Liberty work on heartland started back in season five, so a decade ago, and this is
kind of a neat throwback to that because when we first saw Amy working with liberty horses
that was the Dark Horse audition that Renard was introduced in. And we got to see Amy learning the
ways of Renard and working with the liberty horses. Now flash forward 10 years later and we
get to see the return of Dark Horse but it's not Renard but someone who ended up taking
the job that Amy had auditioned for. So this is a really cool story that comes full circle
and it's been it's been really exciting to be able to be a part of that.
I had the opportunity
to work uh liberty horses is my specialty but horse training in general is what I get to do
you know it's like I grew up in Australia and my parents managed small sort of cattle stations
back home as we referred to them so horses were a way of life sort of on a day-to-day basis but they
never competed but we were around horses from a very young age and I always always was fascinated
with um what they did with horses in films you know i think that probably my favorite thing
of to do is to be able to get asked like the unrealistic expectation of horses and
find a way to work through uh that to have those certain moments come to life
I think the most challenging part is not staying like kind of stuck or restricted with what we just
know now i think that um in order to continue to involve evolve in our horsemanship and to get to
a place where that we can do you know better things in an easier manner that's probably the
biggest challenge so for a horse to become sort of fully trained i think with liberty one of the
exciting things about is that i don't know that we've ever yet reached what we would consider
fully trained we certainly have a beginning we have a middle and I have horses that do some
extraordinary things but to say one is like fully trained i'm still waiting to find it I would say
in comparison to most people that you know that are here um I would say that we're probably the
least experienced when it comes to the amount of stuff on screen we've been involved more so to
do with like a lot of still type productions for photos magazines like that where they're typically
filming that but predominantly it has been you know the stills so this is a you know fun and a
great opportunity to get to showcase these horses on film.
Most fans of heartland know I absolutely
love the liberty work that we get to do on Heartland it's so exciting for me to be able
to work with these incredible horses and have this amazing stage to be able to present what
they can do you know i'm so lucky that we're able to work with these horses specifically because
dan's horses are amazing and we've watched them you know from afar over the years and
to be able to have them here on our set has been incredible yeah so at the top
at the top um after she does her entrance yeah uh she spins and then we're gonna do one thing
um where she's on the horse and you you did that thing with your whip where you had that one horse
go around you yeah um so do that and then inviting perfect the horses don't care about continuity as
it turns out so it's up to us to try and get them as close as we can our editors however
pull off some magical things to work around our mistakes or the things we can't control
and it usually works out but it's definitely challenging.
Yeah so we put extensions in here
It's really quick we had no mane not much mane to work with so then we just
cover them up and use a bit of a hair adhesive to keep it down
and because this one's in a bit of an action scene really quick scene awesome movement
so i get to stay on top of the mane. So this one's going to double he's got some sweet stunts so
he gets to double the other guy and he got extensions put in today um i never really thought
that i'd be putting special effects on horses when i first went to school but i'm really glad that
that's what i get to do.
As with all liberty work this is about getting to know the cues
for each individual horse and the training that's already on the horses i mean these are amazing
performers and we are so lucky to be able to have them on Heartland but as actors we have
to learn what makes them tick and on Heartland we always use very talented stunt performers to
make us look the best that we can be but I like to be able to do as much of it as I can myself
we were able to put in some practice days so to speak and get together and I was able to learn
from dan the cues that his horses have and to be able to do as much of it that I could on screen
yeah it certainly hasn't been a walk in the park in terms of getting here I'd say that like most
things the background story and journey is all is sometimes almost the most interesting part um just
to you know actually get across the border and that we we're jumping through a lot of hurdles you
know given the pandemic and as things have started to ease up we were able to uh get across and we
got to enjoy Canada um well at least Pincher Creek I shouldn't say all Canada but Pincher Creek down
there and get to see some beautiful parts it's one of the very first times that i've had the
opportunity to see this part of the country when it's worn hi it's it's a it's been great you know
of course everybody knows Heartland you know my family and friends and that and you know i know
they'll be very excited to get to hear that we got to come out here to the heartland and of course
meet the crew and the staff and everybody out here so it's been a real real pleasure
he dies very slowly [laughter]