WIN and Nine will air the third series of The Saddle Club next year.

Produced by legendary production company Crawford Productions, in conjunction with a Canadian company, the 26 part series was filmed between November 2007 and May 2008.

Previously the series aired on the ABC.

The third series includes an all-new cast includes Australian Ariel Kaplan, Canadians Lauren Dixon and Victoria Campbell along with supporting cast member Marny Kennedy (Mortified).

It returns early in 2009.

Press Release:

WIN Television and Channel Nine are pleased to announce an agreement with Crawford Productions to broadcast the hugely successful children’s program, The Saddle Club, across Australia in 2009.

Shot entirely on location in Victoria, the 26 part children’s drama series brings to life the characters and their adventures based on the internationally popular novels written by Bonnie Bryant and follows the huge success of The Saddle Club series 1 and 2, both in Australia and internationally.

The themes that made the novels and the first two series so popular: friendship and a love of horses, continue in the third season, which will also feature some outstanding new talent. The all-new cast includes Australian Ariel Kaplan, Canadians Lauren Dixon and Victoria Campbell along with supporting cast member Marny Kennedy, who received the AFI Young Actor Award in 2006 for her role in Mortified, which was also broadcast on WIN and Nine.

Bruce Gordon, owner of WIN Corporation, said: “Saddle Club is an example of the high quality productions Crawfords is famous for and the partnership between WIN and Nine will see us build upon the success that The Saddle Club has enjoyed over the past nine years.”

David Gyngell, Nine Network CEO, said: “It is with great pleasure that we have teamed up with WIN on this exciting new series. Alongside Hi-5 and the new children’s program, The Kingdom of Paramithi, WIN and Nine are proud to broadcast the best of Australian-produced children’s programming and we look forward to launching the series early next year.”

Saddle Club Producer, Lynn Bayonas said: “Saddle Club – Series 3 is an exciting new series full of adventure. We have been blessed with a magical location and a charismatic cast who ride, sing and act. The talented and dedicated crew bring to life the wonderful mix of friendship, laughter, adventure and the love of beautiful horses. Plus, for this series we have also added great songs and an adorable donkey!”

A Crawford Productions and Protocol Entertainment co-production, The Saddle Club is a global phenomenon currently broadcast in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Malta, Cyprus, UAE, Italy, Spain and Holland. To date 78 half hour episodes have been produced, six CDs – three gold and one Platinum theme song, the books have sold in excess of 20 million copies and over 110 titles and the series boasts three Aria nominations.

Saddle Club series three will launch in early 2009. Merchandise is currently available in Target stores throughout Australia.