Fans had the opportunity to be part of an episode of Heartland at the Millarville Racetrack on Tuesday.

This was the fourth year the show was given permission from the Actors' Union to bring fans in as extras.

Gordon Imlach, series publicist, says the fans were a great crowd to work with.

"It's funny, on some shows it's very tricky, on this show it's not a problem because everybody's so well behaved, you just have to make sure they know to stay where they are and get them in the stands and it'll be great. They totally outnumber us at the moment, there's 650 of them but we're not frightened in the least."

Amber Marshall, who plays Amy Fleming on the series, interacted with fans and answered questions while shooting scenes.

Imlach says the show has a strong relationship with the Foothills.

"There's a tie in with High River markets itself, with our blessing, as High River Home of Heartland, it brings a lot of money into the town and we love shooting out here because it's not far from Calgary and it's so gorgeous and I think the locals really enjoy seeing us here too because we're pretty law-abiding citizens and we don't park in the way, it's great."

This weekend Heartland is being honoured at the Calgary International Film Festival with a gala to celebrate the series' tenth season.