The Saddle Club

The Saddle Club
Saddle Club TV show logo.
Genre	Children's television series
Created by	Bonnie Bryant
Starring	Keenan MacWilliam Sophie Bennett Lara Jean Marshall Heli Simpson Kia Luby (Season 1 – Season 2) Victoria Campbell Lauren Dixon Ariel Kaplan Marny Kennedy Aisha Dee (Season 3)
Opening theme	Hello World Music (Season 1 – Season 2) "Hello World" (Season 3)
Ending theme	"Hello World" (Season 1 – Season 2) "Together We Are" (Season 2) "Wonderland" (Ending theme song in the episode "Show Ponies" Part 2) Various songs (Season 3)
Country of origin	Australia Canada
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	78 (episode list)
Production
Location(s)	Yarra Valley, Australia (Seasons 1 and 2) Daylesford, Victoria, Australia (Season 3)
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Crawford Productions Protocol Entertainment Connecticut Public Television American Public Television
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC TV (Seasons 1 and 2) Nine Network (Season 3)
Picture format	576i (SDTV) (Seasons 1 to 3) 1080i (HDTV) (Season 3)
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	February 6, 2001 – June 2, 2003 September 29, 2008 – April 10, 2009
External links
Website

'The Saddle Club' is a children's television series based on the books written by Bonnie Bryant and is an Australia/Canada co-production. Like the book series, the scripted live action series follows the lives of three teenage girls in training to compete in equestrian competitions at the fictional Pine Hollow Stables, while dealing with problems in their personal lives. This series debuted in 2001 and ended in 2003. However, due to popular demand the series was renewed for a season 3 with new actors since the oiriginal ones are too old. It is unknown if the show will ever have a season 4, but probably not.

Story

The series revolves around the experiences of three girls, who form a club named "The Saddle Club" after recognizing their shared love for horse riding. Their natural rival is another young rider at the barn named Veronica diAngelo, whom the girls perceive as snobby, spoiled, and ostentatiously wealthy.

Throughout the series, The Saddle Club navigates their rivalry with Veronica, training for competitions, horse shows, and the quotidian dramas that arise between friends and staff in the fictional Pine Hollow Stables. In each show, The Saddle Club prevails over its adversities, usually sending a message emphasizing the importance of friendship and teamwork.

Production

The show aired from 2001 until 2004, with 52 episodes produced and aired in two seasons. The popularity of the series soon after its premiere on the ABC promoted international syndication^{[citation needed]}, and it can now be seen in North America on The Hub, Horse Racing TV, PBS Kids and Connecticut Public Television, in Canada on YTV, and in the UK on Pop Girl. Regionally, the cast of the television series have released a series of music albums such as Friends Forever, On Top Of The World, Secrets & Dreams, and Hello World – The Best Of The Saddle Club and have appeared in live performances such as the 2004 Sydney Royal Easter Show. "The Saddle Club – Greatest Hits" and "Summer With The Saddle Club" are available as MP3 Downloads on Amazon.com and iTunes.

In 2007, there was a news release of the show announcing a casting call and the production of a third season, which was filmed from 2007–2008. The third season of the show began on September 29, 2008. The new Saddle Club CD "Best Friends" is now available in stores in Australia and on The Saddle Club's official Store website. However, "Best Friends" is available for Digital Download in the USA and Canada. Season 3 aired on Discovery Kids in the US on February 22, 2009 and sneak peeks of Season 3 aired on "Saddle Club Sundays" in December 2008. In Australia the new series commenced on Channel Nine and WIN TV on March 7, 2009. By April 2009, PBS Kids aired all three seasons.

Cast

Main article: List of The Saddle Club characters

Character	Season 1 and 2 Actor	Season 3 Actor
Carole Hanson	Keenan MacWilliam season 1&2	Victoria Campbell season 3
Stephanie 'Stevie' Lake	Sophie Bennett season 1&2	Lauren Dixon season 3
Lisa Atwood	Lara Jean Marshall season 1&2	Ariel Kaplan season 3
Veronica diAngelo	Heli Simpson season 1&2	Marny Kennedy season 3
Kristi Cavanaugh	Kia Luby
Desiree Biggins season 3		Aisha Dee
Melanie Atwood	Marisa Siketa season 1 / season 2 Jessie Jacobs	Ella-Rose Shenman season 3
Ashley Taylor	Janelle Corlass-Brown
Jess Cooper season 3		Kaiya Jones
Elizabeth Regnery	Catherine Wilkin season 1&2	Briony Behets season 3
Max Regnery	Brett Tucker season 1&2	Richard Davies season 3
Jack O'Neil		Troy Lovett
Phil Marsten	Glenn Meldrum season 1&2	Cosmo Feltham season 3
Deborah Hale Regnery	Cathy Godbold
Drew Regnery	Nikolai Nikolaeff
Red O'Malley	Nathan Phillips / James O'Dea
Brian "Scooter" Mucahy	Alex Marriott
Megan	Sophie Hensser

Episodes

Main article: List of The Saddle Club episodes

Discography

There have been a number of The Saddle Club albums released in Australia featuring the actors/actresses in the series. The albums were released by Shock Records. The second album On Top Of The World was nominated for an ARIA Award for "Best Original Soundtrack" in 2003. Each of the albums has made the top 50 of the Australian album charts and the first three records have achieved gold record status including:

Main albums

Albums

• Fun For Everyone (2002) – #45 Australia
• On Top of the World (2003) – #20 Australia
• Friends Forever (2003) – #38 Australia
• Secrets & Dreams (2004) – #49 Australia
• Hello World – The Best Of The Saddle Club (2004)
• Summer With The Saddle Club (2008)
• The Saddle Club – Greatest Hits (2009)
• Grand Gallop – Hello World (2009) – Released in France only.
• Best Friends (2009)
• Grand Gallop – Meilleures Amies (2009) – Released in France only.

Singles

• We Are The Saddle Club (2002) – Australia
• Hello World (2002) – #27 Australia #8 France
• Hey Hey What You Say (2003) – #20 Australia
• Hello World/Hey Hey What You Say (2003)
• Wonderland (2003) – #17 Australia
• Special Mane Event EP (2004)
• Boogie Oogie Oogie (2003) – #29 Australia
• Everybody Come On (2003)
• Undercover Movers and Shakers (2004) – #42 Australia
• L.I.F.E (2004) – #34 Australia
• Welcome To The Saddle Club (2004)
• These Girls (2009)

Sophie & Kia discography

Albums

• Planet Tokyo (2005) – Australia
• He's Everything (2005) – Australia
• Raw Beauty (2005) – Australia
• Spin (2005) – Australia
• Raw Beauty Acoustic Sessions (2005) – Australia

Singles

• Planet Tokyo (2005) – Australia
• He's Everything (2005) – Australia #40 AUS

Heli Simpson discography

Albums

• Princess Veronica (2004)

Singles

• Don't Ask Me (2004) #16 Australia
• Princess Veronica Tour EP (2004)

Jess and Melanie discography

Singles

• Trouble (2003) Australia

Videos

A number of videos and DVDs have been released in Australia and other countries including the United States. These include:

• The Saddle Club: Adventures At Pine Hollow (2001)
• The Saddle Club: The First Adventure (2003)
• The Saddle Club: Horse Crazy (2003)
• The Saddle Club: The Mane Event (2003)
• The Saddle Club: Storm (2004)
• The Saddle Club: Friends Forever (2004)
• The Saddle Club: Saving Pine Hollow (2005)
• The Saddle Club: Horse Of A Different Color (2007)
• The Saddle Club: Series 1 (2009)
• The Saddle Club: Series 2 (2009)
• The Saddle Club: More Adventures at Pine Hollow (2009)
• The Saddle Club: The First Adventure (2009 Re-release)
• The Saddle Club: Horse Crazy (2009 Re-release)
• The Saddle Club: The Mane Event (2009 Re-release)
• The Saddle Club: Storm (2009 Re-release)
• The Saddle Club: Friends Forever (2009 Re-release)
• The Saddle Club: Saving Pine Hollow (2009 Re-release)
• The Saddle Club: Back in the Saddle (2010)
• The Saddle Club: Back in the Saddle (Handle Case) (2010)
• The Saddle Club: Horseback Riders (2010)
• The Saddle Club: Horseback Riders (Handle Case) (2010)
• The Saddle Club: Ride Free (2010)
• The Saddle Club: Staying the Distance (2010)
• The Saddle Club: Happy Trails (2010)

External links

• Official website
• The Saddle Club at the Internet Movie Database
• The Saddle Club at TV.com
• The Saddle Club Episodes Online at EquestrianLife.com