Heartland Season 17 is in production! Here's a sneak peek behind the scenes

Production of Heartland Season 17 is off to a beautiful start.

Recently, filming was completed on the first two episodes of the long-running series. Fun fact: The first episode of Heartland Season 17 will be the 250th episode of the series.  Can you believe it? Be sure to keep an eye out for future details about the huge series milestone on this blog and on the official social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.

• Watch Heartland on CBC Gem for Free (Canada)

Now that those first two episodes are complete, production is underway on the next two, directed by the one and only Chris Potter. Chris has been directing episodes of Heartland since Season 3, and he is a pro at juggling the responsibilities of being both in front of and behind the camera. You should definitely take a look back at the episodes Chris directed last season to see what we are talking about:

• Episode 1604, "Spark to Flame"
• Episode 1613, "Striking a Balance"
• Episode 1614, "Learning to Fly"
• Episode 1615, "A Light in the Dark"

Back at the production office, Michelle Morgan has been leading the charge in prep as she is directing episodes 1705 and 1706 of Heartland. She is working on some very exciting scenes that we know Heartland fans will enjoy. Michelle is also no stranger to directing the series and you can see her directing work in Heartland episode 1610, "Lurking in the Shadows" from last season.

As production moves forward, the weather has been mostly sunny and spring-like working on Heartland. And good weather means a lot of beautiful scenes with horses. You may recognize some of the recent ones by name: Blue, Buddy, Champ, Shadow, Spartan, Theo, and Harley. They've all been in good spirits and having lots of fun. Look for them throughout the upcoming season.