The episode opens with Stevie being a complete menace. She tells Carole and Lisa to check on Prancer, and has a hay bag - painted to look like a creepy clown - swing down and smack straight into their faces. This actually seems quite mean-spirited, by Stevie standards.
Max holds a meeting in the lounge. Pine Hollow is hosting the clunkily-named 'End of Pony Club Party,' which also seems to be a fundraiser for all the pony clubs in the area. It's also the 100th anniversary of Pine Hollow stables ... AND PROM'S TOMORROW NIGHT! I jest, but the party has to be a big deal. Lisa volunteers to help run things. Veronica mocks her, but when Phil puts his hand up, so does she. Max continues his long tradition of poor decision making, and says that Veronica and Lisa can plan the party together, which makes neither of them happy.
Veronica begins party planning. She wants valet parking and chandeliers. Lisa reminds her there is a budget. Lisa complains to Stevie about Veronica's unrealistic expectations, and how she thinks a historical theme would better suit the party, given that it's the 100th anniversary of the stables and all. Stevie, tactful as always, tells her that she needs to lighten up. Lisa is hurt because it feels like Stevie is taking Veronica's side. Stevie then chooses this moment to prank Lisa by giving her a soft drink that leaks all over her shirt. Lisa tells Stevie that she's not amused and Stevie, grinning, says, 'It's okay, I am!'
Stevie continues her reign of pranks by putting cooked spaghetti in Veronica and Kristi's riding boots. The merry, jolly background music suggests we should find this funny, but it's already become quite tiresome. You just know that if Veronica was pulling these pranks on Stevie, she'd be pitching a fit. Stevie declares, 'Bow down to the queen of pranks!' Veronica deadpans that she needs to get her medication checked.
In the office, Mrs. Reg tells Max that making Lisa and Veronica work together is a bad idea. Max explains that he was hoping the girls might balance each other out. (Max, if you truly believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.) As they're talking, Max sits down in his office chair, and we hear a loud squelch. He stands up, revealing that he sat in bright green jelly. Stevie comes in and laughs, and Max tells her that she needs to watch out because somebody's going to get her back for all the pranks she's been pulling. (He takes the prank much better than I would. Personally, I'd be sending her parents a dry cleaning bill.)
Kristi attempts to ask Red out to the party, taking off her sunglasses while she's attempting to flirt with him. Red begins laughing, and declines, saying he doesn't date pandas. Kristi checks her reflection, and sees that someone put ink on her sunglasses, leaving dark rings under her eyes. Gee. I wonder who it could possibly be ...? (Sigh.)
Max catches up with Lisa, and tells her that he's heard about her idea of a historical theme and he's got something she might be interested in. Later, Lisa rushes into the lounge to talk to Veronica and Kristi. She excitedly tells the two that the party isn't only the 100th anniversary of Pine Hollow, but also the 100th anniversary of the death of Max's great-grand uncle William. Their party happens to fall on Friday the 13th, so they could do a horror theme. Lisa explains that good ol' Great-grand Uncle William HAD HIS HEAD CHOPPED OFF and DIED A VIOLENT DEATH - direct quotes! Not super appropriate to share with your tiny students, Max! Veronica scoffs, but Deborah, who has overheard all of this, very seriously tells the girls about the time she totally saw the headless horseman. Veronica and Kristi look skeptical, but The Saddle Club eat it up.
Later, Lisa tells Stevie and Carole the rest of the story about the headless horseman. He found gold, and two thieves strung a wire up across the trail, which cut his head off. She explains how Pine Hollow was built on old Regnery farmland (where else would it be built?), and where they are standing right now is the exact spot where William died, and that she always felt a shiver when she passed this spot. Stevie and Carole look unsettled, but Stevie especially so. Later that night, when Stevie is grooming Comanche in his stall, she hears strange noises, and becomes nervous.
The next day, The Saddle Club are talking together late at night, when they hear a strange noise, and eerie music plays in the background - spooky! Stevie is initially nervous, but then decides that it's only someone trying to get revenge for her pranks. The girls begin walking towards the noise, but things only get more spooky. Stevie turns around, to find that Lisa and Carole have left her on her own - serves her right, given what a pill she's been this episode! Stevie continues to walk towards the strange noises, and that's when she sees him - the headless horseman, standing in a horse stall!
Max, Mrs. Reg, and Deborah debrief with the girls. Max confirms that Stevie's the only one who actually saw anything, but she's unsure. Deborah tells the girls that the historical facts are true, but the legend of the headless horseman isn't. Mrs. Reg tells them it's late, they're overexcited, and that she'll drive them all home. (Why aren't their parents picking them up?)
As the girls are heading back to the office, they overhear the three adults talking about what happened. They're staging a cover-up, and only reassured the girls that the ghost was fake to throw them off the scent! Deborah asks what will happen if 'he' comes back. Ominous. Max assures her that, 'If worse comes to worst, I'll have to put an end to him.' (Max Regnery: Ghost Hunter! Sounds good for a spin-off!) One of the girls sneezes, interrupting their conversation, but they manage to hide before Max can find them.
The day of the party, Veronica is ordering Sam and Megan around and it's not going well. 'Peasants! I'm surrounded by peasants!' she shouts, which is absolutely the best Veronica line of the whole episode, nay, the series. Lisa takes over, and explains she made preparations for fright night.
The Saddle Club tell Phil about the ghost. Stevie tells them that, after a good night's sleep, she's realised that Veronica and Kristi are behind the ghost. She's certain that Veronica's going to try and pull something tonight, but they're going to stop her. Phil assumes he's invited, but Stevie tells him it's girls' business. Rude! You guys invited him into the conversation!
The students are helping decorate the lounge. Carole and Phil discuss their costumes. She's going as Freddy Kreuger, and he's supposed to be going as Frankenstein, but his costume is too small.
That night, the girls are walking through the stables when things get spooky again. Thunder crashes, they hear hoofbeats ... Stevie's still convinced Veronica's pranking her, and that the sounds are just a tape recorder. The headless horseman appears again, and the girls scream. Lisa and Carole bolt, but Stevie's still convinced it's a prank. She's about to pursue the headless horseman when she suddenly bumps into Veronica, who's already in her costume. Stevie begins to realise that Veronica isn't pranking her, then the headless horseman appears again - this time riding a horse. Both girls scream and run. The lock themselves in the lounge, only to find the horseman inside the room. They open the door, but he's waiting outside for them, too!
They scream, and then the lights turn on. Everyone's waiting for them, and they yell, 'Gotcha!' Turns out, it was all a prank! Lisa tells Stevie, 'You told me to lighten up, is this light enough for you?' (Get her, Lisa!) Stevie and Veronica are still bewildered, and open the door to find Max standing outside, looking very dashing in the ye olde horseman outfit.
The party is underway. Stevie goes to Freddy Kreuger and says how impressed she was by Phil - she thought he was boring when they first met, but he's really surprised her. (I'm sure you can see where this is going.) Stevie walks away, and Frankenstein comes over to Freddy. They pull their masks off, and we see that Phil was wearing the Freddy Kreuger costume. He and Carole switched, and he heard everything. Phil seems quite pleased by what Stevie told him.
Max and Deborah (who also dressed as the horseman to help with the prank) are walking into his office. As they step inside, Deborah remarks on how well the costumes worked at convincing the kids - and standing out in the hallway, the actual ghost of the headless horseman appears, flickering briefly as he strides forwards, before completely disappearing. Turns out he was real ALL ALONG ...
All in all, this was an okay episode. I generally find the supernatural ones silly, but I'm willing to be forgiving, given that the majority of the spooky occurrences were revealed to be a prank, and therefore based in reality. I've decided that I can tolerate one genuine supernatural experience per episode, at maximum. That said, I didn't particularly enjoy the main plot. 'Stevie pulls endless pranks' got pretty old pretty quickly, and at points made her character genuinely unlikable. I also feel the need to point out that much is made of The Saddle Club being the best riders and the most competent horsewomen at Pine Hollow, and that Stevie should know better than to pull pranks - especially ones that could make people jump and scream - around horses. That said, we do know from experience that expecting consistent writing from The Saddle Club is a big ask.
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