S1E10: Born to Run (2007)
The harsh reality of mustang’s precarious lives—and indeed their very existence—is earth-shattering news to Ty, and probably also to many viewers in 2007 and even still today. There are certain true mustang bloodlines, and there are others that are simply escaped horses who have commingled into a wild herd, or their recent offspring. Genetically, these two populations (the ones that have been wild for hundreds of years and the ones who only recently became wild) are quite distinct.
Lou opens the episode on the phone with a certain Ms. Wiley and strikes a deal with her to give her a horse for her daughter. Overhearing Lou’s end of the conversation, Mallory, who fits the character description of the woman’s daughter—though she isn’t her—is desperately worried and displays the constantly-overthinking, easy-to-panic side of her personality we see frequently brought to light in the early seasons of the show. At the mention of Copper’s name (Mallory’s horse), and Lou’s kicking her out of the office, Mallory becomes even more despondent.
The first mustang we see in great detail in this episode is an appaloosa stallion. Appaloosa is not a single color pattern, but rather a collection of patterns (or a domesticated breed that only produces horses who bear that pattern, although it can show up in other breeds). In this case, the particular appaloosa pattern this horse displays is called the “leopard” pattern because it is a solid light color (white or nearly so) spotted uniformly with round patches in a much darker color. This horse, though he is introduced in this episode, will not simply come and go like most of the other client horses have throughout the series thus far, but rather, he will become a symbol by which characters mystically communicate their imminent danger to one another.
As Amy and Ty approach the pen in which the horses, including that appaloosa stallion, are confined, a confrontational man in a red truck stops their advance beyond a point quite far from the horses. His name is Wes, and he makes a veiled threat against Ty (and by extension, Amy, who is with him; by extension of that, the threat is also made against all of Heartland’s residents, human or equine.) Narrowly escaping a dangerous confrontation with Wes, the pair ride away physically unhurt but scarred by what they have seen. Do not forget Wes. Throughout the rest of this season and into the beginning of the next, he will play an important role.
Two former flings of Lou’s meet with her unannounced in the barn office. (Lounick is one of the minor ships which I won’t spend much time on. Suffice it to say that there was likely at least a spark of romance between them a long time ago, perhaps in high school, before Lou left for New York.) Following the scene in the office, we again are presented with a dinner scene. As before, this is the one instance in which all the characters will certainly, intentionally be in one place together, and this is the time when bonds of community and love are forged and strengthened between them. In addition, it is fitting that these scenes are written into nearly every episode given the time when the series originally airs (at 7:00 in most of Canada, and at 7:30 in some parts of the country, on Sunday nights)—at exactly the time when most families are sitting down to have a family dinner together, allowing them to not only bond over a shared love of the show but also for them to experience for themselves what has brought those characters together, blurring the line between reality and fiction in the show’s universe. At the dinner table, Mallory complains about feeling left out, but her immaturity and the age gap between her and the rest of the cast (and a corresponding lack of maturity to understand the gravity of what happened at the trailer) are not only evident here, it will prove costly later in the episode.
Having finished the family meal, as Lou washes the dishes, Mallory takes the initiative to confront Lou about what she calls the “Copper situation”: her perception that Copper is in imminent danger of being rehomed despite her objections. Lou must navigate a difficult conversation with Amy in order to tell her that Nick’s clients have expressed interest in Spartan but somehow find a way to respect the deep, unbreakable bond her sister has with the black warmblood, the last living memory of their mother, and a priceless reminder of Marion for the younger Fleming sister.
Moving to another part of the house, we then see Amy in her room on her computer beginning to submit—but not finishing—the Fall Finale entry form. The Fall Finale is an invitation-only show which serves as a sort of grand championship of the English riders in and around Hudson. Having completed this season, Amy has nearly enough points to qualify for entry, and she just needs to submit the paperwork to prove it. Having gotten no answers from prying into Lou, Mallory turns to Amy, whom she feels she is more likely to be able to trust, to investigate the rumored rehoming.
Despite the fact that she is a far superior equestrian than he is, Amy has taken Ty on as her coach, allowing them both ample time to develop into rounder characters, individually and in relation to each other. Exiting the house, a furious Ben Stillman notices the jumps in the ring (which had been brought to Heartland by his aunt, Lisa) have been reconfigured. Ben’s insistence on keeping the jumps a certain way not only further reveals his stubbornness but also reveals a critical flaw in his training philosophy as an up-and-coming showjumper. It is never good to practice on the same course over and over. If you do that, as Ben does, you will develop both tunnel vision and muscle memory, able to execute that course perfectly, but flustering immediately as soon as anything changes, since you have, to use a turn of phrase, missed the forest for the trees.
Finally having met Ms. Wiley, Mallory, who in the early seasons of the show evolves into quite a cunning character, manages to convince her that Lou is away on vacation and cannot show her any horses—this is Mallory’s way of ending, or stalling, any prospects of Copper’s rehoming.
Jack, Ty, and Amy arrive to help Ray (and his other employees, unknown to all 3 including Tim and Wes) find a proper home for the mustangs and keep them safe. At the same time, Lou gradually pieces together Mallory’s ruse to send Ms. Wiley away early, and when the plan is uncovered, Lou calls Ms. Wiley again, and Mallory’s anxiety is once again palpable.
From outside the round pen where the mustangs are, Jack complains to Ray about how Tim (who works for Ray as his foreman), had set up the mustang pen. The ensuing discussion further sheds light on the animosity Jack and Tim hold for each other: Jack thinks Tim is incompetent and irresponsible, while Tim believes Jack is overbearing and acts as if he is unjustly superior to everyone.
Mallory has taken a number of supplies into the barn and packs a bag to load onto her saddle as she becomes desperate about the prospect of losing Copper. In her immaturity, Mallory has failed to realize that it is not Copper whom Lou suggested to Ms. Wiley, and she has also failed to comprehend the risks and dangers of running away, for her, for Copper, and for anyone who must now search for her.
We now shift our attention to Maggie’s which is more than just a diner or a feed store. For the people of Hudson, it is the central gathering place, a place where memories are made, where relationships start and end, and where milestones are reached. Maggie’s not only fosters community in Hudson, it becomes the community in Hudson. Tensions run high between Amy and Ashley, who knows Nick Harwell is coaching Ben since the latter called Spartan “washed up.” At the same time, there is clear evidence of a love triangle, as both Soraya and Ashley compete for Ben’s time and affection. Having left Heartland in her bid to run away, Mallory accidentally stumbles upon Wes and his other ill-intentioned coworker in the same red truck from earlier. Tensions escalate between Tim and Jack, for reasons mentioned above, as mention is made of the “intervening years,” the decade or so prior to the beginning of the plot, from when Amy was 5 until the show began when Tim was in neither her nor Lou’s life. After suffering a horrible accident while bulldogging (this has nothing to do with the English Bulldog, but is rather a rodeo discipline, which I’ll go into more detail about in a later commentary), Tim and his horse Pegasus were both very seriously hurt. As Marion took on Pegasus’ rehabilitation, Tim, unfortunately, turned to painkillers and alcohol, and in the process, lost Marion’s trust (which ended their marriage), then Jack’s, and as a result, he was kicked out of Heartland, not returning until after Marion’s passing in the premiere.
Returning to Heartland, we see Ben in the ring working with Nick. After a tip from Amy that Ben has trouble with any sequence of jumps other than his preferred sequence, Ben asks him to run a new course, and sees a host of problems that make Nick, a star jumper, question Ben’s future, revealing the extent of the flaws in Ben’s training regimen. Noticing the flaws in his student, Nick, ever the good coach, decides to return to the basics, but Ben, whose strong suit has never been his humility or ability to take constructive criticism, quits on Nick and rides away, feeling insulted by a genuine attempt to make him a better jumper.
While Scott is collecting blood samples from the horses (to determine which group of feral horses they belong to—runaway domesticated horses, or true mustangs), Wes and Ty meet again, and a violent confrontation is imminent. This is one area in which Ty will attempt to grow tremendously over the course of the show: maintaining his ever-strong sense of justice and compassion for animals which he shares with Amy but learning to control his use of violence to see that justice and compassion to the animals prevails. After witnessing Wes’ abusive behavior toward one of the could-be mustangs, Ty instigates a fight, and Jack narrowly allows Wes off the hook from a much worse fight.
Still on the run, Mallory comes upon the possible mustangs, all with very little food and water, in what appears to be (and will turn out to be) a kill pen: a place where horses or cattle are kept temporarily before being sent to slaughter. Desperate for help, Mallory, who had the foresight to pack her cell phone when she ran away, calls Lou, who is with Ms. Wiley attempting to show her some horses. Mallory reunites with Amy and Lou when the latter two arrive at the lot. What follows is an iconic exchange from season 1. Amy confirms the lack of food and water, and that the enclosure is in fact a kill-pen. Soon after, a livestock trailer is spotted coming down the road, toward the kill-pen. To save the horses, all the gates are opened, and they are all sent out of the pen right into the path of the oncoming truck. With Mallory back in the pickup, Lou and Amy make sure that every horse, even the last one, the Appaloosa stallion, can escape. The livestock trailer drives right through the barricades that had previously defined the walls of the pen, heading straight for Amy and Lou, stopping just short of running them over. By now, Amy and Lou’s relationship has completely changed from where it was 10 weeks ago when the series had begun. The dominant factor in the sisters’ relationship is no longer a sibling rivalry, but the love they share for each other, especially in their mutual connection to Marion.
It is late at night and Jack and Ty are left alone at the ranch to do night check. Jack, man very convicted of his firm and truly good morals, believes Ty has done too much to attempt to help the horses, and that his well-intentioned interventions on the side of justice had best be left alone. But Ty’s sense of compassion prevails, and the two leave the barn having finished night check, unaware that Ben and Ashley have been hiding out together in one of the stalls.
As Amy is violently pushed to the ground by Wes, her sister comes to her defense just as Jack and Ty arrive in another truck. As the men engage in a vicious brawl, Lou runs back to her truck, and retrieving a shotgun, cocks it and fires a single shot into the air, making a statement that accidentally is a threat against herself, rather than against Wes and the other aggressors, before correcting herself. This failed threat is, no doubt, a seminal moment of the show and one of the most iconic of the first season.
Everyone returns safely to Heartland, and, as she brushes Copper, Mallory is confronted by Lou, who unraveled Mallory’s plot with Ms. Wiley and the fact that she ran away, reassuring Mallory—who in all aspects except biology and legally—is practically a third sister to Amy and Lou, that Copper was not the horse in question she had wanted to show Ms. Wiley, and she proposes a system of “sweat equity” which will come under intense scrutiny by a new family member in the next season, through which Mallory forgoes pay, and in lieu of a direct payment to Mallory, any money she might’ve earned goes toward building equity in Copper, en route to eventual full ownership of him.
Recounting the day’s events to potential romantic partner, family friend, and local veterinarian Scott Cardinal, Lou is invited to go on a scenic, romantic trip with him into the mountains. But a problem arises when she realizes she already has a date—a coffee date, with Nick Harwell, another romantic interest. As we encounter one love triangle being built, another is dismantled, as Ben has completely chosen Ashely over Soraya. Outside Maggie’s immediately after seeing Soraya, Amy and Ty run into Tim. Finally, it seems like both Amy and Tim are willing to work—together, simultaneously—toward rebuilding their relationship, and they agree to meet the following weekend at the ranch, an important step in reconciliation not only between Amy and Tim but also between Jack and Tim. From a hill overlooking the herd, Lou and Scott hold hands, but the Appaloosa stallion is in full view, a sign of trouble to come in the following episodes.
Lou opens the episode on the phone with a certain Ms. Wiley and strikes a deal with her to give her a horse for her daughter. Overhearing Lou’s end of the conversation, Mallory, who fits the character description of the woman’s daughter—though she isn’t her—is desperately worried and displays the constantly-overthinking, easy-to-panic side of her personality we see frequently brought to light in the early seasons of the show. At the mention of Copper’s name (Mallory’s horse), and Lou’s kicking her out of the office, Mallory becomes even more despondent.
The first mustang we see in great detail in this episode is an appaloosa stallion. Appaloosa is not a single color pattern, but rather a collection of patterns (or a domesticated breed that only produces horses who bear that pattern, although it can show up in other breeds). In this case, the particular appaloosa pattern this horse displays is called the “leopard” pattern because it is a solid light color (white or nearly so) spotted uniformly with round patches in a much darker color. This horse, though he is introduced in this episode, will not simply come and go like most of the other client horses have throughout the series thus far, but rather, he will become a symbol by which characters mystically communicate their imminent danger to one another.
As Amy and Ty approach the pen in which the horses, including that appaloosa stallion, are confined, a confrontational man in a red truck stops their advance beyond a point quite far from the horses. His name is Wes, and he makes a veiled threat against Ty (and by extension, Amy, who is with him; by extension of that, the threat is also made against all of Heartland’s residents, human or equine.) Narrowly escaping a dangerous confrontation with Wes, the pair ride away physically unhurt but scarred by what they have seen. Do not forget Wes. Throughout the rest of this season and into the beginning of the next, he will play an important role.
Two former flings of Lou’s meet with her unannounced in the barn office. (Lounick is one of the minor ships which I won’t spend much time on. Suffice it to say that there was likely at least a spark of romance between them a long time ago, perhaps in high school, before Lou left for New York.) Following the scene in the office, we again are presented with a dinner scene. As before, this is the one instance in which all the characters will certainly, intentionally be in one place together, and this is the time when bonds of community and love are forged and strengthened between them. In addition, it is fitting that these scenes are written into nearly every episode given the time when the series originally airs (at 7:00 in most of Canada, and at 7:30 in some parts of the country, on Sunday nights)—at exactly the time when most families are sitting down to have a family dinner together, allowing them to not only bond over a shared love of the show but also for them to experience for themselves what has brought those characters together, blurring the line between reality and fiction in the show’s universe. At the dinner table, Mallory complains about feeling left out, but her immaturity and the age gap between her and the rest of the cast (and a corresponding lack of maturity to understand the gravity of what happened at the trailer) are not only evident here, it will prove costly later in the episode.
Having finished the family meal, as Lou washes the dishes, Mallory takes the initiative to confront Lou about what she calls the “Copper situation”: her perception that Copper is in imminent danger of being rehomed despite her objections. Lou must navigate a difficult conversation with Amy in order to tell her that Nick’s clients have expressed interest in Spartan but somehow find a way to respect the deep, unbreakable bond her sister has with the black warmblood, the last living memory of their mother, and a priceless reminder of Marion for the younger Fleming sister.
Moving to another part of the house, we then see Amy in her room on her computer beginning to submit—but not finishing—the Fall Finale entry form. The Fall Finale is an invitation-only show which serves as a sort of grand championship of the English riders in and around Hudson. Having completed this season, Amy has nearly enough points to qualify for entry, and she just needs to submit the paperwork to prove it. Having gotten no answers from prying into Lou, Mallory turns to Amy, whom she feels she is more likely to be able to trust, to investigate the rumored rehoming.
Despite the fact that she is a far superior equestrian than he is, Amy has taken Ty on as her coach, allowing them both ample time to develop into rounder characters, individually and in relation to each other. Exiting the house, a furious Ben Stillman notices the jumps in the ring (which had been brought to Heartland by his aunt, Lisa) have been reconfigured. Ben’s insistence on keeping the jumps a certain way not only further reveals his stubbornness but also reveals a critical flaw in his training philosophy as an up-and-coming showjumper. It is never good to practice on the same course over and over. If you do that, as Ben does, you will develop both tunnel vision and muscle memory, able to execute that course perfectly, but flustering immediately as soon as anything changes, since you have, to use a turn of phrase, missed the forest for the trees.
Finally having met Ms. Wiley, Mallory, who in the early seasons of the show evolves into quite a cunning character, manages to convince her that Lou is away on vacation and cannot show her any horses—this is Mallory’s way of ending, or stalling, any prospects of Copper’s rehoming.
Jack, Ty, and Amy arrive to help Ray (and his other employees, unknown to all 3 including Tim and Wes) find a proper home for the mustangs and keep them safe. At the same time, Lou gradually pieces together Mallory’s ruse to send Ms. Wiley away early, and when the plan is uncovered, Lou calls Ms. Wiley again, and Mallory’s anxiety is once again palpable.
From outside the round pen where the mustangs are, Jack complains to Ray about how Tim (who works for Ray as his foreman), had set up the mustang pen. The ensuing discussion further sheds light on the animosity Jack and Tim hold for each other: Jack thinks Tim is incompetent and irresponsible, while Tim believes Jack is overbearing and acts as if he is unjustly superior to everyone.
Mallory has taken a number of supplies into the barn and packs a bag to load onto her saddle as she becomes desperate about the prospect of losing Copper. In her immaturity, Mallory has failed to realize that it is not Copper whom Lou suggested to Ms. Wiley, and she has also failed to comprehend the risks and dangers of running away, for her, for Copper, and for anyone who must now search for her.
We now shift our attention to Maggie’s which is more than just a diner or a feed store. For the people of Hudson, it is the central gathering place, a place where memories are made, where relationships start and end, and where milestones are reached. Maggie’s not only fosters community in Hudson, it becomes the community in Hudson. Tensions run high between Amy and Ashley, who knows Nick Harwell is coaching Ben since the latter called Spartan “washed up.” At the same time, there is clear evidence of a love triangle, as both Soraya and Ashley compete for Ben’s time and affection. Having left Heartland in her bid to run away, Mallory accidentally stumbles upon Wes and his other ill-intentioned coworker in the same red truck from earlier. Tensions escalate between Tim and Jack, for reasons mentioned above, as mention is made of the “intervening years,” the decade or so prior to the beginning of the plot, from when Amy was 5 until the show began when Tim was in neither her nor Lou’s life. After suffering a horrible accident while bulldogging (this has nothing to do with the English Bulldog, but is rather a rodeo discipline, which I’ll go into more detail about in a later commentary), Tim and his horse Pegasus were both very seriously hurt. As Marion took on Pegasus’ rehabilitation, Tim, unfortunately, turned to painkillers and alcohol, and in the process, lost Marion’s trust (which ended their marriage), then Jack’s, and as a result, he was kicked out of Heartland, not returning until after Marion’s passing in the premiere.
Returning to Heartland, we see Ben in the ring working with Nick. After a tip from Amy that Ben has trouble with any sequence of jumps other than his preferred sequence, Ben asks him to run a new course, and sees a host of problems that make Nick, a star jumper, question Ben’s future, revealing the extent of the flaws in Ben’s training regimen. Noticing the flaws in his student, Nick, ever the good coach, decides to return to the basics, but Ben, whose strong suit has never been his humility or ability to take constructive criticism, quits on Nick and rides away, feeling insulted by a genuine attempt to make him a better jumper.
While Scott is collecting blood samples from the horses (to determine which group of feral horses they belong to—runaway domesticated horses, or true mustangs), Wes and Ty meet again, and a violent confrontation is imminent. This is one area in which Ty will attempt to grow tremendously over the course of the show: maintaining his ever-strong sense of justice and compassion for animals which he shares with Amy but learning to control his use of violence to see that justice and compassion to the animals prevails. After witnessing Wes’ abusive behavior toward one of the could-be mustangs, Ty instigates a fight, and Jack narrowly allows Wes off the hook from a much worse fight.
Still on the run, Mallory comes upon the possible mustangs, all with very little food and water, in what appears to be (and will turn out to be) a kill pen: a place where horses or cattle are kept temporarily before being sent to slaughter. Desperate for help, Mallory, who had the foresight to pack her cell phone when she ran away, calls Lou, who is with Ms. Wiley attempting to show her some horses. Mallory reunites with Amy and Lou when the latter two arrive at the lot. What follows is an iconic exchange from season 1. Amy confirms the lack of food and water, and that the enclosure is in fact a kill-pen. Soon after, a livestock trailer is spotted coming down the road, toward the kill-pen. To save the horses, all the gates are opened, and they are all sent out of the pen right into the path of the oncoming truck. With Mallory back in the pickup, Lou and Amy make sure that every horse, even the last one, the Appaloosa stallion, can escape. The livestock trailer drives right through the barricades that had previously defined the walls of the pen, heading straight for Amy and Lou, stopping just short of running them over. By now, Amy and Lou’s relationship has completely changed from where it was 10 weeks ago when the series had begun. The dominant factor in the sisters’ relationship is no longer a sibling rivalry, but the love they share for each other, especially in their mutual connection to Marion.
It is late at night and Jack and Ty are left alone at the ranch to do night check. Jack, man very convicted of his firm and truly good morals, believes Ty has done too much to attempt to help the horses, and that his well-intentioned interventions on the side of justice had best be left alone. But Ty’s sense of compassion prevails, and the two leave the barn having finished night check, unaware that Ben and Ashley have been hiding out together in one of the stalls.
As Amy is violently pushed to the ground by Wes, her sister comes to her defense just as Jack and Ty arrive in another truck. As the men engage in a vicious brawl, Lou runs back to her truck, and retrieving a shotgun, cocks it and fires a single shot into the air, making a statement that accidentally is a threat against herself, rather than against Wes and the other aggressors, before correcting herself. This failed threat is, no doubt, a seminal moment of the show and one of the most iconic of the first season.
Everyone returns safely to Heartland, and, as she brushes Copper, Mallory is confronted by Lou, who unraveled Mallory’s plot with Ms. Wiley and the fact that she ran away, reassuring Mallory—who in all aspects except biology and legally—is practically a third sister to Amy and Lou, that Copper was not the horse in question she had wanted to show Ms. Wiley, and she proposes a system of “sweat equity” which will come under intense scrutiny by a new family member in the next season, through which Mallory forgoes pay, and in lieu of a direct payment to Mallory, any money she might’ve earned goes toward building equity in Copper, en route to eventual full ownership of him.
Recounting the day’s events to potential romantic partner, family friend, and local veterinarian Scott Cardinal, Lou is invited to go on a scenic, romantic trip with him into the mountains. But a problem arises when she realizes she already has a date—a coffee date, with Nick Harwell, another romantic interest. As we encounter one love triangle being built, another is dismantled, as Ben has completely chosen Ashely over Soraya. Outside Maggie’s immediately after seeing Soraya, Amy and Ty run into Tim. Finally, it seems like both Amy and Tim are willing to work—together, simultaneously—toward rebuilding their relationship, and they agree to meet the following weekend at the ranch, an important step in reconciliation not only between Amy and Tim but also between Jack and Tim. From a hill overlooking the herd, Lou and Scott hold hands, but the Appaloosa stallion is in full view, a sign of trouble to come in the following episodes.
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