Saddlebreds and ASHA Youth Club Members to Appear on Hit TV Show, The Saddle Club
Friday, January 11, 2008
Lexington, Ky. – Saddlebreds will be featured on a popular TV series among kids in January. The Saddle Club will spotlight the American Saddlebred in one of its video journals in an episode scheduled to air on January 19. The show airs on both the Discovery Kids Channel and PBS, check local listings for episode number 221, titled Foster Horse, Part 3.
A pair of young Saddlebred enthusiasts, Mollie Kregor and Nathan Stein, will be appearing in the episode with American Saddlebreds. Both Mollie and Nathan ride at Premier Stables in Simpsonville, Kentucky, under the direction of Rob and Sarah Byers and are members of the Premier Youth Club. Recently, as the show went into production for its third series of episodes, the producers decided to begin including video journals from real-life young equestrians. Their goal is to educate the audience on the many different breeds and disciplines in the horse world.
Mollie began riding at seven-years-old with Sarah Byers, and Nathan got started at an even younger age – his mother was taught to ride by Helen Crabtree. At the 2006 Kentucky State Fair World’s Championship Horse Show, Nathan won the Three-Gaited Junior Exhibitor 13 & Under Championship with Callaway’s Buttons And Bows, who was also the Three-Gaited Ladies Amateur 15.2 & Under World’s Champion in 2001 for Mary Gaylord McClean. Callaway’s Buttons And Bows (Supreme Heir x Callaway’s Carousel [BHF]) will be featured in the video journal with Nathan. The Petite Princess (Genius Bourbon Prince x Haute Tamale), a three-gaited pleasure horse, will also be featured on the show with Mollie. Mollie began showing The Petite Princess in 2006 and has since racked up blue ribbons at the Kentucky Fall Classic, American Royal, Kentucky Spring Premier and Rock Creek. She brought home a ribbon at this past year’s WCHS in the Three-Gaited Show Pleasure 13 & Under class of 16 entries. Mollie’s mother, Betty Baird Kregor, says based on her impressions from attending the filming sessions at Premier Stables, she expects this video journal to demonstrate how much work goes into training to show.
The Saddle Club is a half-hour, live-action fictional drama documenting the adventures of three 12-year-old girls, all centered around horses. The girls are getting older, but the themes remain friendship, horses and adventure. It is based on the best-selling books by Bonnie Bryant. While it is fictional, the show addresses real-life situations, many of which relate directly to the horse world, and the girls serve as positive role models. According to its Web site, The Saddle Club is currently seen in over 14 countries, including 355 PBS stations with a reach of 78.6 million households in the United States. On cable or satellite, it can also be seen on the Discovery Kids Channel.
The setting is Pine Hollow Stables, where each of the girls takes lessons – together they have formed The Saddle Club. Episode themes have included overnight trail rides, campaigning to rescue a horse from slaughter, teaching a horse to canter and fundraising. They learn about many horse-related issues and topics, such as breeding, selling, barn safety, proper care for horses and equine health. In addition to the three main characters, their horses star in the show as well. Their three horses are Prancer, a chestnut Thoroughbred mare; Starlight, a buckskin gelding, but his breed is not specified; and Belle, an Arabian-Saddlebred mare. In the show, the half-Saddlebred was a rescue effort by one of the characters.
(Courtesy of the ASHA)
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