Filmography

The first series was filmed in two locations...the outdoor scenes at Wandin Riding School in Melbourne's outer-east while the stables were filmed inside a warehouse in Springvale.

Series 2 was filmed at the one location on a horse property on the outskirts of Melbourne and was real tricky to find (meaning, Horsewyse got thoroughly lost!) The property owner is a horse dealer who leased his property to Crawfords Australia for the duration of filming.

The property is beautifully equipped for horses, with arena, under cover, flood-lit roundyard, stables, yards, paddocks and acres of beautiful countryside.

In other words, it was perfect for The Saddle Club!

It's located on the side of a hill and sure tests the old leg muscles. Day visitors have to stop at the property's entrance and phone ahead to check if it's okay to proceed down the long driveway, as depending on where filming is being done, you could possibly drive into camera range!

The girls had caravans and a tutor room complete with computers. Keenan and Sophie didn't live on the set, but in a near-by suburb and were driven there each day. Those cast members living in Melbourne (James O'Dea, Lara Jean Marshall, Heli Simpson and others) were driven there the days they were required for filming.

The whole set was fully catered, with a mobile coffee cart (and yummy biscuits of which we sampled several!) Lunch was in a huge tent and the food was delicious. Staff and cast gathered and it was dig-in to a smorgasboard spread. During lunchbreak, cast and crew got together for a game of hackysack at which they were very good at. And if you've ever tried to keep a hackysack aloft you'll know how darn hard it is!

It was strange seeing all those familiar faces 'in the flesh', we puzzled about who one gentleman was until series Producer, Lynn Bayones informed us it was John Orsk, who used to be in 'Cop Shop'. Vicki (Horsewyse magazine editor), went to return her dirty plate, turned around a bit too sudden and almost skittled Cathy Godbold.

Several buildings held interior sets, such as the girls' bedrooms. No detail was left out, as you can see from these photos. The wardrobe building was packed with all kinds of clothing. A washing machine was in a aisleway (the only place it would fit) and a tailor was sewing busily. Did the girls need new gear, we asked him? "Yep," he replied, scarcely looking up from whatever it was he was working on. "ALL new outfits because they had grown so much."

There was an on-set nurse but she didn't have much to do as there hadn't been any accidents (yet). Her daughter was a Saddle Club fan, so bugged mum to get cast signatures.

There were lots of crew, most wearing headsets and microphones. When filming was taking place, everyone was notified through their earphones and if you were near the filming, it was a case of stop what you were doing and stay as quiet as possible. And yes, they really DO say 'ACTION' and 'CUT...PRINT'!