Last updated on March 24th, 2023 at 07:11 pm
Spartan Heartland
Heartland is a popular television series that has been running on CBC since it first premiered in 2007— and it seems to still be going strong. The series takes place on the Heartland ranch and in the surrounding areas, and as we all can assume, where there is a ranch, there are horses!
Alongside its cast of human characters, there are many equine characters who are part of the show, too. One of these equine characters is Spartan, who has been there since the start.
Read on to learn more about the horse Spartan and his role as a key character on the Heartland tv series, as well as a little bit more about the real horses that portray this character!
What Is Heartland?
The Heartland tv series is a long running show on CBC that has been around since its first episode aired in 2007. Now, there are 16 seasons of the show! It is, at its heart, a sprawling family saga style show. It focuses largely upon the Fleming family, who own the Heartland ranch, and the other characters who they interact with on the ranch and in town.
Also Read – Where is Heartland Filmed?
There is a cast of both human and horse characters, and the 16 seasons have allowed for us to really delve into storylines that focus on many of these different characters. There is always a lot to follow. The show begins with the death of Marion Fleming— she died in a car accident— and her tragic death throws the family into turmoil.
This happens in the very first episode.
The family must come together, heal old rifts, and deal with their grief. The show continues from there to watch all of the characters over the years as they chase their dreams and try to do their best with the challenges that life may send their way.
Who Is Spartan?
Spartan is one of the many characters on Heartland. He is one of the equine characters and was in the very first episode of the very first season on the show! He has become an important character and is very important to Amy Fleming, who is the main character on the show.
We first see Spartan when Marion, Amy’s mother, is still alive. In the first episode of the show, Marion and Amy are trying to rescue Spartan when Marion gets into a tragic car accident.
Amy is also injured, and when she wakes up, she asks about her mother and Spartan.
Marion, we and Amy find out, did not make it. Spartan survived, though.
Spartan is one of the first horses that Amy truly connects with, and helps her realize that she has also inherited her mother’s gift with horses. She begins to work with Spartan, which also helps her to deal with her feelings of guilt and grief about her mother’s passing. This starts Amy on her journey of working with troubled horses.
Once Amy (Amber Marshall) starts to ride Spartan and he starts to trust her, she notices that he has a talent for jumping. Soraya suggests that they get Spartan back into show jumping competitions. However, when they try to trailer Spartan, he reacts poorly, and they realize that he has developed a fear of trailers from the accident. Amy has to work with him to get him used to and comfortable with trailers again.
Amy and Spartan do begin to enter show jumping competitions, and they start placing in them, too! Mr. Mallen, the previous owner of Spartan who was not good to him, sees this and demands his horse back.
Spartan spooks when he sees his former owner, and Lou and Amy give Mr. Mallen a bill for Spartan’s stay at the Heartland ranch. This angers him and gets him off their back— at least for now.
Over the years and seasons of the show, Spartan finds himself in the midst of more drama, such as in season 2, when he gets pesticide poisoning and almost dies. Luckily, Ty is able to get him to drink a concoction that saves his life!
He is also stolen and sold in an auction before Amy and Ty are able to get him back. Even though Spatan has his fair share of intense storylines, he always ends up coming out of them okay, much to viewers’ relief. He also builds a very strong bond with Amy over the course of the show and its many seasons and is special to her.
Also Read – Does Amy (Amber Marshall) Die On Heartland?
Also Read – Why Does Ty Leave Heartland?
Who Plays Spartan on Heartland?
Unlike the humans (Like Amber Marshall and Graham Wardle) on the Heartland series, the equine characters are usually played by more than one actor. This is certainly true of Spartan! He has been— and is still— played by multiple horses. There are three who play Spartan, and their names are Stormy, Rocky, and Sisko.
One of the benefits of having different horses playing one character is that the strengths of different horses can be used for different scenes. It is almost like Spartan has a stunt double! For instance, Spartan is a fantastic show jumper, so the best show jumper of the actor horses is used for the competition jumping scenes.
Stormy is one of the horses that plays Spartan, and has been on set with the rest of the Heartland cast for a very long time. Stormy was just 5 when he started his role as Spartan on the silver screen.
It was also Stormy’s first acting job, just as Heartland was a big breakout role for a lot of the human actors!
Stormy is well-loved on set, and many of the cast members say that he is a friendly horse and always eager for attention. He loves to be in front of the camera— a natural actor— and does not get bored easily, which is great for scenes that end up requiring many takes! Stormy is an intelligent horse and his favorite spot to be petted or scratched is right under his chin. We certainly hope he gets lots of those for a job well done!
On set stormy’s handler is John Scott who looks after the horses and is involved in the horse scenes. He works with Amber Marshall (Amy Fleming) and any other actor that rides Spartan. Heartland fans of Heartland Ranch and Stomry’s acting job will be fans of John Scott. Stormy is a quarter horse, just like Rocky who is another horse that sometimes plays Spartan the quarter horse
Living in Alberta like we do and running an equestrian centre you get to meet a lot of people in the horse world. You also get to meet the horse actors who play parts in the shows you love and find out what it takes to be a tv horse or a movie horse.
Does Spartan Die in Heartland?
Heartland has been running for over 15 years and as such you would wonder about it’s euine characters. You might be wondering does Spartan die in Heartland?
Spartan is one of the many characters on Heartland. He is one of the equine characters and was in the very first episode of the very first season on the show! He has become an important character and is very important to Amy Fleming, who is the main character on the show.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many horses played Spartan on Heartland?
There are a few different horses who played the character of the horse Spartan on the Heartland tv series. It’s similar to how, when a baby is on a show, there will often be more than one actor playing that character!
This is pretty common for animals in a show or a movie, just like the horses playing Spartan on Heartland.
There were three different horses who played Spartan on the CBC series. Their names are Stormy, Rocky, and Sisko. One of the great things about this is that horses can have different talents and can be used for different scenes— such as one horse being used for show jumping scenes.
Is Spartan in season 15 of Heartland?
The horse Spartan (a quarter horse) is an important character on Heartland and has more than a few storylines around him. He has been a regular on the show for a long time and has certainly become one of the fan favorite horses!
You may wonder, then, if Spartan is still on the show all the way in season 15. Spartan is still part of the show at this point, and has a plotline surrounding him in this season. For example, in season 15, episode 9, “The Long Game”, Amy realizes that Spartan is not ready to retire from competitions. Due to this, she enters him in an endurance race.
Does Spartan get sick in Heartland?
Spartan is one of the horses on the Heartland tv series and is often seen with Amy. Amy has trained Spartan, really, since the beginning. Due to this, there have been plenty of storylines focusing on Spartan— or on Amy and Spartan, together as a team— and there are a few times when Spartan does get sick or injured.
For example, in season 2, there is a scary incident when they discover that Spartan has pesticide poisoning.
Amy and Ty are able to save him, though. There is also an incident in season 6 where Spartan injures his leg in a jumping incident, and Amy must decide whether to have Spartan get surgery or put him down due to his painful and severe injury. Of course, we know that Amy ends up opting for the surgery!
How old is Spartan Heartland?
Spartan is with the Flemings and the Heartland ranch through all of the years and all of the seasons of the show. In fact, he appears in the very first episode and is the horse that Marion and Amy are trying to save when Marion gets into her tragic accident. It does not say, explicitly, in the show, how old Spartan is.
However, he is getting older in the later episodes and Amy begins to only ride him sporadically due to his age and the arthritis he is developing.
The horses that play Spartan are of different ages, but one of them, Stormy, has been acting on the show as Spartan for around 14 years, and started his role at the age of 5!