Horseland
Karen Hydendahl
3 Seasons
Children’s Animated Series

Horseland is a children’s show that includes helpful life lessons in each of its episodes.

The children’s show Horseland has three seasons and is directed by Karen Hydendahl and created by Andy Heyward. Horseland is recommended to ages five to ten but it can be enjoyed by people of all ages. On tiktok, the equestrian (horseback riders) community often reflects on watching it as a kid. There is a lot of criticism on details such as caring, training and horsemanship but as a children’s show it’s hard to include all of these details.

Set on a fictional ranch called Horseland Stables, this show follows the many adventures of 6 preteens. Sarah (voiced by Dana Donlan), Alma (voiced by Emily Hernandez, Molly (voiced by Aleyah Smith), Chloe (voiced by Bianca Heyward), Zoey (voiced by Caroline Iliff) , Bailey (voiced by David Kalis) and their horses all get into problems they have to solve and then turns into a life lesson for the viewer. There are lessons such as inclusion, accepting when you don’t win, overcoming fears and many more lessons that children of young ages will understand.

Andy Heyward is an Emmy award winning chairman who has made more episodes for children’s network than any other producer. Heyward has been involved with the development of Smurfs, Scooby Doo and many more loved children’s shows. Heyward has been involved in over 5,000 episodes of award-winning children’s programs with most of these shows being recognized by the average American. Today Andy Heyward is the Chief Executive officer of Genius Brands and is still involved with the production industry today.

Horseland was directed by Karen Hydendahl who has directed a few animations in the past such as a Strawberry Shortcake movie, Trollz and a series called Daria. As well as directing, Hydendahl is an artist who has worked in animations such as Bob’s Burgers and Doug. On top of being a digital artist, Hydendahl is a painter and fabricator and displayed her art on Instagram which is khydendahl.

Horseland is a good show to teach kids basic life lessons as its episodes are interesting and fun. It was rated a three out of five by a critic on rotten tomatoes. “Horseland doesn’t exactly break any new tween cartoon ground, but it’s a harmless show that kids (especially those infatuated with horses) can relate to, and it always offers a decent lesson or two.” Wrote Deirdre Shepard.

In conclusion, Horseland is a good show for basic lessons that parents often teach their kids. It has paved the way for many young equestrians including myself. Horseland didn’t directly spark my interest to ride horses but it definitely played a part in it. Horseland was not only entertaining but it offered many scenarios where the viewer could reflect and learn from.