It would not be an exaggeration to state that Spartan is the heart of Heartland, or at least was for a pretty long time. Spartan was the key horse buddy of the protagonist, Amy Fleming, on the show. His real name is Stormy, and he has been a mainstay on Heartland from seasons 1 through 13.
After season 13, there was a lot of speculation about the horse character being alive or not. But the good news is that Spartan does not die in Heartland but has retired. Amy currently rides him on and off, meaning he is not her primary horse due to his age.
Introduced right from the first season, Spartan was rescued from his torturous owner and adopted by Amy for most of the series.
Know about Spartan’s story in Heartland
Owned initially by a merciless Mr. Mallen, Spartan was saved by Amy and her mother Marion when they spotted the poor horse fending for himself amidst a storm. While transporting him in a trailer, an accident occurs, resulting in Marion’s death.
Guilty and feeling responsible for the mishap, Amy coils up but eventually starts working on her issues. Spartan, too, comes out of his trauma and starts trusting Amy, resulting in the decade-long friendship between the two.
In The Ties That Bind, season 2 episode 16, Spartan gets stolen. After an extensive search, Amy and Ty find Wes buying the horse for $1800 at an auction. After much deliberation, Wes finally agrees to give Spartan back.
In one of the second season episodes, the Quarter Horse also becomes a fatal victim of pesticide poisoning but gets saved by a concoction administered by Ty.
Another issue that Spartan faced was in Playing With Fire, the 12th episode of season 6. He fractured his leg due to a wrong landing from a jump, and Amy was left with two choices: put him through surgery or euthanize him. Amy chooses the first, and Spartan survives!
Their buddyhood continued, and Amy-Spartan became synonymous with one another. But like every good thing, this association came to an end as well. Spartan grew old and was almost 18 by the time season 13 rolled. In that Heartland installment, it was shown that he wasn’t responding to Amy’s liberty cues, became prone to injuries, and also developed arthritis.
Amy finally took the tough decision and replaced him with Shadow. Till season 15, she rode him full time, but in the eighth episode of that season, Spartan officially retired, and Amy made Shadow her main horse.
While conversing with Horse Nation way back in 2013, Amber Marshall, who plays Amy on the show, pointed out that Stormy was the youngest of the lot of horses when the show began. Expressing her admiration for the horse, she told the portal:
“He immediately fit right in and has learned so much about being a movie horse over the course of the show. Most of the other horses on set get bored quickly in the barn, and we have a hard time keeping their attention towards the camera. Not Stormy–he soaks up every minute of fame.”
Owned by John Scott, the show’s head wrangler, Stormy resides on his Long View ranch in Alberta, Canada.
