I have never seen Horseland before this episode on Youtube--it' a little peculiar, but neat to see a cartoon that is almost all young girls who like horses and have riding goals. This episode focuses on "the lateral steps" (credibility gap ho!) and this dressage move saves the day in this episode. Plotwise it's kind of a stretch...
Monday, February 7, 2011
Horseland: The lateral steps episode
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I like Saddle Club better but it is a good cartoon. Maybe they use the term "lateral steps" since most children who watch the show wouldn't know what they meant by lateral moves. Becsuse they obviously knew the correct term since they used it at the end. So they pretty much teach the kids that lateral steps means lateral moves. That is what I think. Being someone who rode her whole life but only got into dressage in the last year I know how freaking confusing and frustrating all those terms can be. I can't imagine a kid with no horse knowledge knowing what they are talking about.
ReplyDeleteWe are Horseland crazy in this house. We have the movies and have watched them till they play out.
ReplyDeleteI do think it's a pretty good show, all in all. Farfetched, but fun for little girls. My daughter loves it. She said "Mom watch me jump the double oxer" (on foot of course) and I was like "What? How do you know what a double oxer is?" Horseland!!
Cute, even if the terms kind of get scrambled. The bridge crossing is rather farfetched, however, making me a bit more worried about riding safety than incorrect riding terminology. Crossing a breaking bridge, laterally or straight on would be downright dangerous.
ReplyDeleteHELL-lo. What is UP with that horse's mane and tail? Are little girl viewers of this show going to think that horses actually come with conveniently highlighted hair? Down to their knees, I might add? *snort* No, kids My Little Ponies are not real... Also (major pet peeve here), why must dollmakers (Mattel) and the creators of this show dress girls in red riding jackets with black lapels? Do they think red jacket = fox hunting = snobby equestrian fashion = English riding of all sorts?
ReplyDeleteNow that I've gotten those massive inaccuracies off my chest, I find it vastly amusing that the kid has wrapped the horse's leg in one of those new-fangled, fairly expensive, reusable cold wrap thingies. If there is a technical consultant on the show, he/she's pretty hit-or-miss! :-)
Hahaha you guys are cracking me up. It is a cartoon!! It is not supposed to be realistic. Actually I cannot think of one cartoon new or old that was meant to depict real life. It is fun stuff for little kids to be entertained by. Oh wait, bugs bunny was pretty acurate....hehehe. Come on guys it is fun! We just need to remember what it is like to be a kid agian and we probably wouldn't be taking it so seriously.. I have 3 daughters and one that loves to ride and she would never watch that show and then head outside and take off on her horse and run across a breaking bridge...lol...I mean really.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I will say this it is nice to see horsey TV shows where the kiddos practice actual flatwork and riding moves, not just how high they can jump (not the best thing to teach kids).
ReplyDeleteI grew up on the Saddle Club, never heard of Horseland. Cute idea though. I suppose such technicality fails are to be expected, as you've got to keep it entertaining as well. But the ridiculously long and highlighted manes lol, unrealistic riding clothes (I dress nice to the barn, but that doesn't mean I wear the full jacket nonsense haha!) the unsafe bridge crossing, and the overly-vocal horses (which I've seen in so many shows, but never have I seen a horse neigh at every little thing), and the fact that the horse's "cold wrap" was never truly wrapped (dangerous!) was all a bit much. But the horses' voices and comments were cute.
Speaking of which, my FAVORITE fail has to have been on the Saddle Club, where Carol was doing a "dressage test". Firstly, she did stretching trot circle AND a "canter pirouette" in the same test. Secondly, the canter pirouette was simply her galloping (far from even being round) on a 20-meter circle. Now THAT was rich! So much for showing kiddos what a dressage test looks like. But I remember when I was young it looked pretty legitimate to me!
But I digress, and I must keep telling myself that to a little kid, especially those who can only dream of being near horses (WORST stage of horse-craziness haha!) this is a nice dip in the shallow end of the equestrian pool and entertaining. I'm sure if you showed a little one some hard-core horse care, it might or might not be all that entertaining anymore.
Hey cute blog, love the videos. You're welcome to promote it on our Tuesday Horse Blog Linky at http://www.RochesterTrailRiders.com
ReplyDeleteIs this a real show? Dressage saves the day, seriously? I cannot imagine there is a very large audience for this show unless there are more horse crazy kids now then when I grew up.
ReplyDeleteI read the Saddle Club books, but did not know there was also a cartoon.
And what kind of "lateral steps" was she doing if she injured her horse!
Anyway, I have often fancied that my horse's practice in the ring makes him the optimum trail horse. Need to turn around? No problem. Turn on the forehand or rotate on our center. Bend around the trees. Halt anytime I want. Collect the trot so we can stay behind a slow pony or extend when we are leading the group. Never tried sidepassing across a bridge, though. ;)
Saddle club is a show with real kids not a cartoon but me and my girls love to watch it together. It too is not 100% realistic nor accurate but still fun the horse lover.
ReplyDeleteI think the hallmark of a good cartoon is that there is something for kids, but adults aren't totally stultified. Bugs and Daffy are perfect examples, and of course the slew of animated films like Shrek.
ReplyDeleteI don't demand perfect allegiance to reality but I like good dialogue and a plot that makes sense. I like that the young girls are independent and show decent values, but as a cartoon it's kind of marginal. I don't think kids would swoon over it.
LOL I cringed when she used a shedding blade on that hideous mane and tail lol! There were a lot of inaccuracies but I've given up thinking movies or cartoons will ever get it right hehe. Even the books get it wrong sometimes. One of my biggest pet peeves though is the neighing. How annoying! Especially movies where they make jumping horses neigh . . . hello they are holding their breath! I probably would have liked it if I were six or seven though. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI used to play a game online called Horseland that this cartoon was made out of. Of course, AFTER the cartoon the game became more and more and more different until I don't even play it anymore.
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