The Saddle Club will begin filming in the Glenlyon and Porcupine Ridge area at the end of next month.

Children aged between nine and 15 auditioned for roles as extras at Daylesford Town Hall.

Producer Lynn Bayonas said the program's first audition session was a huge success.

"It was fantastic to see so much enthusiasm on Saturday. All the kids were great," Ms Bayonas said. Crawfords Productions Australia chief executive Nick McMahon said about 30 production staff had already relocated to the Hepburn

Shire to set up buildings and other horse infrastructure.

"But between 70 and 100 people will be in town when production is in full swing," Mr McMahon said.

Mr McMahon said the Glenlyon Pony Club could also be used as a production set.

Mr McMahon said the equine influenza epidemic had forced the company to replace its New South Wales horses, but most were Victorian and posed no threat of spreading the virus.

One season of the series will involve six months of filming."But replacing horses is nothing new for us, we have doubles for the lead horses because it is very difficult to use the same horses for an entire," he said.

Mr McMahon was unsure if the program would return for a 2008 series,

"It depends on how things turn out, but it's working well so far and the local community has supported us well," he said.

Mr McMahon said despite the big turn-out for auditions, Crawfords would try to use most of the applicants.

"You can never have too many extras in a television program," he said.