How I Got Hooked On Heartland

I’m not quite sure how it started.

I was stuck at home – like everyone else – for most of 2020. Between my husband and I, we cruised through TV series after series, burning through them at an unprecedented rate. I felt gross about it… who watches this much television?? I thought to myself… but the world was burning, or it certainly felt like it. Binging Netflix series was an escape we needed at the time.

I’d heard of the Heartland TV series, based on books of the same name by author Lauren Brooke, from horse friends many times. I could recognize the actors from memes I’d seen online, even though up until this point, I’d never watched an episode of the Canadian equestrian show. Horse friends couldn’t believe I hadn’t watched it – after all, it was a story about a girl and her family who loved horses… Rarely does Hollywood (even the Canadian version of that) do right by horse people anyway. Horse-themed shows are almost always riddled with problems that only horse people would pick out as incorrect and silly.

And it just seemed too cheesy to me, at a time when there was so much more compelling and acclaimed work out there to watch.

Maybe that makes me a snob. I don’t know. But when the pandemic hit, clearly I got desperate.

Heartland had made it to Netflix, all 13 seasons of it. And with nowhere to go and not much to do, I clicked play.

It took a little while to get into it. The show was cheesy, but in a wholesome kind of way. The characters grew on me (ahem, Jack) and for the most part, Heartland made a point of making the horse sport and care elements of the show believable. I had it on while I worked from my laptop on the couch or cleaned the house. But eventually, I found myself more fully invested. I cried at times (the plane crash… and Spartan’s injury) and laughed at others.

I was hooked.

Season 14 just dropped on Netflix, and two years later, I’m sucked right back in again.

Thanks, Heartland, for providing a glimpse of horsey wholeness and a proper distraction during a truly bizarre time in the world. It was a nice runner up to being in the barn with my horse person.

Who knows, we might just have to give Yellowstone a chance next.