In Riding High Kieren Hutchison stars as Stephen Brighton, a blacksmith in training who's Wendy's boyfriend for a while. For the part Kieren learned horse riding, even though you have to wait until episode 44 (!) to actually see him on a horse.

Riding High is a major drama series of 65 half-hour episodes set in the fast-moving world of horses, competition and big business. Riding High is based on a German comic series called Wendy that was first published in 1986 and is still popular today.

The central character is Wendy, a fifteen year-old whose parents own and run Lindentree, a riding school, horse stud and health farm. The series features a number of stunning locations in which the drama and intrigue of life unfolds - meadows and woodland, unspoilt beach and a local town which attracts a variety of characters, Wendy's deep love of horses has resulted in an unswerving dedication to riding, with the aim of becoming a member of the National Show Jumping team, but those around her - best friend Bianca and beautiful, spoilt cousin Vanessa - seem more interested in the more romantic and rebellious aspects of life.

Twenty-five kilometers outside of Auckland the production company found a small farm - by New Zealand standard - that was transformed by fifty carpenters, builders and gardeners into "Lindentree" in only five weeks. All exterior scenes were shot at the farm, for interior shots the actors went into a studio.

Riding High was filmed in 1995. All together the filming took about six months. The show was made in periods of two weeks: five to six days at the farm and four to five days in a studio in Auckland. It started airing in New Zealand at the end of December 1995, being aired once a week.

RIDING HIGH © HIT ENTERTAINMENT