Many of you who read this may or may not know that I am a Heartlander.
Not as in the "I-live-in-the-heartland-of-America/Canada" Heartlander, but as in "I-am-a-big-time-fan-of-CBC's-TV-show-Heartland" Heartlander! :]
Why do I love it?
1. Horses
Ever since I was little, I was always into horses. Even though I don't own a horse (hopefully one day!) or ride as much as I want to, I feel so passionate about these beautiful, majestic creatures, and Heartland puts horses front and center.
This show is about an Alberta, Canada family coping with a death in the family and struggling to make ends meet on their sprawling horse ranch where Amy Fleming AKA "The Horse Whisperer" or "Miracle Girl", as she's known in her community, works with problem/injured/traumatized horses by using her connection with horses and the theraputic techniques she learned from her Mom.
Helping her is her grandfather, Jack Bartlett, the rock of Heartland, her older sister Lou Fleming, the brains on the business side of things, her close-friend-practically-sister Mallory Wells, and their bad boy stable hand Ty Borden.
I seriously believe this show was made for ME. And if GMC (Gospel Music Channel) didn't air it, I probably would be like you, thinking, "How good can a show about horses be?"
Well, the great thing about this show is that not only does it showcase a certain type of problem/injured/traumatized horse, but it also centers alot around the importance of family, sticking together through the hard times, and pursing your dreams no matter how far-fetched they may seem. AND, if you watch it on GMC, they edit out all of the cuss words that sometimes pop up in an episode, so it's very family-friendly :]
2. Cast
(left to right front row: Shaun Johnston as Jack Bartlett, Amber Marshall as Amy Fleming, Graham Wardle as Ty Borden, Michelle Morgan as Lou Fleming, Kerry James as Caleb Odell left to right back row: Jessica Amlee as Mallory Wells, Chris Potter as Tim Fleming, Nathaniel Arcand as Scott Cardinal)
This show would not have taken off and been a hit like it has without this cast. You can tell they all truly love their job and portraying their respective characters, and their love for horses is evident too! Especially with Amber (Amy)! I've found out that she grew up riding and already loved horses before being approached to be in this show. Every scene she has with a horse (and there are a lot of them!) where she "acts" and has to comfort the horse or praises the horse on a job well done, she doesn't look like she's acting. It's just so natural for her! Which makes her very convincing as Amy Fleming on Heartland.
3. Location
photo credit: CBC
Yes, I am an American. Yes, I love my country. Yes, I know our national anthem....
but I love Canada too! I have lots of friends in Canada believe it or not that I met at Word of Life and there's always my Canadian friends who's blogs I follow on Tumblr (shoutout to y'all! <3) :] It is so beautiful where they shoot this show. I've only been to Canada once --to go see Niagara Falls (because everybody knows the better viewing side is on the Canadian side ;]) but one of these days I'm gonna get out to High River, Alberta where they shoot the town scenes for the show and just roam around looking for all that awesome Canadian Rockies beauty! Maybe I'll see some Heartland stars! It would be awesome to meet Graham and Amber, but honestly if I had to choose, I would pick Amber :] Anyway, I love the mountains! Grew up close enough to them that every summer, I'd spend it there working at a camp and going to a rodeo every week. When I saw the first episode and saw the location, I was like, "Yup, I already know I'm gonna like this show."
4. Inspiration
photo credit: Shawn Turner
When I started watching Heartland, I was still thinking about what to go back to school for. After watching Amber's character, Amy, take care of so many injured and abused horses, I knew that I want to do something like that. A couple months ago, I signed up for online classes to study to be a VA (Vet Assistant). It's been going great so far, and I feel like this is the path I'm supposed to be taking. Heartland further inspired me to seriously consider taking courses in Equine Studies after I finish up with the VA course. Then instead of working in an animal clinic, I could work with a mobile veterinary clinic who travel mostly to farms to take care of livestock and horses since it's easier for the farmer, and most importantly, the animal.
So............this has been a super long post and it's okay if you didn't read it, especially if you're someone who's never watched Heartland. But if you haven't, I hoped this post put the bug in your ear and you'll try it out. I instantly loved it because I firmly believe I am half country girl even though we don't live on a farm. Must've been because my Dad lived on a dairy farm growing up, so me and my siblings grew up like he did, just without all the cows :p
We have a cat though. A great big, fat, black cat called Kitty Barkley. :]
One of these days......I WILL own or maybe even adopt a horse.
I already have a name picked out: Charlemagne.
:]
Until my next insanely long post,
ERW
Song of the day: White Horses by Jenn Grant
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