The Saddle Club Episode 1.8: Star Quality

Okay, so I saw this episode approximately 100 times as a kid, so I’m something of an expert on it. This is because, back in 2005, you could buy ‘movies’ of The Saddle Club on VHS. I say ‘movies’ because they weren't actually full-length movies — they were a couple of episodes mushed together and marketed as such because the ABC was trying to get bang for their buck. I had one of these movies, called Horse Crazy, and the first third of it was Star Quality. I know I’m biased because I watched this episode so much, but I do think it’s a fun episode. It’s got action, drama, and a cameo by Bonnie Bryant, the author of the book series!

Book Review: A Perfect Pony

It's the most exciting day of Niki's life! She's saved up enough money to buy her very own pony and today is the day of the pony auction. She could take home a magnificent pinto or a proud Thoroughbred, but she sets her heart on a beautiful white mare instead. When a little black horse with big sad eyes distracts Niki from the mare of her dreams, will she miss the chance to own the perfect pony?' 

Spoiler alert: I think we all know that Niki ends up with a perfect pony anyway.

The Saddle Club Episode 1.07: School Horse

Do my eyes deceive me? Does this episode begin with Max ... actually teaching a lesson? Is that man … supervising the minors in his care? Say it ain’t so! Max is actually giving Ashley a lesson on Dime when the Saddle Club come over leading Prancer. Stevie’s complaining about how her doctor is forcing her to give up junk food, including her beloved jelly beans. Lisa offers to stop biting her nails, because she thinks it’ll be fun to give up their bad habits together. I think this is a pretty nice gesture, but Stevie snarks, ‘You have a warped definition of fun.’ Max tells them that Prancer’s been acting up lately, and she better behave. Prancer starts to freak out while Carole lunges her, manages to escape, and runs straight for Ashley and Dime. Max manages to catch Prancer and steady her, and announces that this is the final straw — he’s putting Prancer up for sale. 

The Saddle Club Episode 1.6: Mystery Weekend

(Hello everyone! Just a quick note before we return back to our scheduled programming: I am currently in the middle of moving houses, so there might be a slight delay with getting these up in a timely manner.)

Full disclosure, this episode was one of my absolute favourites as a kid. So Mystery Weekend opens with the news that Pine Hollow is hosting a … mystery weekend. A bunch of the other pony clubs are participating, and the Saddle Club are admiring one of the handsome new arrivals. Veronica assumes it’s Greg, a member of Phil’s pony club, but they’re actually fawning over his horse, Atlas. Phil introduces Greg to the girls, and the boys share that if the mystery weekend doesn’t make enough money, their pony club might go under. Firstly, why are these kids worrying about the pony club’s financial woes? Who is stressing them out about this? Also, isn’t Phil’s family supposed to be disgustingly rich …? (I’m just saying, if his parents own 50+ acres and attend the same country club as the DiAngelos, I’m sure they can afford to give a little pocket change to their son’s pony club!)

The Saddle Club Episode 1.5: Horse Shy

So we open on a class at Pine Hollow, with the students competing in an obstacle course. (Max, of course, is nowhere to be seen.) The Saddle Club’s team is winning, but when it’s time for Lisa to go against Veronica, Lisa is only able to trot, so Veronica and Cobalt end up winning. Afterwards, Veronica and Kristi are all snotty about how, since Lisa can’t canter, Max should start a class just for students who can’t canter, and how Lisa would be the only member. I have to say, this makes absolutely zero sense. Pine Hollow would surely have a whole range of riders, all at different levels. It seems pretty unlikely to me that Lisa would be the only kid at the whole stables who isn’t cantering? Anyway, I digress. 

The Saddle Club Episode 1.4: Trail Ride - Part 2

This episode picks up where the last one left off. Veronica is lying in the grass, still unconscious. Cobalt hangs around for a couple of minutes before fucking off back to camp. It’s unclear if Cobalt was trying to get help, or if he was sick of Veronica’s company, but I’m going to assume it was the latter. This is finally enough for Max to clock that Veronica is missing, and he heads off to find her. The Saddle Club decide that Max needs their help, too, and tack up their horses to head out onto the trails as well. Phil insists on going with them. He also admits that he was pulling the girls’ legs a bit with his talk about wild animals in the area, but admits that the wild dogs are real. (This is important for later.)

The Saddle Club Episode 1.3: Trail Ride - Part 1

We’re in for a two-parter here, folks! How exciting! Remember when television shows were long enough to do multi-part episodes because seasons weren’t only eight episodes long, and there wasn’t three-year breaks between seasons because filming schedules were CONSISTENT? PEPPERIDGE FARM REMEMBERS. #salty #netflixthisisaboutyou

The Saddle Club Episode 1.2: Work Horses

This episode opens with the news that Carole is exercising racehorses as a side hustle, which seems pretty unbelievable, even for the world of the Saddle Club. Aren’t these kids supposed to be, like, eleven? She’s exercising Prancer when the mare inexplicably falls lame, and when Carole reports this to her owner, David McLeod, he says that, since this keeps happening and Prancer is uninsured, he’s just going to have her put down. (Which, jeez! I get Carole works for you but she’s, again, ELEVEN. Maybe just tell the kid Prancer’s going to live on a farm or something!) 

Moondance Alexander

When I told a friend about how I was staring this blog, she recommended this movie and said we should watch it together. Despite considering myself an expert at mid-2000s horse movies, I'd actually never seen this one before. All my friend told me was that the title: Moondance Alexander. I’m going to exercise restraint here and not make any cracks about the name.

The Saddle Club Episode 1.1: The Saddle Club

In my humble opinion, The Saddle Club is quintessential horse girl media - you just can't discuss the genre without it. I was completely obsessed with The Saddle Club as a kid. I had the books, the backpack, and the board game. As a kid, I thought the show was so grown up. I desperately wanted to be like Carole, Lisa, and Stevie, and have horsey adventures on my own. (Now that I'm approaching 30, the girls' adventures don't seem fun, they seem to indicate a worrying lack of adult supervision.) So I think it's appropriate that my first review here is for the show that really set me off on the path to becoming a  horse girl: The Saddle Club!