Christine McKenna had read K.M. Peyton's Flambards novels and desperately wanted the part of Christina. When producer Leonard Lewis asked her whether she could ride a horse, she assured him that she was an expert and could even ride side-saddle. In reality she had never ridden before in her life. When she learned that she had got the part, one week before filming started, she went out and bought a pair of riding boots and a hard hat, and booked an intensive course of riding lessons. She was so saddle-sore by the end of the lessons and the start of filming that although she could ride passably well, she could barely walk and sitting was painful.
Steven Grives undertook a crash course in riding - eight hours a day for two weeks - so he could perform his own horsework.