’t blame me when you end up Googling riding lessons at 2 a.m.
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