Taking the Reins

This movie doesn't disappoint. Nikki Deloach and Scott Porter had great chemistry. Nikki Deloach is a favorite of mine on Hallmark. Hopefully, Scott Porter will do more movies on Hallmark. The scenery was beautiful. Janine Turner and Corbin Bernsen were great additions to the cast.

I take some heat from friends and family for being a card-carrying Hallmark movie dork. I generally love the light, happy entertainment. I get that it's not intended to be complex award-winning drama, and I'm okay with that. But, this movie set the bar so low even I can't forgive it. Why go to the trouble and expense to make a movie entirely centered around riding hunter/jumpers if you're going to ruin it by casting people as supposedly accomplished riders and trainers who clearly have never ridden a horse? Is it so impossible to cast people who can simply ride a horse? The riding in this movie is so bad it's laugh-out-loud ridiculous. It makes the story unforgivably ridiculous. Seriously? A supposed national level competition involving jumping over 1 to 2 foot fences I could step over while the audience oohs and ahhhs. Come on, Hallmark. Try a little bit.

Cast was great. Story was great. Nikki Deloach and Scott Porter were wonderful. Really hope Hallmark does more with Scott Porter.

Having growing up riding and jumping, some of those scenes weren't great, but it's a movie.

They actually found a couple with chemistry and showed a deft touch with the family relationships, thanks to Corbin Bernsen. If this were just a romance/family movie, it would have been fine.

Unfortunately, the riding is an important part of the story and this movie just doesn't make the equestrian scenes interesting or realistic. This might be a Hallmark film that would have been better made in Canada. Maybe then they could have gotten some of the experts from the CBC series Heartland, who know how to shoot realistic versions of all styles of horsemanship.

I love Nikki DeLoach and Scott Porter together. They are such superb actors who are even better together. Scott Porter is giving Andrew Walker a run for his money and I hope to see him in many more Hallmark movies.