By India McCarty
HEARTLAND’s Amber Marshall credits the show’s success to some unlikely co-stars — the horses!
“I think there’s a lot of draw to the Western lifestyle, and it doesn’t matter if you’re from the city, from the country, you’ve had horses, you haven’t — there is a certain idea of ‘that is what life is…that’s where we came from,’” she told Cowgirl Magazine.
Marshall explained that the “connection between humans and horses” is undeniable and something that “everybody can relate to that, even if you’ve never seen a horse in real life.”
Related: Why HEARTLAND’s ‘Rural Christian Values’ Draw Fans from Around the World
“I believe that when you watch that on TV and feel that power, even through a screen…it’s something I can’t explain,” the actress continued. “I just know that it happens to me and I know that it happens to thousands of other people out there, so I believe that horses have a lot to do with the longevity of HEARTLAND, and the connection between so many different people around the world and the show itself.”
That connection to the West runs through Marshall’s own life. The actress ended up moving to Alberta, Canada, after production on HEARTLAND brought her there.
“If it wasn’t for the show bringing me out here, I don’t know that I would have just thought, ‘I’m going to move out west,’” she told Cowgirl Magazine in a 2025 interview. “But this is exactly where I want to be.”
Marshall added that Amy, her character, has “become more like me, and I have become more like [Amy]” over the years.
“I love working with cattle…Amy somehow always gets out of that,” she joked. “But I love helping neighbors move cows or checking my own little herd during calving season. That’s my meditation.”
Marshall also loves working with animals on set, telling KGET Bakersfield, “I love working with kids and animals because I feel like it creates this environment on set that is very spontaneous because you never know what is going to happen. Everyone has to be ready for anything. When I have done other things where there are not animals, it is an entirely different on-set dynamic.”
Season 19 of HEARTLAND is currently airing in the US, shortly after its Canadian premiere.
“HEARTLAND fans in the U.S. have long asked for a shorter wait after the Canadian debut, and we’ve been working diligently behind the scenes to make that a reality. We’re excited to bring new episodes to our subscribers just a few weeks after they first air in Canada,” Philip Manwaring, head of streaming at UP Entertainment, HEARTLAND’s US distributor, said in a statement.
Whether they’re Canadian or American, HEARTLAND’s viewers connect with the show’s characters — both human and horse.
Read Next: HEARTLAND’s Amber Marshall Praises Show’s ‘Wholesome, Family’ Themes
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