''The Saddle Club'' is an Australian-Canadian children's television series developed by Sarah Dodd, based on the books written by

Bonnie Bryant Barbara B. Hiller (born in New York City, New York, New York (state), New York, in 1946) is an American author; as Bonnie Bryant she wrote many children's books, children's and young adult fiction, young adult books; she is best known for writing ...

. Like the book series, the scripted live action series follows the lives of three best friends in training to compete in

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

competitions at the fictional Pine Hollow Stables, while dealing with problems in their personal lives. This series debuted in 2001 and ended in 2009.

Overview

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 rival is another young rider at the stables named Veronica DiAngelo. 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.

Episodes

Cast

:Note: A grey cell indicates the character did not appear in that series.

Production

The show was broadcast from 2001 until 2009, with 78 episodes over three series. Regionally, the cast of the television series 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 appeared in live performances such as the 2004

Sydney Royal Easter Show First held in 1823, the Sydney Royal Easter Show, commonly shortened to The Easter Show or The Show, is an annual show held in Sydney, Australia over two weeks around the Easter period. It comprises an agricultural show, an amusement park and a ...

. In 2007, a news release announced a casting call and the production of a third series, which was filmed from late 2007 to early 2008, and broadcast from 7 September 2008 to 10 April 2009. A new Saddle Club CD, ''Best Friends'', was sold in Australia in stores and on The Saddle Club's website and in the US and Canada as a digital download.

Broadcast

The popularity of the series soon after its premiere on YTV and the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

promoted international syndication and it made its American debut in January 2002 on

Discovery Kids Discovery Kids (stylized as Discovery K!ds) is a brand name owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Starting as a television segment within the Discovery Channel, the brand expanded as a separate television channel. Most of its worldwide channels were ei ...

. In the United States, the series later aired on Horse Racing TV and was distributed independently by

Connecticut Public Television Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) is the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member network for the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, a community-based non-profit organization that holds the licenses ...

and

American Public Television American Public Television (APT) is an American nonprofit organization and syndicator of programming for public television stations in the United States. It distributes public television programs nationwide for PBS member stations and independ ...

through

public television Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

stations nationwide, most notably

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

. The series also briefly aired in reruns on

The Hub The Hub may refer to: Places * The Hub, Bronx, an area of the South Bronx, New York, known for its convergence of subway and bus lines * The Hub (Edinburgh), former church in Edinburgh that is now home to the Edinburgh International Festival * T ...

. In Canada, it aired on YTV, and in the UK on Horse & Country and

Pop Girl Pop Girl was a free-to-air children's television channel in the United Kingdom, owned by CSC Media Group (formerly Chart Show Channels), a company associated with the makers of ''The Chart Show'', a television programme that had previously bee ...

. It was broadcast by the French children's specialty channel

Gulli Gulli (; stylised as gulli) is a French free-to-air television channel focused on kids programming for those aged 3 to 14. It was created as a result of a partnership between Lagardère Active and state-owned broadcaster France Télévisions. ...

, dubbed into French. Series 3 was broadcast on

in the United States starting on February 22, 2009, while sneak views has been shown on "Saddle Club Sundays" in December 2008. In Australia, the new series commenced on Channel Nine and WIN TV on March 7, 2009.

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Netwo ...

airs a compilation movie of “Horse Shy”, “Mystery Weekend” and “School Horse” (episode 6-8 of series 1) every Christmas Day since 2017.

Other media

Australian Videos *''The Saddle Club: Adventures At Pine Hollow'' (2001) *''The Saddle Club: Horse Crazy'' (2002) *''The Saddle Club: The Mane Event'' (2003) *''The Saddle Club: The First Adventure'' (2003) *''The Saddle Club: Friends Forever'' (2004) *''The Saddle Club: Storm'' (2004) *''The Saddle Club: Saving Pine Hollow'' (2005) Australian DVDs *''The Saddle Club: Adventures At Pine Hollow'' (2002) *''The Saddle Club: Horse Crazy'' (2003) *''The Saddle Club: The Mane Event'' (2003) *''The Saddle Club: The First Adventure'' (2003) *''The Saddle Club: Friends Forever'' (2004) *''The Saddle Club: Storm'' (2004) *''The Saddle Club: Saving Pine Hollow'' (2005) *''The Saddle Club: Series 1'' (2005) *''The Saddle Club: Series 2'' (2006) *''The Saddle Club: The First Adventure'' (2009 Re-release) *''The Saddle Club: Adventures at Pine Hollow'' (2009 Re-release) - Released as "More Adventures at Pine Hollow" *''The Saddle Club: Horse Crazy'' (2009 Re-release) *''The Saddle Club: The Mane Event'' (2009 Re-release) *''The Saddle Club: Friends Forever'' (2009 Re-release) *''The Saddle Club: Storm'' (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) Computer game *''The Saddle Club: Willowbrook Stables'' (2002) *''The Saddle Club'' (2010)

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

* ''Special Mane Event'' (2004)

Singles

Read Along CD

*''The Saddle Club: Horse Sense'' (2002) – ABC Audio 3-hour, 3-CD set read by Lucy Bell

Sophie & Kia

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) – No. 41 Australia *"He's Everything" (2005) – No. 40 Australia

Heli Simpson

Albums *'' Princess Veronica'' (2004) Extended plays *''Princess Veronica Tour'' (2004) Singles *" Don't Ask Me" (2004) – No. 16 Australia

Ashley and Melanie

Singles *"Trouble" (2003) – No. 30 Australia

Awards

ARIA Music Awards

References

External links

''The Saddle Club''
at the Australian Television Information Archive
''The Saddle Club''
*
''The Saddle Club''
at

Horse Racing TV FanDuel Racing (formerly TVG2 and HRTV) is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network. It is part of the TVG Network and is owned by Paddy Power Betfair. Dedicated to horse racing, it broadcasts events from U.S. ...

''The Saddle Club''
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

''The Saddle Club''
at

AustLit AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource (also known as AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway; and AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature), usually referred to simply as AustLit, is an internet-based, non-profit collaboration betwee ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saddle Club, The PBS Kids shows Australian children's television series Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming 2000s Canadian children's television series Nine Network original programming 2001 Australian television series debuts 2009 Australian television series endings 2001 Canadian television series debuts 2009 Canadian television series endings Television shows set in Victoria (Australia) Television series about teenagers Television series about horses English-language television shows Australian television shows based on children's books Television series by Crawford Productions PBS original programming