Free Rein

Can we please stop with the movies and TV shows with teen girls wearing 10 pounds of flawless make-up 24 hours a day? It's totally unnecessary, unbelievable and detrimental to young girls' self esteem. The main character isn't too likable... actually none of the characters are, but maybe that's because the acting is stiff and the dialog is ridiculous. The show itself is silly, predictable and completely unrealistic, full of plot holes big enough a horse could fall into them. This is a total waste of time for most people unless you really, really love horses.

I watched this series with my 6 yr old horse crazy daughter over a weekend and we absolutely loved it. The story line is easy to follow for young children, the characters are likable and there's no inappropriate themes. The English country side is just beautiful as are the horses. Admittedly we are horse lovers but this is a really enjoyable show for young families to watch together. My daughter is desperate for season 2, fingers cross it's renewed.

The series runs smoothly and it's not to be taken too seriously. Characters have their own characterization and I personally did not get bored between an episode and another. Free Rein is ironic, simple, full of teen drama and pleasantly fills a free afternoon. Each episode lasts about half an hour, it's worth a look but as as simple as it is you have to watch it without high expectations. I enjoyed it.

I am a horse person, so I agree that some of this is "horse fantasy" land, but I don't mind. It's a horse crazy girl's show and it's appropriate for kids and family. Plot holes galore! Horses magically tacked up! A trainer who never rides any horses! But still, good characters, beautiful horses. Just needs a dog or two and then it would be perfect.

Look, this show isn't perfect. It's actually far from perfect. Main character Zoe is moderately unlikable - she is self-absorbed, obnoxious and unwilling to listen to experts and their riding advice, constantly falling back on the "I'm a natural rider" excuse to do whatever she wants. Make sure kids are aware that it takes years of riding to get to the level she was at if this show inspires your kids to start riding. However, all other characters are decent and interesting, both the main secondary characters like Mia, Marcus and Pin and the lesser used characters like Susie. If the writers put effort into Zoe like they did with everybody else, this would be a great show. The plot is also a strong point. The twist in the first season does originally feel like it comes out of nowhere, but was actually very clever in that there are little subtle hints to who the horse thief was.